10 Facts To Know Before Trying McDonald's Chicken Big Mac

You may have seen rumors bouncing around the Internet about a fabled Chicken Big Mac, available at certain McDonald's locations out of reach for the average diner. The good news: It's not a cruel rumor, but a joyful truth, especially for lovers of McD's chicken selections who also have a soft spot for the Big Mac's hearty structure. The better news: The Chicken Big Mac is finally making its way to fast-food joints across America for fans to sink their teeth into.

Before you track down this classic-in-the-making, however, there are some things you should know about the Chicken Big Mac. Unlike other big changes to McDonald's fast food menu in 2024, this novel sandwich didn't debut in the United States. The sandwich originally showed up elsewhere around the world, and the stir it caused during its initial release could foretell a similar reception when it finally hits American shores. Here are some more juicy tidbits about the Chicken Big Mac, its impact on casual dining, and how it might factor into your drive-thru life once the (chicken) burger hits the bag.

This isn't the first time U.S. locations have met the Chicken Big Mac. There was a hush-hush period in 2022 when select locations in Miami took the jaw-popping double-stack for a test run. This came after the U.K. release, where the sandwich was a knockout that quickly left restaurants short on chicken to fill sandwiches. It followed a pattern of McDonald's trying items overseas before launching them in the U.S., though other worldwide creations were more tied into regional tastes than the universally-appealing Chicken Big Mac, which works as-is in just about every market. You can't fault the company for its experimentation.

This reimagining of the classic Big Mac was no small feat. The company took two years to develop the Chicken Big Mac, tinkering with the combination of flavors to establish a baseline for chicken instead of beef. Originating in Canada, the Great White North was a taste-testing lab for the earliest versions of the sandwich. Whether the forthcoming version bears a resemblance to its ancestor or is the result of modifications made thanks to public feedback is unknown. You'll have to taste it for yourself to see if all the fast-food mad science has been worth the effort.

If consensus around the globe is an indication of how well the Chicken Big Mac is destined to do with U.S. audiences, there's a solid chance this fusion item will be a big-time success. In Canada, the sandwich's land of origin, this marveled-over menu item sold out during an initial release in early 2023 that bowled over McDonald's patrons.

When the patty hit the U.K., sales were brisk enough to cause a total shutdown of the sandwich due to a chicken shortage that made it impossible to keep up with demand. It only took a week to wipe out the chicken supply after the February 2022 unveiling, causing McD locations to remove the new superstar from its menu, even though the promotion was slated to run through mid-March. Australia also saw brisk sales when the sandwich arrived down under, and New Zealand currently shows a live listing for the Chicken Big Mac, suggesting this little nugget has staying power. 

As distinctive as the Big Mac may have become through the decades, launching a Chicken Big Mac didn't automatically guarantee McDonald's exclusive rights to the name. It turns out another restaurant is able to use the name "Big Mac" for its chicken sandwiches, which seems like a serious flub for Ronald and Co. Shouldn't the marketing mucky-mucks have foreseen the need for a legal maneuver to permanently capture this particular branding flag?

The company did foresee the possibility of a Chicken Big Mac early on. In 1996, McDonalds secured the rights to use "Big Mac" as a name for both its beef and poultry-based creations in the E.U., but the rights lapsed after five years of non-use. A competitor chain in Ireland called Supermac called this to the attention of the courts, and McDonald's lock on using the name for poultry-based products was dissolved. 

Now, though McDonald's is free to continue using the Big Mac name for its Chicken Big Mac, it no longer has exclusivity, freeing up the potential for Supermac to offer its own Big Mac made with chicken. It just goes to show you that there are limits even for a multinational monster company like McDonald's where copyright laws are concerned.

When a fast-food behemoth makes a move as major as introducing the Chicken Big Mac to the dining world, it doesn't go unnoticed by other outlets. In fact, chicken chain KFC got its feathers ruffled enough to enter the fray with a saucy little promo of its own. Who doesn't love some good-natured yet pointed ribbing between outlets, especially when it demonstrates the expert trolling talents of corporate media marketing teams with creativity to spare?

When the Chicken Big Mac hit outlets in Canada, KFC took a marketing swing at the House of Clown with an image featuring a similarly super-stacked sandwich, but with the McDonald's patties replaced with heartier secret recipe chicken breasts. The image was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, with a dig that proclaimed, "There, we fixed it." McDonald's response? "No need to fix something that is perfect bestie," to which KFC replied, "Taste test?" followed by a blown kiss emoji. Talk about throwing shade.

To make sure the world knows how much the top brass believe in their brilliant ideas, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski took to his official Instagram to taste-test the sandwich for his 15,000-plus followers. The goal was to taste both the Chicken Big Mac and traditional Big Mac side-by-side to see how the new sandwich on the block stacks up. 

What did the burger kingpin think of his food team's savory invention? Kempczinski started with the Big Mac, showing some nepo niceties to one of the company's tentpole offerings. He noted the bold sauce and how well it worked with the beef, declaring it a good-looking sandwich with those dependable flavors. Then, he gnawed off a piece of the Chicken Big Mac and called out what might be the greatest difference aside from the flavor: the crunch, a feature not found in the original that adds excitement to the new offering. In the end, Kempczinski recommended that, rather than choosing between the two, customers should try both and take each on its own merits — the equivalent of saying he loves both of his kids equally. Very diplomatic.

