McDonald’s is bringing a new menu item to Canada. Here’s how it tastes

The McDonald's India menu may not be coming to Canada any time soon - despite a petition launched last month by thousands of Brampton residents asking for it - but next week there is one international menu item hitting Canada.

Starting March 7 at participating locations nationwide, McDonald's Canada is coming out with a Chicken Big Mac. Essentially, it's the classic Big Mac except the beef patties are replaced with two chicken patties, while the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and a sesame-seed bun remains.

I was invited to the golden arches' Canadian headquarters in North York to be one of the first in the country to get a taste of it before the Canadian launch (I was previously here to try their Beyond Meat burger that never made it on the menu). The Chicken Big Mac is already available in the U.K. while the U.S. has been testing the sandwich since last summer at Florida locations. In previous years the sandwich also popped up in Australia, Qatar, the Netherlands, Egypt and the UAE.

So, how does it taste? The chicken patties are thinner than the ones in a McChicken and have a similar neutral batter as a McNugget. They're slightly crispy with no overpowering spice that would overshadow the Big Mac sauce. The extra hint of sweet acidity from the pickles reminds me of another chicken sandwich that broke the internet a few years ago, while the slice of cheese adds a velvety texture to contrast the patty.

You ate the whole thing, so that's a good sign" says chef Jeff Anderson, head of the Culinary Innovation department at McDonald's Canada, as he watched me try it at the office's in-house restaurant reserved for staff.

And yes, he has heard all of the requests (and petitions) to revive or introduce every McDonald's item from practically every country and decade. His response is that they're always listening to customer feedback and diversifying offerings.

Rebecca Smart, marketing director of brand strategy of McDonald's Canada, says diners have always been interested in McDonald's global menus (India's version of Chicken Big Mac is called the Maharaja Mac, for example, and has habanero sauce, jalapenos and onions) so this is one item making a Canadian debut. She also notes that TikTok creators have been subbing Big Mac patties with nuggets and McChicken patties to make their own Chicken Big Macs as a hack in recent years, so putting it on the menu is a way to make it official.

On the surface it might seem like adding an existing McDonald's item on a menu might not take long, but Anderson says he first started working on bringing the Chicken Big Mac to Canada two years ago. Even if the sandwich already exists in another country, he says, there are a lot of factors that prolong the process.

We have more than 1,400 restaurants in Canada so we have to ensure it fits into every restaurant's kitchen layout and procedures," he says, noting that he works on items slated for anywhere between the end of the year to 2025. When you're producing for this many restaurants, there are supply chain issues you need to work out with Canadian producers to ensure there's a consistent supply. Then there's also the work that goes into seemingly small things, like designing the box it comes in."

Karon Liu is a Toronto-based food reporter for the Star. Reach him via email: karonliu@thestar.ca