For Less Than $1, You Can Double The Creaminess Of Your Filet-O-Fish Order

The Lenten season is a great time to get a wider variety and a better deal on a fish meal. There are local fish fries to attend. Restaurants that generally don't have fish suddenly do. And there is even more of a reason to hit your neighborhood McDonald's for one of its iconic Filet-O-Fish meals. If you pull through on a Friday, you know that sammie is going to be fresh and hot. The restaurant goes through so many that it's almost guaranteed you're going to get one fresh from the fryer.

And while Lent might be a time of sacrifice, that doesn't stop people from asking, "Why is there only half a slice of cheese on my Filet-O-Fish?" It might interest you to know that the first Filet-O-Fish didn't have any cheese at all. It was simply tartar sauce and fried haddock. Once McDonald's changed over to a cheaper cod filet, it was decided that a half slice of cheese, and only half, would be added to complement, but not overwhelm, the fish flavor.

But the golden arches will go the king's route and do it your way if you want more cheese. You just have to pay for it. To up the creaminess scale by adding another half slice of cheese, you'll need to pay around an extra $0.89. If you're going for more creaminess with extra tartar, that will cost you as well — about $0.50 in that case.

Of course, you don't have to stick with the original ingredients when customizing your Filet-O-Fish. Even at McDonald's, there are many ways you can upgrade your fish sandwich to make it extra tasty and more personalized. Just be ready to pay a cost for any add-ons or substitutions, even the ones you might think are free.

It probably wouldn't surprise you to pay $1.69 to add a piece of bacon to your sandwich, or even $3.38 to add two, if that's how you like your FOF. But were you aware that adding lettuce is going to cost you at least $0.50? Trying to add or substitute mayo for the tartar is going to cost the same thing. If you want to add a whole other fish fillet, you probably just want to order the double, as at $6.39 it costs less than a dollar more than the regular.

Of course, if you're crazy enough to throw all cost and caution to the wind, there is one Filet-O-Fish sandwich sub we think is a complete game-changer. Try it without the usual tartar sauce and go for Big Mac sauce instead. Once you've tasted that zesty hack, we seriously doubt you will ever order your Filet-O-Fish the same way again.