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And now, McDonald's has joined the plant-based craze taking over fast food.
Select McDonald's locations in Canada are now test-driving the "PLT" burger - that is, "plant, lettuce, and tomato" - using a Beyond Meat plant-based patty instead of traditional beef. The sandwiches, which debuted in late September, are available at 28 McDonald's restaurants in southern Ontario.
I happen to live in London, Ontario, home of many of the franchises offering the PLT. I recently decided to try the burger for myself, being an avid McDonald's eater and burger enthusiast.
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Although McDonald's is heavily promoting the burger, I found it to be a big disappointment. Read on to see what it was like.
McDonald's recently debuted its PLT burger at 28 locations in Ontario, Canada, including the one I visited in the city of London.
Everywhere I turned, I saw signs promoting the burger.
Given the hype, my expectations were high. The burger is made with a pea-based patty from Beyond Meat, and is topped with cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, a mayo-based sauce, ketchup, mustard, and the quarter-pounder bun.
Sitting at $6.49 in Canadian dollars (or $4.93 in US dollars), it's comparable price-wise to most of the other burgers on the menu.
Although the burgers are plant-based, it's important to note they're not vegan — not only do they come with cheese and a mayo-based sauce, they're cooked on the same grill as meat-based menu items.
While the classic McDonald's meal features a burger and a side of fries, I ordered poutine — a Canadian staple.
The first thing I noticed was that the burger was extremely saucy. Before I had even taken my first bite, I had made a mess on my tray. Simply attempting to take the burger out of its box left me with ketchup, mustard, and mayo dripping onto my fingers and hands.
In fact, there were so many toppings I could hardly discern the taste of the patty.
Once I got past the sauce, it tasted pretty much like what you'd expect a vegan patty to taste like. Sampling a bare bite, I was able to really taste the savory flavor in the patty. It felt like eating protein, but definitely not a beef burger.
The patty itself tasted somewhat burnt, and the flavor was considerably muted compared to a beef burger. Similar to other plant-based burgers, the vegetable toppings made the burger feel heartier, although the taste of protein seemed more prominent in this patty.
Ultimately, the PLT is a run-of-the-mill plant-based burger. It's great to have on the menu, and it will likely attract some curious customers who might not otherwise eat at McDonald's. But considering that McDonald's is late to the game, it wasn't as special as I would have hoped.
