For A McChicken With 10x The Flavor, Order It French-Style
It might not get as much praise as the chicken sandwiches at Popeyes or Chick-fil-A, but McDonald's McChicken is a tried-and-true fast food standard. The formula is familiar: crispy chicken patty, shredded lettuce, and mayonnaise between two buns. If it seems a little plain, there's a French-inspired ordering tip worth exploring. Try ordering a McChicken with two patties, no mayonnaise, and sides of ranch and ketchup that you will have to add to the sandwich yourself. This order emulates Le McDeal Poulet, a McDonald's France sandwich that's only available as part of a meal deal, and can also be made with fish or beef.
The chicken version features dual patties, a blend of ketchup and ranch, and what McDonald's France calls "a crunchy salad." It appears to be just shredded lettuce. However, one big difference is that the McChicken seems to use different patties than Le McDeal Poulet, which resemble the tempura-battered chicken of the Chicken Big Mac. Le McDeal Poulet might use these same patties, in which case the sandwich would have a crispiness closer to McNuggets than McChickens. But until the Chicken Big Mac comes back again, this is as close as you can get.
The McChicken as a bridge to better meals
The things you can do with a McChicken don't stop at adding ketchup and ranch dressing. It's a key component of the McDonald's secret menu's Land, Sea, and Air Burger. Order a McChicken, Filet-o-Fish, and Big Mac, then simply add the fish patty to the top half of the burger and the chicken patty to the bottom half. Salvage some of the McChicken's lettuce for the new sandwich to get more of Le McDeal Poulet's "crunchy salad" effect, now joined by the Big Mac's onions and pickles.
If that sounds like a lot of complication and calories, there's a simpler and healthier McChicken hack well worth trying. Just order one without mayonnaise and sauce it with whatever you want. McDonald's standard sauces include the excellent options of BBQ, Sweet and Sour, Ranch, and Creamy Chili, but you don't have to stick with the Golden Arches. Take it home and add some Popeyes' Blackened Ranch or the hot sauce of your choice.
It's not just different varieties of sandwiches, either. A McDonald's hack for a budget chicken salad hinges on ordering one McChicken with extra lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and an additional patty. Chop up the chicken patties and mix it all together for a delicious boost.