Burger King's Whopper Has Changed For The First Time In Years

Burger King recently announced that its flagship burger, the Whopper, finally got a makeover for the first time in years. The sandwich, which comes with a flame-broiled patty, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayo, and ketchup, all on a sesame seed bun, has a few component upgrades along with some new packaging that will, in theory, improve the overall product.

First of all, the meat has stayed the same, so no changes there. But the burgers are now "stacked tall with freshly cut onions and tomatoes," and the bun has been swapped out in favor of "a more premium, better tasting bun," according to the company. Another big change is that BK switched out the mayo for a new one, claiming the updated version tastes better. Customers had long been complaining that the current mayo recipe isn't very good, so this seems like a subtle admission that it needed to be swapped out.

Finally, the most visually striking change is that each burger is packaged in a cardboard box "to ensure it makes it to guests exactly the way it left the kitchen," per the press release. Hopefully, that means your sandwich won't look like an elephant sat on it (seriously, how do they get so flat?), and the press images indicate that a paper wrapper is around each burger as well. "The Whopper is an icon, so we didn't set out to reinvent it. Instead, we elevated it based on direct guest feedback," said the president of Burger King U.S. and Canada, Tom Curtis.

One of the more recent tweaks to the Whopper was relatively subtle. In 2020, Burger King removed all artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors from its Whoppers nationwide. It celebrated that campaign by displaying a moldy Whopper in an ad to demonstrate that there weren't any shady ingredients in its reformulated sandwich. This current overhaul is decidedly more appealing to the eye and hopefully will improve the overall flavor of each burger. 

Behind the scenes of 2026's new Whopper is one point that could get a little contentious, however. CNN reports that these upgrades to a single sandwich are going to cost franchisees another $4,000 per year, a cost which Burger King corporate is cautioning franchise owners (who ultimately decide on pricing) not to pass along to customers. This could potentially be an unintended side-effect of the Whopper's makeover, but the chain is also banking on the hopes that the tweaked version will be enough to draw former customers back in. McDonald's gave its staple menu burgers an upgrade some years back, too, so it was only natural that BK would eventually have to follow suit as well.