McDonald's McPlant Is Coming To The US Sooner Than You Think

Move over, Impossible Whopper – the McPlant is coming soon to a McDonald's near some of you! In an announcement on its site, the company said it would be releasing the McPlant on November 3, 2021, at eight eateries. The locations include Irving, TX, Carrollton, TX, Cedar Falls, IO, Jennings, LA, Lake Charles, LA, El Segundo, CA, and Manhattan Beach, CA. The plant-based burger was tested earlier this year in Europe, arriving in Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands, among other countries since February. The company notes that the results of the November trial run will determine how it moves forward. "You'll have to stay tuned for future McPlant availability updates coming out of our test," the announcement states. 

The vegan patty was co-created with Beyond Meat, Today reports. The patty contains peas, rice, and potatoes, and when served as the McPlant, it will be topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickles, onions, mustard, and ketchup. In February, McDonald's and Beyond Meat announced a three-year global partnership that involves supplying the McPlant patties as well as coming up with potential new plant-based menu items (via the Beyond Meat website).

One of the issues that have held back the rollout of the McPlant, McDonald's notes on its site, was how to cook the plant-based burger while still maintaining its regular offerings. The new burger release is a test run, and the company says that "this particular test will help us understand how offering a burger with a plant-based patty impacts the kitchens in our restaurants."

One of the possible pitfalls with cooking McPlants, Today points out, is that the patties will share a grill with the regular burgers. While the patty itself is vegan/vegetarian, preparing it on a grill used for meat could make it non-vegan in the minds of many vegans. The company itself has a disclaimer on its test phase announcement, stating, "In addition to the plant-based patty, the McPlant in the U.S. contains non-plant-based ingredients such as American cheese and mayonnaise. It's also cooked on the same grill as meat-based products and eggs." 

It's an issue that Burger King encountered as well with its Impossible Whopper, which led to a lawsuit. Though Restaurant Dive points out that the company Burger King didn't actually market its plant-based Whopper as vegan, and that the majority of people eating the meat-alternative burgers aren't vegetarians themselves. Similarly, McDonald's is not marketing the McPlant (which is topped with cheese and mayo) as a vegan option.