- As part of an ongoing series, I tasted every single burger at McDonald's.
- The fast-food giant impressed me with its Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese.
- The Big Mac was really tasty, but I don't think it necessarily lived up to all of the hype.
- In my opinion, the chain's Hamburger and Double Hamburger were boring and kind of bland.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Over the course of several weeks, I made dozens of trips to various McDonald's locations, determined to taste and review every single burger on the menu.
I tried a total of 18 dishes for this assignment, taking photos of each and jotting down notes about their ingredients, taste, and appearance as I went along.
Here's every single burger at McDonald's, ranked from worst to best.
Note: Prices are based on my local New York City McDonald's location.
Hamburger — $1.39
The basic hamburger at McDonald's had one beef patty, one pickle, chopped onions, ketchup, mustard, and a toasted bun.
It was just sort of plain and a bit bland, in my opinion.
Even though this was the cheapest burger option on the menu, it still didn't feel worth it. I think I would've been happier with a delicious McDonald's apple pie, which costs about the same.
Double Hamburger — $2.89
I accidentally purchased two Double Hamburgers, but after trying one I didn't bother with the second because I simply didn't find this dish to be enjoyable.
Together, the meat patties were moist, but the overall burger felt kind of bland to me with its pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, and regular bun.
Quarter Pounder Hamburger — $5.49
The sesame-seed bun was filled with two patties, onions, ketchup, and pickles.
Overall, the dish had plenty of beef, but the Quarter Pounder Hamburger made me respect cheese more since I think it would've benefited from a slice or two of it.
I felt like without the melted slices of cheese, the onions dominated the burger and masked the flavor of the naked beef.
Quarter Pounder with Cheese — $5.59
If I hadn't taken notes on the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, I feel like I would not have remembered it. It wasn't a bad cheeseburger, but it did not feel markedly different from many others on the menu, which made it forgettable for me.
The burger came with one patty, pickles, slivered onions, two slices of cheese, ketchup, mustard, and a sesame-seed bun.
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese — $6.69
The Double QPC came with two 1/4-pound beef patties, two slices of cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame-seed bun.
It was not the best I've had — I felt like the charbroiled taste and onions overpowered the taste of beef. In my opinion, the burger I tried was not evenly seasoned either since the second half tasted much saltier than the first.
Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Deluxe — $6.49
The Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Deluxe had one beef patty, tomato, mayonnaise, onions, cheese, pickles, a sesame-seed bun, and lettuce.
Unsurprisingly, as you can see from the photo, I felt like the burger tasted more like lettuce than anything else. Yes, I could have easily taken it off, but I chose to review it the way it was sold to me — with a comically large piece of lettuce that barely fit into the box.
Bacon McDouble — $2.99
This burger was fine, but it wasn't my favorite. The only notes I took about the Bacon McDouble I tried were "pretty standard" and "kinda salty."
The burger comes with pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, a slice of bacon, and cheese.
McDouble — $2.29
The only physical difference between a McDouble and a Double Cheeseburger at McDonald's is that the former had one less slice of cheese than the latter.
Both had pickles, cheese, onions, ketchup, mustard, and a regular bun.
Losing that slice of cheese hurt the burger's ranking on this list, but it did put more of a focus on the meat instead of the other toppings.
Double Bacon BBQ Burger — $7.49
The burger featured two meat patties, Applewood-smoked bacon, tangy barbecue sauce, cheese, and crispy fried onions on a regular toasted bun.
After trying the single version and wishing that the flavor of the meat was more prominent, I thought that another patty would make this dish perfect. And, sure, the dual patties tasted charbroiled, but I didn't taste any strong beef flavor.
I was also disappointed that the barbecue sauce and fried onions were only in the center of the patty, so the bites around the edges were a bit on the plain side.
Bacon BBQ Burger — $5.99
The burger featured a beef patty, Applewood-smoked bacon, tangy barbecue sauce, cheese, and crispy fried onions on a regular toasted bun.
The sauce and fried onions took center stage and, because of that, I felt like the taste of the beef was almost completely lost. Still, it was pretty tasty and I appreciated the crunch of the fried onions and bacon.
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Deluxe — $7.29
The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Deluxe had the same charbroiled taste as some of the other burgers I tried, but it was not as overpowering.
I appreciated how balanced the toppings (tomatoes, cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard) were, but I feel like the two patties could have used more salt and pepper.
Triple Cheeseburger — $3.79
This tasted like a denser Double Cheeseburger, which I guess is exactly what it is.
The three burger patties took center stage here, but not necessarily in the best way. Pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard were also present, but they did not come to participate in terms of flavor.
Ultimately, I felt the three patties threw off the ratio of burger-to-bun.
Big Mac — $5.49
The Big Mac has been the signature burger at the golden arches pretty much since it was added to the menu in the late 1960s.
It wasn't my first time trying one, but expectations going in were pretty high.
As outlined in the old jingle, the burger came with two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame-seed bun.
The lettuce was crispy and, much to my delight, no parts of the three-tiered bun were soggy after my five-minute ride home. The Big Mac sauce was familiar, both patties were evenly cooked, and the toppings were messy but tasty.
It's not a small sandwich by any means, but I found that I was surprisingly still hungry after eating it.
Double Cheeseburger — $2.69
The Double Cheeseburger was like a McDonald's Cheeseburger, only taller. The extra patty and cheese were more filling, but the taste was very similar to the original.
Cheeseburger — $1.69
The cheeseburger was simple but effective. I thought the ratio ofbun-to-patty was perfect, and there was just enough ketchup and mustard.
The lonely pickle slice could have used a friend, but I have long believed that the chopped onions that McDonald's adds are the stars of the show.
Bacon Big Mac — $6.49
As the name suggests, the Bacon Big Mac is like the classic (two beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, sesame-seed bun) but with one no-brainer ingredient added: bacon.
The burger and the other components were just as good as I remembered the original being (I tried them several weeks apart), but I think the crispy bacon gave this dish an extra something special.
Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese — $7.69
The Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese seemed perfectly cooked to me.
In addition to the healthy serving of bacon, the burger had two patties, two slices of cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame-seed bun.
It was juicy and flavorful but, in the end, it became a case of having too much of a good thing. Had it been slightly smaller, it would have taken the number-one spot for me.
Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese — $6.69
Overall, the Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese was one of the juiciest burgers that I tried for this taste test. The winning dish consists of a 1/4-pound beef patty, onions, pickles, two slices of cheese, a sesame-seed bun, and thick slices of bacon.
The saltiness of the bacon and beef paired nicely with sweetness of the ketchup, the pleasant bite and crunch of the onion and pickles, and the gooeyness of the cheese.
In my opinion, this still wasn't as good as a burger you'd order from a sit-down restaurant ... but by fast-food standards, it was damn near perfect.
Read More:
- I tried every single breakfast at McDonald's and ranked them from worst to best
- I tried every single dessert at McDonald's and ranked them from worst to best
- From different menu items to 24/7 delivery, ordering McDonald's in Taiwan showed me what US locations are missing