If you’re even a semi-regular McDonald’s visitor, you’ve probably got a good grasp of what’s on offer. You’ve got your go-to order, and it might have been a while since you’ve considered trying anything other than the limited edition burgers that roll around every few months.
But as with most things, digging yourself out of a rut can be a great idea. Maybe there’s something lurking on the menu that, for one reason or another, hasn’t caught your eye when it really ought to.
If you’re up a change, you’ll likely make a beeline for the switching out your main, too, but have you considered subbing out the chips for something else? And no, we don’t mean one of the bags of apple slices or carrot sticks.
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The swap in question would be for hash browns, a menu item that many reckon is overlooked and deeply underrated.
For £2.29 – which is admittedly pretty steep for a lone hash brown – you can treat yourself to one of the better brown foods and get an added hit of fibre over what you’d get in the chips. A blend of potato and onion, a flavoursome outer coating, and that moreish mouth feel of crispiness and mushiness… but there’s a hitch.
Here in the UK, this venerable menu item is limited to McDonald’s Breakfast Menu. From 11am they’re packed away and we’re left to wonder what might be possible if Ronald would let us incorporate them into a meal.
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Perhaps McDonald’s is missing a trick with this morning exclusivity. If one Reddit thread is anything to go by, its hash browns could probably sell like hot cakes throughout the day.
“The McDonald's hash-brown is pretty close to fast food perfection,” said one bold claim.
“I wish they sold boxes of them like they do McNuggets,” said another. “I'd grab a 20 pack.” Amen, brother.
“A truer statement has never been uttered in the history of man kind,” said another. Sometimes it’s hard to know where the line is between Reddit’s deadly seriousness and its wanton silliness, but we’re going for the former on this quote.
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“I agree,” chimed another Redditor. “But the hash browns are expensive now.”
That sentiment seems to be the main sticking point: “When they're fried adequately they're pretty good. When undercooked, though, pretty meh. Massively overpriced either way.”
An American Redditor responded: “Yeah but they are $2.49 here. I can get 10 frozen ones for $3.49 and they heat up perfectly in my air fryer.” They’re priced similarly here in the UK, as is a big bag of McCain’s frozen ones.
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If you can stomach the cost, do give them a shot the next time you’re standing bleary-eyed in a McDonald’s before 11am.
Rachael Davis