Discontinued McDonald's Menu Items That Deserve A Comeback, According To The Takeout Staff

McDonald's is certainly no stranger to innovation. Yet, for every McRib, McFlurry, or McNugget that has graced the menu over the decades, there are others that failed to make an impact. Even though long gone menu items like Mighty Wings and the McPizza will likely never return to the Golden Arches' menu, that doesn't mean these discontinued fast foods are not missed.  

Just about every McDonald's fan has that one item that left them with a hungry stomach and a broken heart when it was pulled from the menu. Maybe it was axed because of supply chain issues, or people just weren't buying it as much as the chain had hoped, whatever the case, a fast food void was left in its place. 

Who knows if the McDonald's big shots will hear us, but The Takeout writers are sounding off on the discontinued items we want demand back on the menu. 

Back in the 1990s, the conventional wisdom on healthy eating said to avoid fat. As a small child medically compelled to do that, I welcomed the debut of the McLean Deluxe in 1991. Finally, something ostensibly nutritious at McDonald's that wasn't a terrible salad — a real burger, made from a thick, 91% fat-free patty, and the whole sandwich had just 10 grams of total fat, a fraction of what one would get in most everything else at McDonald's. I didn't fall for the company line that the thing tasted just like a normal burger, because it didn't and couldn't and didn't need to do that. To complement the drastically fat-reduced beef patty, McDonald's embraced the West Coast burger style and piled the thing high with lots of lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles, and dabs of ketchup and mustard. The McLean Deluxe wasn't heavy, and felt like a good choice, and it also tasted pretty good — very beefy, just not fatty.

That beef flavor was so pleasantly prominent because it was concentrated. McDonald's had taken out the fat and replaced it with a seaweed derivative, for bulk and mouthfeel. The McLean Deluxe got a lot of initial hype and then faded into the obscure reaches of the vast McDonald's menu, technically available for five years. Unfortunately, after 1996, McDonald's hasn't offered a lot of healthy choices, let alone anything that tastes like a scientifically ideal hamburger — the array of terrible salads certainly don't count.

In 1985 I was eating up "Back to the Future" at the cinema but spitting out the reformulated New Coke. It was an interesting time for fast food too. Companies were trying to be innovative with new flavors, entrees, and desserts.

The McDonald's McDLT was introduced at that time, and while not an original food item, the concept was. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a "Mickey D's" twist on a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. That would have been a great idea in and of itself. Sadly, that was not the case; the McDLT was just a burger. The "new concept" was all about the packaging.

While styrofoam was known to be an environmental hazard even back then, The Golden Arches decided to use it in the form of a dual-chambered styrofoam box. The McDLT was broken into two parts: On one side was a bun and a quarter-pound beef patty still hot from the grill. On the other side, your cool fresh fixins': the other bun, fresh lettuce, cheese and two tomatoes. The box was able to keep things hot and cold, a perfect solution.

Taste and texture-wise, it worked! I remember the mayo still being cool, which enhanced the flavors of the tomato and lettuce. The burger was warm, and when combined, it had the spirit of a BLT but a beefier protein. McDonald's stopped using Styrofoam as packaging in 1990, but if it could find another way to bring back the McDLT, it might solve the app delivery issue of soggy buns and cold burgers.

In college, I had the best summer job: camp counselor. Although it was a day camp, my beloved camp felt much more like a sleep-away camp. It was located on 150 acres of beautiful Illinois prairie and wetland. We spent the days climbing, hiking, singing, and playing. It was magical. Those days were fueled by one thing: The McSkillet Burrito with a large caramel iced coffee from McDonald's. Every morning before work, I'd pick up this duo and house it before rolling through the camp gates and playing in the summer sun all day.

This massive burrito had everything you could want in a breakfast: peppers, potatoes, veggies, eggs, protein, and cheese. Plus, there was a sauce you could add that made it even better. I tried both chicken and sausage, but the chicken was definitely my favorite of the two.

You might wonder why this burrito needs a comeback when there are already sausage breakfast burritos on the menu. The reason is simple: The burritos currently on the breakfast menu are tiny. They are so small, two of them barely make up a full entree for an adult. The McSkillet was large, filling, and perfect to eat on the run. That's why it was a favorite of mine on these summer days. With the resurgence of the snack wrap, I am hopeful that these tenders could be used in the chicken version of the McSkillet burrito, even if this could very well just become one of those fast food breakfast items we are probably never getting back.

Real talk: McDonald's chicken McNuggets are weird. The breading is boring, the seasoning is nonexistent, and as far as texture? The most accurate (SFW) description I can come up with is that it's like a gelatinous cube and a chicken got together and had an angry baby. One questionable, rubbery bite is enough to put you off nuggets for a good long time, but Chicken Selects were glorious. They were all white meat — that actually looked like meat, mind you — and the breading was crispy, a little peppery, and it held the sauce like a champ.

And the thing is, McD's is just kind of messing with us all at this point. Chicken Selects were introduced in the early 2000s, disappeared in 2013, and have shown up a few times since then. It's always temporary, though, just long enough to remind us what we're missing, and then, the chain yanks the rug out — again.