Though there's no listing on U.S. websites that shows the ingredients in a Chicken Big Mac, reviewers have described the general layout as following the original Big Mac blueprint. Anyone familiar with the layout of the sandwich will be relieved to find a three-tiered bun, two patties made of the same chicken as McNuggets, special sauce, shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese and pickles — standard stuff that any Big Mac eater could identify blindfolded, save for the chicken patties, of course. It all stacks up just like a beef-based Big Mac too, with all the ingredients layered in the same order, which should keep the culture shock to a minimum.

All of this begs the question: if a Big Mac contains beef and a Chicken Big Mac contains chicken, does the Big Mac name refer to the surrounding components only? Is there a possibility of a future Fish Big Mac if the creative brains behind the counter get an itch for another reinvention? It turns out Big Macs around the world are all slightly different when it comes to the volume of ingredients and the price point, which means the Big Mac motif can stack up in a number of ways, as long as the base bread and fillings are in play. Good to know! 

Nutritionally speaking, the Chicken Big Mac does nothing to push the envelope in any direction for McDonald's sandwiches overall. Per the New Zealand menu, a single sandwich rings up on the dietary register with 558 calories, 26 grams of fat (seven saturated), 47 milligrams of cholesterol, 8 grams of sugar, and 1171 milligrams of sodium. Sure, it's not a lighter menu item, but no Big Mac ever is. You're getting cheese-covered pressed chicken patties fried to a crisp, served with three pieces of bread slathered with mayonnaise. It's a treat, not a staple, and should be consumed with the appropriate consideration for your physical well-being.

Comparing all of this to a traditional beef Big Mac, with 590 calories, 34 total fat grams (11 saturated), 85 milligrams of cholesterol, nine grams of sugar, and 1050 milligrams of sodium, it's a nutritional mix-and-match that doesn't net out much differently. Even with the limited-edition status, the Chicken Big Mac is a cautionary tale about enjoying rich foods in moderation no matter how quickly they may disappear from the menu and depart from your dining options. Give it a try, but don't go overboard. Your body will thank you.

The biggest question on the minds and wallets of curious consumers is bound to be "how much does a Chicken Big Mac cost?" While it's not part of the markdown menu and it remains to be seen whether it will be available as part of a value meal, it appears that the price for a chicken version of the Big Mac is comparable to the traditional beef version. American food blogger Burger Beast discovered a listing on the McDonald's app that shows a price of $4.99 for the solo sandwich and $8.29 for a combo meal. The listing also displays a slightly different calorie count for the sandwich alone than the international menus show, which is bound to pique curiosity for what other differences there might be in the U.S. version.

A quick check on the app to verify these details failed to show a similar listing at the time of writing. A classic Big Mac shows a price of $6.49, suggesting this novel creation may come with a special price. Even if locations in every state give the Chicken Big Mac a different price point, chances are it won't be a deterrent for fast-food fans who already pay premium prices for their favorite sandwiches. A few dollars more is no barrier to trying something that might be deliciously unique.

Despite big sales in overseas markets, word from customers have been a mix of good and bad. Australian reviewers gave the sandwich favorable reviews when it appeared in 2017, which may have stemmed from the customizable nature of the order. Back then, guests could choose the type of chicken patty to be included in the sandwich, rather than defaulting to the McNugget-like patty that seems to be the standard now. A 2023 U.K. reviewer had kind things to say about the non-burger burger, pointing out that this version included pickles, though it wasn't a preferred element (nor was the cheese ... maybe they didn't know what a Big Mac was all about).

Food blogger Burger Beast was able to find a Chicken Big Mac in Miami to take for a test drive ahead of the wide release, though it wasn't listed on the board and had to be ordered secret menu-style. The verdict: McNugget lovers will likely appreciate the sandwich, though replacing the special sauce with hot mustard dipping sauce might have made it better. It also would make it a Chicken Not-Big Mac — there are rules to be followed here. A 2022 write-up on London site Cheeseburger Me went into detail regarding each aspect of the sandwich, arriving at a total 52 out of 100 for the overall sandwich. That's not the most encouraging rating, though a dedicated burger reviewer is likely to be far more discerning than the average McDonald's fan.

Eagle-eyed TikTokers predict the U.S. launch date for the Chicken Big Mac as September 4, and although there's no confirmation of this, it would be a shrewd move for McDonald's to kick off the post-Labor Day fall dining season with a sensational new item shining on its digital menu board. But the company is playing this promotion close to the vest, holding onto details like release date and list price until the sandwich hits restaurants. Fans looking to get in on day one would do well to set a Google alert for "Chicken Big Mac" to make sure they don't miss it, though following social media food influencers may be a more entertaining way to stay in the know.

As is the pattern these days, your hot-off-the-griddle opportunity to grab a Chicken Big Mac will be operating on a countdown clock. That's right, this sandwich is a limited-time-only item with a start date that has yet to be announced ... which means the end date is entirely unforeseen by anyone but the most trusted souls at the Clown Kingdom. If popularity drives corporate decision-making, it could become a permanent member of the cast somewhere down the line. Reddit users in the U.K. have expressed their wishes to see something similar in their market, a sign that demand didn't let up even after the temporary availability. Anything is possible if it means more taps on McDonald's credit card readers at the register.