5 Ordering Tips To Get The Best McDonald's Big Mac

There's no doubt that McDonald's Big Mac is an iconic fast food item. The double-stacked cheeseburger is so emblematic of American food culture that The Economist incorporated it into an informal measuring tool for currency valuation, referred to as the Big Mac Index. Even so, this legendary sandwich can still benefit from a few simple ordering tips that can get you the best McDonald's burger.

In case you don't know, McDonald's famous Big Mac consists of two all-beef patties topped with tangy Big Mac sauce, pickles, shredded lettuce, chopped onion, and American cheese, layered between a sesame seed bun (plus a central piece of unseeded bread called the "club"). The hefty cheeseburger was invented by franchise owner Jim Delligatti, who introduced it in 1967 at his Uniontown, Pennsylvania Mickey D's location. Delligatti shared in a 2007 Reuters interview that the Big Mac has remained largely unchanged since its debut, except for a small adjustment in its early days. He revealed, "The first day we just used the regular bun, we didn't have any center (bread) slice. Making it that way made it very sloppy. The next day we put the center slice in, and today it looks the same."

According to Delaware Online, the fast food behemoth sells an estimated 550 million Big Macs in the U.S. each year. In April 2023, McDonald's announced several changes to its fan-favorite burger lineup — including the Big Mac — such as toasted buns, melted cheese, onions added to the patties on the grill, and more Big Mac sauce.

In the fast food world, the smallest tweaks can sometimes make a big difference. One of these is a simple Big Mac hack that'll make your sandwich extra gooey and delicious: Order extra cheese and extra sauce. (This also happens to be the unique way Dax Shepard orders a McDonald's Big Mac.) For many people, the creamy, sweet, tangy sauce is what makes this item delicious, so why not add more? The main ingredients in this condiment are sweet pickle relish, vinegar, turmeric, and paprika, plus onion and garlic powder. To make your own at home, check out our copycat Big Mac sauce recipe.

The Big Mac also comes with only one slice of cheese, which, for some people, isn't the ideal ratio for a burger with double patties and buns. Customers can request these standard customizations at the cash register, through the drive-thru, or easily on the app. The extra cheese will cost you around $1 more, while the extra Mac Sauce costs around $0.45, depending on location.

In addition to extra cheese and sauce, customers can add extra onions, lettuce, and pickles, or add on tomatoes and mayonnaise. Consider also boosting your burger's protein and height with an extra patty or two (about $1 per extra patty).

McDonald's makes the majority of its burgers from frozen patties that are cooked on a griddle with salt and pepper. These burger patties are pre-cooked and held in a warming tray known as a Universal Holding Cabinet (UHC) until they're assembled for orders. According to one of many TikTok tips provided by former McDonald's corporate chef Mike Haracz, the pre-cooked burgers are seasoned on the griddle, so if you ask for an unseasoned patty, they'll have to cook you a new one, thus giving you a fresh, hot patty (or patties) for your Big Mac.

Haracz goes on to say that customers can just ask nicely for a freshly cooked patty for their burger and explain that they're willing to wait. Try making this polite request at the cash register or in the drive-thru. Whether or not Mickey D's will accommodate this customization is likely based on location, how busy the restaurant is, and how receptive the employees are to special requests.

Another way to snag a fresher patty is to upgrade your Big Mac with Quarter Pounder patties. While the Big Mac is made with frozen meat, McDonald's Quarter Pounder is the only burger it cooks to order with fresh beef, giving the juicy sandwich a freshly grilled flavor.

Since customers have discovered this patty difference, they've found ways to take advantage of it. For instance, some McDonald's employees pointed out on Reddit that you can order a Big Mac and request it with Quarter Pounder patties instead of the typical frozen version. While some people called this a difficult request, others pointed out its relative simplicity. As one person wrote, "Literally all you have to do is just ask the cashier for a Big Mac with Quarter Pounder patties instead. That's it, it's that simple. The employee will know how to do it. You don't have to explain each step to them."

Just bear in mind that the upgraded patties will likely raise the cost of your Big Mac. Also, one Reddit user from Ontario wrote that a McDonald's manager told them "no" when they requested this customization, so not all locations will be willing to accommodate it.

Another simple yet effective way to improve your Big Mac is to request steamed bread. If you've ever ordered the chain's fish sandwich, you've experienced the thing that makes McDonald's Filet-O-Fish unique: the pillowy-soft bun. Each of these buns sits in a steamer for a few seconds before assembly to make it extra fluffy. 

On TikTok, former McDonald's corporate chef Mike Haracz urges customers to visit their local McDonald's and ask for a steamed bun with their burger. Like other special requests, your order may take longer, and you face the possibility of being turned down, but it doesn't hurt to ask nicely for this quick Big Mac game-changer. It's also fairly simple to execute, so there's a good chance employees won't consider it an over-the-top customization.

On a Reddit post about this bun hack, several responses indicated that it's not a problem. One person wrote, "If you just want your bun steamed instead of toasted, we'll do that, no problem, it doesn't matter to us whether we put it in the toaster or steamer. Even substituting a hamburger bun for a royal bun with sesame on it is allowed if the manager OKs it." Apparently, whether or not a location will accommodate a bun substitution (with or without an extra charge) is largely based on manager approval. As always, some good manners go a long way.

Unlike McDonald's Double Cheeseburger, which comes with two patties stacked on top of each other, the Big Mac features a center bread slice (called the "club") that separates the patties and adds to the sandwich's heftiness. While Big Mac creator Jim Delligatti told Reuters in 2007 that this helps hold the ingredients in place, some people say removing this bread slice improves the cheeseburger.

Over on Reddit, one user who accidentally received a Big Mac without the center piece of bread vowed to always ask for it that way moving forward. Others agreed that the middle bun adds too much bread to the burger and that its sliding motion can be annoying.

While you can simply remove the center slice yourself, you can save yourself some time and mess by asking the employee to make it without the extra piece. Or, as one Reddit user advised, request a different bun entirely: "Just order it as a Big Mac sub Quarter bun. It's faster, and probably easier to understand on a headset/communicate with the kitchen."