Copycat Big Mac Recipe

The Big Mac is the signature dish that sets the bar for what all restaurants are known for. There's even a guy that eats one every day, so you know they can't be that bad. Despite The Whopper arriving 10 years before Jim Delligatti invented the Big Mac, the McDonald's sandwich eclipsed not only Burger King's staple sandwich but just about every other quick service restaurants' signature dish.

The Big Mac came a long way from its beginnings — the famed third bun wasn't even on the original prototype, but once they put the whole thing together it really took off. How did the Big Mac become such a hit? Was it the secret of the "special sauce"? Is it just the sheer volume of McDonald's that led to its iconic status? Recreating the Big Mac is a lot easier than you think, and McDonald's even tells you everything you need to make your own.

The McDonald's sesame seed bun isn't the standard bun you can pick up at your local grocery store. It's actually a little smaller than standard, and of course there's a middle "club" piece of bread. That can make creating an exact copy troublesome. Occasionally, you'll find the three-piece sesame seed buns in a grocery store or mega-mart, but if you can't, there are two ways we can replicate it.

The first is rather simple; just use the bottom part of another bun. The other option is to cut off a little less than half of the top bun and use that as the middle portion. The problem with cutting off a portion is the bun sort of sits funny that way and you don't have enough bread on top. You're better off just using the bottom from another bun to make it work. If you're one of those people that can't handle the thought of wasting a top bun and the notion of putting two top buns together to eat something is inconceivable, go ahead and cut the top part.

There's a plethora of copycat recipes for McDonald's signature "special sauce," but let's go right to the source and figure out what it is. The obvious ingredient is mayonnaise. The special sauce is close to a thousand island dressing, with a few little turns that give it that unique taste. One of those turns is Miracle Whip, which shares a lot of ingredients with the special sauce. The other secret ingredient is French dressing — with its caramel color and extracts, it appears to be the final thing on the ingredients list from official site.

The build is fairly simple. A quarter cup each of mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Add a half teaspoon of sweet relish, and two tablespoons of dill relish. A teaspoon each of sugar and minced onion — the more minced the better. I used a regular white onion and not the dry, dehydrated onion that we'll use later on. And finally, the rest of the wet: two tablespoons of French dressing, one teaspoon of ketchup and white vinegar (you don't need a lot), and add a pinch of salt to taste. Give it a nice thorough mixing with a spoon, and refrigerate for at least an hour to get those flavors together.

McDonald's toasts the buns in a special toaster, but your standard home version will do just fine. Toast the buns and get the still-frozen burgers on a flat pan. Set your heat to around medium; you don't need to go super hot because these things are so small they'll cook up pretty fast — McDonald's can cook a burger in about 90 seconds. After a little trial and error, higher heat tended to cause the very thin burgers to break apart, so keep an eye on the heat. Place two of the frozen burgers on the pan and give them a sear — McDonald's presses the burgers down and everything comes out well-done, and that also creates a crust . When you're about 45 seconds to a minute into the process, flip those burgers and salt them. They're practically done by now, but let them go another 30 seconds to a minute.

The bun dressing goes in a specific order. The top bun gets nothing. That's right, not a single thing. Stack the middle bun on top of the top bun, and sit the bottom bun next to it. The bottom bun and middle bun get special sauce and the rehydrated onion, in that order. Give the buns a nice helping of special sauce in the middle of the bun, throw on some onions, and cover those buns with lettuce. The bottom bun gets a slice of cheese. Two pickles go on the middle part.

The meat goes on the bottom and middle, and then McDonald's slides that middle bun on top of the bottom bun. They build the Big Mac in the box, so the only thing left to do is flip the box shut and the top bun lands on top. If you saved a Big Mac box — like I did — you can just flip that sucka shut and you have your own "in the box" Big Mac.