A new secret item has been added to the New Zealand McDonald’s menu – but you may not want to get too excited.
The new Salad Burger contains an egg, cheese, McChicken sauce, shredded lettuce, two pickles and onions on a quarter-pounder bun.
But if you were a strict vegetarian hoping for a way to finally eat a McDonald’s burger, you’d be out of luck – because there’s ‘elements of beef product’ in the cheese.
The new secret menu Salad Burger will be introduced at McDonald’s stores in New Zealand
According to the New Zealand Herald, the Salad Burger at $5.90 will rival Burger King’s Salad Burger, which is $6.30 and is actually visible on the menu.
But the Burger King Salad Burger could be more successful because it is actually a vegetarian option with onion rings, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion and cheese with creamy mayonnaise on a toasted sesame seed bun.
When the McDonalds Salad burger was taste tested by a team of three vegetarians, the results weren’t great.
It was described as ‘really unpleasant’ and ‘not great’ by the first two people that tried it, before the third let loose in a video filmed by the New Zealand Herald.
‘This could be a big thing. There’s so many vegetarians out there that want Salad Burgers, so you go to McDonald’s and you want something a little more than just an egg stuffed in a burger bun. To me, I just think it’s lazy.’
Another commented that it would be better with a hash brown on it, and then backtracked and said she wasn’t sure that even that will help.
‘It’s just overall one texture,’ said the first taste-tester. ‘It’s like eating a really horrible savoury marshmallow.’
When the team tried to Burger King Salad Burger to compare, they all agreed it was ‘much better’.
McDonald’s Finland has announced that is will be trialling a vegan burger on their new menu
They said it was ‘crunchy’ and that had a real flavour and texture and was generally ‘way more palatable’.
The McDonald’s New Zealand Salad Burger is expected to be rolled out gradually across the country.
There was also an attempt to widen the appeal of McDonald’s in Finland recently, as a new Vegan Burger was introduced.
The fast food chain revealed the new burger, aptly named the McVegan, will be available until November 21 in Tampere, Finland.
It is expected the burger will be trialed in other countries, including Australia, if it is successful in Finland.
The McVegan burger is currently only available at one participating outlet in Tampere, Finland
The McVegan looks to be similar to a Big Mac burger but features a soy-based patty instead.
With lettuce, tomato, onions, ketchup and mustard, the new item has already set social media alight.
The first picture of the McVegan of Finnish McDonald’s social media gained over 500 likes and comments such as ‘Bring it worldwide’ and ‘bring it to Australia’ were popular on the post.
The McVegan looks to be similar to a Big Mac burger but features a soy-based patty instead