Why Are McDonald's Chicken Nuggets So Good?

If there's one thing children and adults alike can't resist, it's a Chicken McNugget. Maybe it's the clever name, the crispy outer shell, or the juicy chicken inside that keeps us ordering McDonald's chicken nuggets. Whatever it is, we can't imagine chicken nuggets not being available on the menu — but the truth is, they originally weren't.

The History of the McNugget

Originally, McDonald's was a burger and fries joint. As the fast food restaurant wars began to rage between McDonald's, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's CEO, Ray Kroc, quickly realized the menu needed to expand.

Kroc added things like the Big Mac, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, and the Egg McMuffin to McDonald's lineup, which all became menu hits. However, in 1977, the Senate released its first set of dietary guidelines that recommended Americans reduce their consumption of red meat — which was bad news for Mickey D's whose menu was primarily made up of burgers.

McDonald's had a trick up its sleeve, though: a gourmet chef named René Arend. Kroc hired Arend to innovate McDonald's menu. After the new guidelines began hurting McDonald's business, Arend was tasked with creating a new menu item that didn't include red meat.

Arend suggested fried chicken, but KFC was already dominating that market. He suggested chicken pot pie, but Kroc wanted something that customers could eat on the go. At first, Chef Arend created something called the onion nugget, but it was a miss. Finally, Chicken McNuggets were introduced to the menu in 1983. Arend, and a team of culinary specialists, figured out a way to create a deboned, bite-sized chicken nugget, which became the McNugget that we know and love today.

What Makes the McNugget So Good?

There are four unique things that make the Chicken McNugget so delicious: the flavor, the texture, the shape, and the sauces. But to really understand the difference between a McNugget and another fast food restaurant's chicken nugget, you need to know how McDonald's nuggets are made.

How are McDonald's Chicken Nuggets Made?

There are some common misconceptions when it comes to how McNuggets are made. But luckily for us, McDonald's released a How It's Made episode about its chicken nuggets (just like it released an episode about its french fries). The episode features former MythBusters host Grant Imahara who takes viewers through the Tyson facility to debunk the internet's rumors surrounding McNuggets — and spoiler alert, McDonald's chicken nuggets are made with real chicken.

First, McDonald's McNuggets are made with white meat only — which includes breast meat, rib meat, tenderloin, and just a little bit of the chicken skin (for extra flavor). The chicken is ground into a coarse ground chicken mixture. It's coarser than the ground chicken that you find at the grocery store, which gives the McNugget its thick, meaty texture.

Then, the ground chicken is mixed with marination ingredients, which are all publicly available on the McDonald's site. The ingredients include water, sodium phosphates, food starch-modified, salt, natural flavoring, wheat starch, dextrose, citric acid, autolyzed yeast extract, rosemary extract, and safflower oil. These components work together to add moisture, enhance flavor, and preserve freshness.

The chicken is then formed into four iconic shapes: a bowtie, boot, bell, and ball. The formed chicken nugget is breaded three times — first in a light batter, then in a breading with celery and white pepper, and finally in a thick tempura batter that contains leavening agents to aerate the batter. This gives the McNugget the crispy, yet airy texture and lightly spiced flavor.

The McNuggets are only partially fried at the facility to set the batter, then flash frozen, and shipped to each McDonald's restaurant where they will be fully cooked to order. An interesting note is that factories have kitchens on site to spot-check fully cooked nuggets every hour to make sure production is turning out perfect pieces.

While the chicken nugget is delicious on its own thanks to the crispy, aerated breading and the juicy all-white chicken inside, the McNugget is even better with some dipping sauces (and McDonald's knows it).

The Secret Behind McDonald's Sauces

Not only did Chef Arend create the legendary McNugget, but he also changed the way Americans viewed sauces. He tested hundreds of sauces and narrowed them down to four to be served alongside the McNugget when it launched: mustard sauce, sweet and sour, honey sauce, and barbecue. The sauces all went to market served in a dipping cup that is perfectly sized to fit a nugget.

Today, a variation of those four sauces are still available, plus Buffalo and ranch.

Whether you dip your McNuggets or not, the idea to serve sauces alongside the chicken nuggets so everyone can have a different tasting experience is brilliant.

We can't imagine Mickey D's without the iconic McNuggets, so next time you order a six-count, you know you have a gourmet French chef to thank.