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McDonald's Secret Sauce Revealed: Here's the Official Big Mac Recipe

Jul 18, 2012 04:32 PM

Delicious multi-layered burger with sesame seed bun and various toppings.

If you've ever wondered what exactly goes into a McDonald's sandwich (or what the heck that secret sauce stuff is anyways), you might be a little surprised to learn that all of the ingredients are readily available at your local grocery store. In an interesting move, McDonald's has released a video featuring Executive Chef Dan Coudreaut showing, step by step, how to make your own Big Mac sandwich at home.

Cheeseburger with two beef patties, lettuce, pickles, onions, and cheese on a sesame seed bun.

Here is the video, and if you'd like to read along with Coudreaut's instructions, you can check them out below.

Ingredients

You will need the following to put together your homemade Big Mac.

Diced onions
Lettuce
Hamburger pickles
Hamburger bun (with sesame seeds)
100% ground beef
Cheese
Mayonnaise
Sweet pickle relish
Yellow mustard
White wine vinegar
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Paprika
Salt
Pepper

Mix the Sauce

Add together the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, vinegar, garlic, onion, and paprika. Mix well.

Person mixing ingredients in a metal bowl on a wooden countertop.

Prepare the Condiments

Dice an onion (if you haven't already), and cut the lettuce and pickle into slices.

Chopping onions on a wooden cutting board.

Person chopping vegetables on a wooden cutting board.

Toast the Bun

Lightly toast the hamburger bun in a pan. Don't forget that a Big Mac has an extra slice of bread in the middle!

Prepare the Patty

Shape the ground beef into two patties. A hamburger patty ring may be very helpful here.

Photo by Williams-Sonoma

Cook the Hamburger Meat

You are looking for a good browning on the underside of each burger. Once you flip them over, season lightly with salt and pepper.

Two burger patties cooking in a black frying pan.

Assemble

Once the patty has cooked, spread the sauce on the heel and the club, with a pinch of onions and lettuce. Then add a piece of cheese, 2 pickles, and then the beef.

Close-up of a hand assembling a hamburger with a cooked beef patty and toppings on a sesame seed bun.

The Big Mac

Triumphantly place the club on top of the heel, and the crown on top of that. Savor and enjoy.

Tall cheeseburger with sesame seed bun and layered ingredients

It's certainly an interesting PR move on the part of McDonald's, and one does have to wonder how accurate this recipe is. It's certainly (and unsurprisingly), not specific on the amount of each ingredient that goes in. Still, I find it reassuring that at the very least, real food does go into a Big Mac sandwich; and if I wanted to, I could very well make one myself.

Want to make other McDonald's food? Check out the recipes for their french fries and the McRib.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.