The Iconic McDonald's Menu Item To Avoid Ordering — It's Not Worth The Price Anymore

Fifty years ago, a Big Mac cost less than $1. Fast forward to 2023, and an X post went viral for showing a McDonald's menu board advertising an $18 Big Mac combo meal (yikes). Elsewhere, a 2025 article published by The Street reports a 10-piece Chicken McNugget combo meal (nugs, fries, and a drink) costing a few pennies over $20. Seems egregious? We think so, too. In Tasting Table's roundup of nine overpriced fast food items to avoid ordering, McDonald's 10-piece chicken nuggets made the list with room to spare.

As we mentioned in our review, "The average price is now $5.79 for 10 nuggets, which is nearly 58 cents per nugget, and that's before adding fries, a drink, or extra dipping sauces. By comparison, Burger King offers 10 nuggets for around $2.99."

For the price, there are better ways for McDonald's chicken nugget fans to secure their go-to snack: Skip the a la carte ordering. For a better price-per-nugget value, we suggest downloading the McDonald's app, which regularly offers coupons for a 20-piece McNuggets for $5.99, or a "Buy a 10-piece, get a 10-piece free" offer. As our review notes, the app also "frequently features rotating deals like $1 large fries, 99-cent burgers and chicken sandwiches, or BOGO nugget offers that bring the price down to something budget-friendly," all of which help reduce the price per nugget. These promotions can be especially beneficial for nugget fans who make McDonald's runs on a fairly frequent basis.

The once-value-centric dining concept has caught major customer criticism as menu prices creep higher and higher. One Reddit thread (with 1.2K upvotes) asks, "When did McDonalds become so overpriced?" Another post echoes Mickey D's growing pricing issue, with the top comment lamenting, "McDonalds at this point is a scam even my drunken me doesn't want to visit anymore," and noting that for the same price as a fast-food combo meal, they could get a whole pizza and bottle of soda down the street.

In August, even McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski publicly acknowledged that the chain's menu prices have become too high. In fiscal Q1 2025, says Kempczinski, while restaurant food traffic from high-income customers remained steady, low-income customer foot traffic fell by "nearly double-digit" figures, as reported by Fortune. In addition to directly addressing pricing issues, the chain has been attempting to reverse the tidal wave of inflation-weary customer backlash by lowering combo meal prices, a change that took effect in September at McDonald's U.S. franchises. At the time of the announcement, McDonald's also shared plans to bring back its "Extra Value Meals," including an $8 Big Mac and nuggets combo special, slated to arrive in late 2025. In the meantime, if you're inclined to hit the McDonald's drive-thru at all, we advise skipping the chicken McNuggets (and, for the record, we aren't exactly loving McDonald's Double Hamburger, either).