McDonald’s fries are arguably the best and quality fast food item ever invented. With their perfectly fried crisp exterior, soft, and pillowy interior, it’s tough to come up with a superior food menu choice, no matter how much you love a McDonald’s Big Mac, or Chicken McNugget.
You probably in love with this delightfully salty treat made decades ago, when you opened your first ever Happy Meal box in the back seat of your car & plunged your hand into the paper wrapper full of crispy and hot, French fries.
And chances are high, your love affair has been surely going strong all these years. In the year 1990, McDonald’s changed its French fries snack recipe in an effort to make the side dish much more “healthier.”
Lifelong supporters of McDonald’s fries might not know the thing there is to know about the favorite fast food. Along with a surprising and mysterious ingredient, there are also claims about the benefits of a diet and food rife with fries from the Golden Arches.
Why & How Did McDonald’s Change its French Fry Recipe?
Beginning in the year 1990, McDonald restaurant ditched the beef-based making and started cooking their fries in pure vegetable oil. It was the chain’s first major alteration to the French fries because they were added to the McDonald’s food menu in the 1950s.
This great switch was all because of a man called Phil Sokolof. After having a serious heart attack in the year 1966, Sokolof began lobbying against cholesterol & fat in fast food items, greatly targeting McDonald’s.
He eventually got the McDonald’s attention, leading the food chain to stop cooking its French fries in beef tallow in 1990. Because of this major change, McDonald restaurant could boast that its beloved side food dish now had no cholesterol & a 45% decrease in fat.
Have there Been More Changes to McDonald’s Food?
Well, since the great 1990 fries revolution, McDonald’s has swapped the oil its french fries are made in twice more. In the year 2002, the chain began cooking the french fries in a soy-corn oil blend, & in 2007 & 2008, McDonald restaurant phased in an oil that was free of trans fats.

McDonald’s current french fry ingredients does include “natural beef color and flavor,” but don’t get too much excited, tallow lovers. According to the multinational company, that so-called natural fries flavor is made of “wheat & milk derivatives.”
So there isn’t any sort of actual beef product in the french fries – although they are not vegan-friendly, thanks to the hydrolyzed pure milk that’s used. McDonald’s french fries are still the most famous menu item that the chain restaurant serves. Worldwide, this restaurant sells approximately 9 million pounds of french fries a day. But for some, nothing will compare to that beefy McDonald’s fry flavor of yore.
Modern McDonald’s
In recent few years McDonald restaurant has been one of many junk food restaurants targeted by the labor movement for its business & hiring practices.
The Service Employees International Union in the country has led multiple strikes against junk food locations around the country, that includes McDonald’s restaurants as well. This became famous as the Fight for Fifteen, a real push to raise the national minimum salary to $15 an hour.
While McDonald restaurant has not taken an aggressive stand on the problem, it has slowly and steadily begun rolling out automated ordering process at some of its restaurants.
Then, in the year 2019, it acquired the AI company Apprentice. This acquisition is commonly seen as a signal that McDonald restaurant intends to further emphasize a low-employee and self-service business model to cut down on their costs.
Best Copycat McDonald’s Fries Recipes (Hoe To Videos)
How To Make McDonalds Fries At Home
From POPSUGAR Food: In this video Brandi did an excellent job mimicking Mcd’s fries with step by step instructions and educational clips from myth busters.
Crispy French Fries Recipe Like McDonalds
From The Terrace Kitchen: Well explained recipe, fries surprisingly turn out to be very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The perfect combination!.. Easy and fast.
Homemade McDonalds French Fries
From World Foods 4u: This french fry recipe comes very close (taste & look) to McDonald’s fries if you cut them thin.. Cut them thick and they make a great side dish for BBQ’s.