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McDonald's Big Mac Recipe
McDonald's Big Mac
By Todd Wilbur

Recipe Type: Sandwich
Calories: 560
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Recipe Rating: 4.7 (29 reviews)
 

Brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened the first McDonald's drive-in restaurant in 1948, in San Bernardino, California. When the brothers began to order an increasing amount of restaurant equipment for their growing business, they aroused the curiosity of milk-machine salesman Ray Kroc. Kroc befriended the brothers and became a franchising agent for the company that same year, opening his first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois. Kroc later founded the hugely successful McDonald's Corporation and perfected the fast-food system that came to be studied and duplicated by other chains over the years. The first day Kroc's cash register rang up $366.12. Today the company racks up about $50 million a day in sales in more than 12,000 outlets worldwide, and for the past ten years a new store has opened somewhere around the world an average of every fifteen hours. The double-decker Big Mac was introduced in 1968, the brain-child of a local franchisee. It is now the world's most popular hamburger and it is super easy to duplicate at home. You can use Kraft Thousand Island dressing for the special sauce, or just follow the link in the ingredients list to another recipe for cloning the special sauce from scratch.

For a live demonstration of this classic clone recipe, check out this video.
1 sesame-seed hamburger bun
half of an additional hamburger bun
1/4 pound ground beef
dash salt
1 tablespoon Kraft Thousand Island dressing

Thousand Island Dressing
1 teaspoon finely diced onion
1/2 cup chopped lettuce
1 slice American cheese
2 to 3 dill pickle slices

1. With a serrated knife, cut the top off the extra bun half, leaving about a 3/4-inch-thick slice. This will be the middle bun of your sandwich

2. Place the three bun halves on a hot pan or griddle, face down, and toast them to a light brown. Set aside, but keep the pan hot.

3. Divide the ground beef in half and press into two thin patties slightly larger than the bun.

4. Cook the patties in the hot pan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Salt and pepper lightly.

Build the burger in the following stacking order from the bottom up:

bottom bun
half of dressing
half of onion
half of lettuce
American cheese
beef patty
middle bun
remainder of dressing
remainder of onion
remainder of lettuce
pickle slices 
beef patty
top bun

Makes 1 hamburger.
        
