Oh, Mickey D’s. Your incredibly delicious and amazingly priced menu items fuel French fry lovers across the world. If you aren’t a lover of the almighty golden arches, then at least you can respect the success of the company. McDonald’s sells more than 75 burgers every second, and has 62 million people visit their stores each day (that’s greater than the entire population of Italy). Based on business sources, we compiled a list of McDonald’s most popular and successful menu items, and No. 1 is no surprise.
10. McGriddles Breakfast Sandwich
This breakfast sandwich, which combines the sweet of pancakes and the savory of a sausage, egg and cheese, was made in order to combine a classic American breakfast into a handy, drive-through-ready meal. This breakfast item was so successful that in its first 12 months of sale, it accounted for 40 percent of McDonald’s sale-growth in stores.
9. Double Cheeseburger
Although this item is no longer on the dollar menu (it was replaced by the McDouble), this item remains close to the price of $1 and is well-worth the buck. This seemingly simple idea is a sales slam dunk as its simplicity and cheap price are a crowd favorite. My guy friend frequents this menu item by ordering FOUR doubles and stacking them atop each other… Pretty convinced he’s responsible for most of Mickey D’s sales with this one.
8. Premium Salads
HAHA. A salad on McDonald’s most popular items of ALL TIME, you must be kidding. However, salads of days past, like the Bacon Ranch and the Southwest Salad, were definitely delicious and the real reason as to why this item made the top 10 lies directly in the name. McDonal’s premium salads came at an equally premium price, which was more than double the cost of a Big Mac (at around $4.20). So obviously, more money was made from those health nuts dragged to Mickey D’s (likely unwillingly).
7. Chicken McNuggets
I’m honestly surprised the McNuggets aren’t higher on this list, however, it wasn’t until the late ’70s that McNuggets were released on menus. Mickey D’s was consistently known as the “burger place,” however, they soon changed their image as these nuggets proved to be very popular. Now, McNuggets are responsible for nearly 10 percent of sales, making them No. 7 on this list.
6. Baked Apple Pie
These pockets of apple pie goodness are one of McDonald’s signatures. When they were first released, these tasty treats were deep fried; however, as Mickey D’s evolved, they had to change their health image and decided to bake the sinful treats. Some people are mad that these treats aren’t the original OG recipe, however, evidently they are still successful at No. 6.
5. Egg McMuffin
This classic breakfast sandwich, served atop an English muffin, was McDonald’s spin on the classic Eggs Benedict breakfast. The original recipe included Canadian bacon, egg, and cheese. These days you can get different meats, like zesty sausage. This classic menu item aids in the majority of breakfast sales, which account for 15 percent of McDonalds sales.
4. Happy Meal
After the huge success of the Egg McMuffin, McDonald’s was formulating which item would be their next hit. At the time (the 1970s), kids’ meals were an untapped market, so they devised the ever-so-popular Happy Meal. The box was simple at first — a hamburger and fries, with a simple toy on the side. Clearly this addition was a hit, as McDonald’s has sold more than 3.6 billion of these circus-themed boxes since their reveal.
3. Snack Wrap
Like the McGriddle and McMuffin, the Snack Wrap was made with drive-thru customers in mind. This simple, yet yummy, menu item packs a punch with its white-breast chicken, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, and ranch, all wrapped up in a nice, big flour tortilla.
Because McDonald’s marketed this item as a “snack” food, the product sold big time. After all, who needs the excuse of a meal time to hit up Mickey D’s? I’m down for whenever—call it a snack.
2. Big Mac
Nothing says McDonald’s like the Big Mac. Arguably McDonald’s most iconic menu item, the Big Mac was brought to life in the late ’60s and was originally sold for just 45 cents. Nowadays, the price has risen to $3.99. This sandwich has been consumed over 550 million times in the US alone. Anyone else wondering how many cows that is?
1. French Fries
I knew it all along. The almighty french fries. The backbone of the American diet and reason I get out of bed on Saturday mornings (french fries are a breakfast food, right?). These bad boys are sold 9 million times A DAY at McDonald’s everywhere, so according to my math, that’s 3,285,000,000 piounds of fries annually. At that rate, McDonald’s must be the potato farmer’s holy grail.
There you have it: the top 10 reasons why McDonald’s is as successful as they are. These foods dominate menus across the world and without these the success of McDonald’s would not be possible. I don’t know about you, but now I’m craving a #1 and a #2. Time to head to the almighty golden arches.