You Should Never Order a Big Mac, According to a Former McDonald’s Chef

It’s no secret that McDonald’s Big Mac is one of the most popular things on the menu—in fact, it’s reported that the fast food restaurant sells more than 550 million Big Macs in the U.S. every year. Order a Big Mac topped with tangy Big Mac sauce, a side of fries, and a Coke, and you’ve got yourself the classic Mickey D’s meal.

However, a former McDonald’s corporate chef recently said you should never order a Big Mac. Mike Haracz, McDonald’s former Manager of Culinary Innovation who shares tips on TikTok—like when to avoid visiting Mickey D’s restaurants—recently stitched a video of a McDonald’s employee making a “McDouble Big Mac.”

“Don’t order a Big Mac; you should be ordering this every time,” Haracz says. “A McDouble like a Mac.”

What to Order Instead of a Big Mac

For those who don’t know, McDonald’s Big Mac starts with a bun topped with Big Mac sauce, onions, lettuce, cheese, a burger patty, another bun, more Big Mac sauce, more onions, more lettuce, pickles, another burger patty, and finally the top sesame seed bun. While a McDouble features two burger patties, cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard on a regular bun.

Haracz says instead of ordering the monstrous Big Mac, you should order a McDouble “like a Big Mac,” which means order a McDouble with Big Mac sauce instead of ketchup and mustard and add shredded lettuce.

“This is the superior way,” he says. “McDouble only has one slice of cheese, just like a Big Mac, there’s no middle bun. It is so much better and cheaper.” 

That’s right, the McDouble with Mac sauce will also save you money. Haracz says it’ll save you about $2—though the price can vary depending on your restaurant since franchises can set their own menu pricing. That might not sound like that big of a deal, but when a burger can run you almost $7 and a meal about $10, saving some extra bucks pays off in the long run.

The only catch with this menu hack is that it can’t be used when ordering online. McDonald’s doesn’t allow you to add Big Mac sauce to anything other than a Big Mac on its app—so you’ll have to ask the employee at the drive-thru or register.

“If a restaurant is not willing to do [this] for you, maybe don’t go to that one go to a different one,” Haracz says.

Additionally, some commenters claimed that their McDonald’s upcharged them for adding Big Mac sauce to the McDouble. Some said it was $.40 extra, while others claimed it was $2 extra, so you might want to ask the employees if there’s an upcharge before trying the hack.

Hopefully, though, Haracz’s trick will save you a few extra bucks next time you’re craving a Big Mac.