Sure, they were rebooted as the Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, but it was really just another reboot that no one really asked for or wanted. That crispinses just wasn't there, and we all know that it's the crunch that makes fried chicken so dang delicious. Insult to injury? The originals are still available at overseas locations, like the U.K. and Ireland. Sure, life isn't fair, but at least give us our Chicken Selects. It's not too much to ask, is it?

Nostalgia for the late '90s and early '00s is real, and sometimes, it's so real that it hits you right in the heart. It was back in 1997 that McDonald's released the Big N' Tasty, and it was a Whopper-like burger that left no doubts that McD's was absolutely hoping to take a chunk of business away from Burger King. And the thing is, it wasn't just really, really good, but it was 99 cents.

McDonald's still has a McValue menu, sure, but it's definitely not the same. Prices went up and the quality of the burger went down. When the Big N' Tasty disappeared in 2003, we got the Double Cheeseburger instead. It was not a fair trade and yes, I'm still salty about it. Burgers should have lettuce and tomato on them, and by comparison, the Double Cheeseburger just looks sad.

And the thing is, you can kind of replicate the Big N' Tasty. Get a Quarter Pounder, take off the cheese and mustard, then add lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. (Pro tip: Swap the mayo for Big Mac sauce, and you're welcome.) See? All the components are there, so why not put it back on the menu? Make things simple — please? Think of those of us from the 1900s. Our backs hurt, we can't sleep through the night anymore, and we'd just like to order this tasty, tasty burger without having to make things complicated

The McPlant Burger didn't reach legendary status at McDonald's in the U.S. because it never really had the chance. It has the familiar taste of a McDonald's burger, featuring a sesame seed bun and classic toppings like ketchup, mustard, pickles, onion, lettuce, and tomato. The main difference is that the meat in the middle isn't meat, it's Beyond Meat. The U.S. trial, conducted in 600 locations around San Francisco and Dallas, failed to spark sufficient interest in the McPlant Burger. One analyst noted that rural restaurants were only selling 3-5 McPlant Burgers per day, which led to the burger being pulled in July 2022.

Joe Erlinger, the president of McDonald's USA, said in a 2024 interview at WSJ's Global Food Forum, "I don't think the U.S. consumer is looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald's now."

McDonald's in Australia and Austria have followed suit, citing a lack of customer demand for the vegetarian item as the reason. However, the McPlant Burger has been a success in the U.K., Germany, and France, where it has secured permanent status on the menu. You can now even buy Veggie McPlant® Nuggets in France. Unfortunately, 6% of Americans who describe themselves as vegetarians will have to wait for trips across the pond to sink their teeth into a McPlant Burger again. Meanwhile, 39% of Indians who describe themselves as vegetarians can enjoy two completely vegetarian franchises with menu items like the McAloo Tiki Burger and the McSpicy Paneer.

One of the best burgers in the world is a patty melt, and one of the best burgers McDonald's ever made was its take on a patty melt called the Cheddar Melt, which utilized cheddar as its glue, in the form of a drippy sauce. Instead of slices of rye bread, a light toasted rye bun was used, which was a first and perhaps last for the chain.

The Cheddar Melt initially launched as a ⅓-pound burger back in 1984, and after further tweaks, became a ¼-pounder that was ready for its nationwide debut in 1988. McDonald's believed in this product so much that it was even highlighted in a Super Bowl ad that year. Customers flocked to try it, including me, and we helped to improve McDonald's business that first quarter by an 18% increase over the previous year. The limited time offering came and went a few times, including a 1992 version that included bacon. Folks in parts of central Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan were the last lucky souls to get their hands on one in 2014.

In 2024, I was at a promotional event and was able to speak with McDonald's Senior Director, Chef Chad Schafer. The one question I only wanted to know the answer to was when the Cheddar Melt was coming back. He didn't have an answer, but he revealed that he once recreated it in the test kitchen and it was delicious. I was jealously drooling just listening to this. Cheddar Melt, I'm here and ready for your return. Please come home. I miss you so.

McDonald's Chef René Arend got really inventive in the test kitchen during the 1970s and '80s, and when he whipped up a Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich, he added his take on onion rings — Onion Nuggets — as a side item. Arend revealed to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin "You can only take so much of the onion and there was waste, so I cut the onion in pieces, and breaded them in a tempura batter." These nuggets debuted in 1978 and were only available between 4 and 9 pm.

Onion Nuggets hung around until at least 1980, before being discontinued. One reason they didn't last was later explained by Lisa Howard of McDonald's in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "because of the variety in onion supplies it became difficult to control quality." McDonald's archivist Mike Bullington more recently simply said the real reason — "because our customers didn't buy enough of them." However, there was a literal shell of an idea there, as the crispy skin was later experimented with, and gave birth to house one of fast foods' finest inventions — the Chicken McNugget.

While I've been lucky enough to try many fleeting delicious items from McDonald's over the last several decades, one that I never got a chance to try are these almost mythical Onion Nuggets. Can someone please build me a time machine? I'll pack up a briefcase full of cash and travel back to 1978, buy boatloads of Onion Nuggets to ensure their permanent place on McDonald's menu. Who cares if such an altering of history may keep the Chicken McNugget from existing. It's a small price to pay.