Adam Smith  
Submitted on 06/08/12
This tasted exactly like the real deal. Nice Job.
Jamie L.  
Submitted on 06/05/12
This is hilarious - I just made a Big Mac at home! Smelled and tasted so much like the real thing, but I didn't have to drive 2 hours to get it!
Neil Klotz  
Submitted on 04/05/12
I made these with my young son and it was a great success. As we were assembling the burgers, the smell became more and more familiar. Thanks!
James L.  
Submitted on 12/28/11
Todd you really nailed it. My cousin Tried it and he said it was better than the original fast food version. thanks for your help!
Catherine R.  
Submitted on 12/04/11
I made this tonight for dinner. My husband is the hardest person to please when it comes to food. This was a hit. He said it was so close to the real thing and scarfed it down in like a minute flat. I think it actually tasted better than the real thing b/c it was fresh. I added a sprinkle of ground flax to each burger to make it a little healthier, but you couldn't taste that it was there.
Andrew Shulman  
Submitted on 10/22/11
I've made these several times, and they always come out perfect. I've made a bunch at once for dinner for my family, and everyone loved them. A lot of my friends said they were even better than mcdonald's (i guess because of the lack of grease). I would recommend making the patties a good amount bigger than the bun, since they shrink A LOT when you cook them. Overall though, a perfect clone.
natasha Kerr  
Submitted on 03/02/11
I refuse to eat at McDonald's anymore, haven't in 23 years because everything tastes the same. My husband printed this off for me to try because I LOVE testing your recipes and it was TO DIE FOR!!! It was better than an actual Big Mac!!!! I will eat this from now on!!
Dom  
Submitted on 03/02/10
Amazing...a true Big Mac made at home. Unbelievable!
Paul  
Submitted on 05/09/09
Great Job! I love Big Macs and I love being able to make them at home now! Thanks!
jason  
Submitted on 04/30/09
Had never tried a big mac until I tried this recipe and now I am addicted to them! Can anyone help me out I'm in Australia and we don't have creamy french dressing so I am using liquid french salad dressing? - Tastes amazing still but am I using the correct substitute? Thanks
Rafael Dubena  
Submitted on 04/05/09
This is just like the real one! My whole family loved it and I made it in Brazil! Very good, thank you!
KanKicker  
Submitted on 03/15/09
Amazingly Accurate! I used two 8-ounce burgers instead of the directed. I also used the hamburger buns I already had, but the taste and saucetasted just like the real thing!
DuckyBob  
Submitted on 02/15/09
This is a fantastic recipe clone. You probably would not be reading this if you were not already a Big Mac fan. So here we go. Follow the recipe EXACTLY. The only thing I would recommend is using "Kraft Select American Cheese Slices" It is closer in flavor to the original cheese used back in the 70s. The construction really is critical, do it just as Todd instructs. The special Big Mac sauce is also very important, take the time to prepare the cloned recipe for that also, (a little further down the recipes page) It is well worth the effort. I have been a Big Mac fan for almost 40 years, and now I can make 'em at home! Thanks Todd, you're the man.
Jasmine  
Submitted on 09/05/08
Perfect!!! Love these! And what's best about them (besides their taste) is that they don't have the Trans Fat that you get at Mc Donald's! Oh - one thing we changed about them is increased each patty to be 3oz instead of 2, since the buns at the store are larger than those ad Mc Donald's. We also use dill pickle relish instead of sweet relish in the dressing.
Walt  
Submitted on 07/25/08
I made a batch of these when some friends came over. They loved them! They liked that they tasted like big macs but were right off the grill and weren't luke warm like Mcdonald's serves them.
Jackie  
Submitted on 05/27/08
This recipe is fantastic!There is a difference in the taste and texture though and I couldn't quite put my finger on it til I realized the burger I had just made had MINIMAL preservatives and MINIMAL fat - That's the difference! My husband is now addicted to them and won't eat any other burger
Chris  
Submitted on 02/09/08
I had a family cookout awhile ago,and I made 20 of these burgers. They all said they are better than the real Big Mac!!!! From now on they insist I make them at all cookouts.
crystalsman  
Submitted on 01/27/08
I dont think it was as good as the real thing but it was one of the best homemade burgers I've ever had.
T.A.Verns  
Submitted on 11/01/07
Sounds like a good way to make a classic. Although this fella Michael down here is a weirdo. Doubtful that he even has a kid, or a wife for that matter.
Luke  
Submitted on 11/01/07
It is so easy to follow!! I love it!
ronniedu  
Submitted on 10/17/07
i made this for my family and we all loved it..it was a huge hit..i asked my hubby on a scale from 1-5..(5 being the highest) what would he rate it...he gave it a 4...i did as well..he said u did a good job on the sauce and asked me to make it with all of our hamburgers from now on...
pax  
Submitted on 10/04/07
I just made 5 of them for my husband (skinny bottomless pit) He absolutely loved them and said they were much better than the Big Macs from the past and present..I added one more slice of cheese and one more set of pickles and put the sauce on all 3 bun tops...it was a nice fat burger...Thanks so much!! :)
Kim  
Submitted on 09/30/07
This was great!!!
Russell C.  
Submitted on 09/29/07
Great clone of an American favorite. I used lean ground beef to make them healthier than the original. The whole family enjoyed them and we saved money too.
Michael  
Submitted on 09/29/07
What a poor excuse for a recipe. Heck, my kid can make this one. Give us a break Todd...no wonder this was a freebie. I bet you won't even show this as a comment...coward.
chase  
Submitted on 09/26/07
Great! Just like McDonald's...I ate five already! The sauce is perfect!
Suzanne  
Submitted on 09/25/07
This recipe is FAR superior to the actual McDonalds burger...which I think are vile and disgusting. Haven't eaten McDonalds in years and never will again. The McDonalds burger is thinner, greaser and the beef is cut with something...probably soy.
katie  
Submitted on 09/25/07
This recipe rocks, especially with the kids.
Donna  
Submitted on 09/25/07
Fantastic recipe. Easy to follow directions.