McDonald’s has always been innovative. Since the fast food chain was founded in 1940, it has regularly switched up its menu to keep customers coming back to try something new. But not all of the dishes became permanent fixtures that you can still order today. Remember Mighty Wings, McDonald’s Pizza or the McDLT? Here we take a look back at the menu items that no longer exist.
“But apple pie is still on McDonald’s menu”, you’re thinking. Not in the form it used to be when it joined menus nationwide in the US in the 1960s. Based on a family recipe, the fruit turnover was fried in hot oil for a crisp and flaky crust. No one really knows why the recipe was updated to make it a baked dessert in the early 1990s. Some people say the change was to make it healthier, while others say it was to avoid customers burning their tongues.
Nothing like today’s gourmet chocolate chip cookies the size of your hand, McDonaldland Cookies were small, crunchy biscuits similar to Animal Crackers. Sold from 1974 in the US, they were in the shape of famous McDonald’s characters Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar, Birdie and Captain Crook. It was in the 1990s that they disappeared.
Back in the 1970s when McDonald’s was still figuring out its menu, you could get a hearty carby dish called McSpaghetti at its outposts in the US. It featured pasta, marinara sauce, meatballs and grated cheese. It’s still available at some international restaurants, such as in the Philippines where it comes with a side of fried chicken.
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Soggy salad in burgers is a problem McDonald’s tried to solve with the McDLT which it launched in the US in the mid-1980s. Styrofoam packaging separated the hot beef patty and one half of the bun from the cool, crisp lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickle, sauce and other bun half. It was discontinued the next decade as the box wasn’t great for the environment.
Only few will remember McDonald’s Pizza which was tested at select restaurants in the US in the late 1980s and 1990s. It was personal-size with only four slices and had toppings such as cheese, pepperoni, green pepper and onion. Slow cooking times and other problems such as its box being too big for the drive-thru window prevented it staying long term.
Best known for its beloved McNuggets, McDonald’s usually leaves bone-in chicken to its competitors. But in 1990 it decided to try something different with Mighty Wings. The crispy bone-in chicken wings were sold in the US until 2003 and have returned briefly twice since. However, the general consensus was they were too spicy.
It’s hard to believe the McLean Deluxe, available in the US in the early 1990s, was 91% fat free. It contained 10g (0.35oz) of fat compared to the Big Mac’s 26g (0.92oz), and bound water to beef with seaweed extract to make it juicy. Despite this, it wasn’t massively successful as the McDonald’s customer base at the time wasn’t in the market for low-fat food.
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This fancy fast food was introduced in America in 1992. It has since appeared on Canadian and New England menus in summer when lobsters are most abundant. The dish consists of claw, knuckle and leg meat in a hot dog bun with shredded lettuce and lobster sauce – a taste of luxury for only £5 ($7).
This Whopper-like burger from McDonald’s was launched in California in 1997 and nationwide in 2000. Not to be confused with the UK’s Big Tasty, the Big n' Tasty was a quarter-pound (113g) beef patty with tomato, lettuce, onions and “new sauce” in a sesame seed bun. It cost just 72p (99c) and was moved on and off the dollar menu until it was scrapped for good in 2011.
Inspired by the spicy, mouth-numbing flavours from China's Sichuan province, Szechwan Sauce at McDonald’s was a sweet condiment that accompanied Chicken McNuggets. It was first released in 1998 in the US as a tie-in with Disney’s Mulan animation film. It then made a comeback in 2017 and 2018 following an episode of cartoon Rick and Morty where the sauce was featured.
Remember when you could get Super Size Fries and Super Size Coke at McDonald’s? Bigger than a large portion, the containers could barely squeeze into a cup holder in the car and were perfect for sharing. A McDonald's spokesperson cited "menu simplification" as the reason the items were axed from US menus in the early 2000s. But other people have speculated that it was because there was also a lack of interest and the range had got bad press due to the ongoing obesity crisis.
It may surprise US customers to know Chicken Selects are still available in the UK. The seasoned, breadcrumbed chicken strips (which are different to Chicken McNuggets in that they’re less processed, larger and spicier) joined McDonald’s menus in the US in 2004. They were discontinued at the same time as the Fruit and Walnut Salad and the Angus Third Pounder in 2013.
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Not like anything else sold at McDonald's at the time, the Fruit and Walnut Salad was launched in the US in 2005 as a lighter alternative to desserts like the McFlurry. It featured apple slices, red grapes, candied walnuts and low-fat yogurt. Customers actually enjoyed it and it stayed until 2013.
Another dish you can still get in the UK but has long been discontinued in the US. The Snack Wrap, featuring a Chicken Select, shredded cheese, lettuce and ranch sauce in a soft tortilla, debuted stateside in 2006. The small, on-the-go 300-calorie treat took off with health-conscious millennial diners. It lasted for ten years before it was phased out.
After a franchisee requested a bigger burger to be put on the menu, McDonald’s introduced the Angus Third Pounder in the US in 2009. As well as a third-pound (151g) patty, it had deluxe topping options such as thick slices of bacon, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. It was discontinued in 2013 as the toppings were too expensive.
A few different countries have tried selling the McHotDog at various points between the 1990s and early 2010s, including Japan, America, Canada, Chile and the UK, despite Ray Kroc’s wishes for the item to never appear on the menu. The early McDonald’s executive and franchising agent had health concerns about the classic American dish.
A sorely-missed summer treat, the Rolo McFlurry was available in 2012 and 2017 in the US. It featured soft-serve ice cream swirled with crushed Rolos (caramel-filled chocolate candies) and it was one of the best flavours the chain has ever sold. McDonald’s usually updates its dessert menu regularly, so we hope it will make a comeback at some point.
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When Fish McBites joined McDonald’s menus in the US in 2013, it was the chain’s first new seafood dish since the Filet-O-Fish debuted in 1965. Bitesize pieces of battered Alaskan pollock were served in a cardboard box with tartare dipping sauce and it came in three sizes: snack, regular and shareable. Sadly, the innovative menu item didn’t last longer than a few months.
In 2014, McDonald’s customers in the US got creative with their fries thanks to three new seasoning sachets: Garlic Parmesan, Spicy Buffalo and Zesty Ranch. The idea for Shakin’ Flavor Fries came from a similar dish sold at McDonald’s in Asia as early as 2005.
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What’s better than cheesy loaded fries topped with crisp bacon bits? Cheesy loaded fries topped with crisp bacon bits from your nearest McDonald’s drive-thru – something that actually happened in the US in 2019. The chain used Cheddar and smoked applewood bacon to make the indulgent side dish. Sadly, it was only available for a limited time.
Once upon a time, the Strawberry Cheesecake McFlurry was available to customers at British McDonald’s. It featured soft-serve ice cream, strawberry sauce and chunky cheesecake bits. It regularly appears on lists of items customers would love to see again, but it hasn’t made a comeback yet.
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