In many ways, fast-food secret menus exist because customers often have more creativity than the restaurant's chefs. When McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's chefs create new items they have an unlimited kitchen.
It might not be practical to bring in truffles or add siracha sauce to the menu, but they can add new items. When a customer creates the next social media secret menu sensation, they can only use existing menu items.
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And while adding french fries to a McDonald's (MCD) -) cheeseburger (the McFry) isn't all that clever, it's a secret menu item that, at least in Australia has crossed over to the chain's regular menu.
One McDonald's does that, even in a market outside the United States. It provides both higher recognition and an official recipe for a now not-so-secret menu item. That makes it much easier for customers anywhere in the world to either order the item or construct it themselves.
That's something McDonald's embraced last summer as it shared a bunch of secret menu ideas as a part of a promotion. Now, the chain has added a sure-to-be popular item to its menu in Canada that U.S. visitors can easily recreate on their own.
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McDonald's adds a Mighty McMuffin
The classic Egg McMuffin, which launched in 1971, essentially set the standard for fast-food breakfasts. McDonald's did not create the breakfast sandwich, but it most certainly made it a key part of the fast-food landscape.
Conceived as a portable take on Eggs Benedict, the original Egg McMuffin was a simple sandwich of an egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon served on an English Muffin. That has been modified over the years with new proteins -- bacon and sausage -- as well as with the chain adding new breads.
McDonald's now has breakfast sandwiches on a pancake (the McGriddle), biscuits, and it recently brought back its breakfast bagel sandwich line. Now, in Canada, the company has released a new version of the Egg McMuffin that has long been a secret menu favorite.
"The Mighty McMuffin features a freshly cracked egg, processed cheddar cheese, with both sausage and a double serving of bacon on a toasted English muffin," Chew Boom reported.
That's a combination that makes sense, but it has never been an official release in the U.S. It is, however, very easy to make your own Mighty McMuffin. Simply order a Sausage McMuffin with Egg and add a side of bacon.
McDonald's does not promote that it offers bacon as a side dish, but you can actually add two slices of bacon to any order.
McDonald's faces a breakfast challenge
The Mighty McMuffin comes at a time when McDonald's faces an increased challenge from Wendy's (WEN) -), which has been investing heavily in promoting its breakfast menu. That fast-food chain has a new 3 for $3 deal where customers can select two breakfast menu items from a list including four options: the Sausage Biscuit, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Small Seasoned Potatoes, and a small brewed coffee.
That's very similar to the chain's 4 for $4 and $5 Biggie Bag deals which have anchored its lunch and dinner menus. Wendy's, which has passed Burger King to be McDonald's biggest burger rival in the U.S., has steadily grown its morning sales since reentering the space just before the covid pandemic hit.
The company no longer breaks out its specific sales by dollars for the daypart, but Wendy's has shared that breakfast sales continue to grow.
