5 Upgrades Worth Ordering For A Better McDonald's McGriddle

After years of only offering its customers either pancakes or breakfast sandwiches, McDonald's found a way to combine the two with the introduction of the McGriddle in 2003. The restaurant's line of McGriddles has been on the menu ever since and they're clearly fan favorites, but as with even the best fast food items there are always ways to elevate this classic.

Making your own McGriddle at home is a surefire way to get the sandwich exactly how you want it, but we're here to suggest ways to upgrade an actual McDonald's McGriddle you can order from the restaurant. Ordering tips for the best McDonald's breakfast in general are plentiful, but many of them don't apply to McGriddles specifically or take advantage of a McGriddle's unique components. Those are the tricks we'll focus on here.

Most of these involve fairly simple substitutions, and can typically even be done in the app; but the last one will require a bit of timing and luck, and you'll need to attempt the order in person. Either way, we have verified that all of these are indeed possible and have enjoyed them ourselves. 

Every McDonald's breakfast item you order will default to the specific type of egg that's been curated for that particular item. By default, the McGriddle comes with a folded egg (which are pre-cooked), while the round cracked eggs are reserved for the Egg McMuffins. Fortunately, you can have the round eggs put on any sandwich you'd like, including a McGriddle.

In addition to being a fresher, better-quality egg, the round egg sits nicely between the two Griddle Cakes. It also has more of the feel of the type of eggs you'd get with a breakfast platter, which makes it the ideal partner for a sandwich built around the typical star attraction of breakfast platters: pancakes. You can have the round egg put on any of the McGriddles, of course, but in our opinion it pairs especially well with the sausage patty. To save a little money, you could add the egg to the basic Sausage McGriddle, which sacrifices the cheese but comes out a bit cheaper than if you got the Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddle. 

Wait, don't Griddle Cakes already have maple syrup built in? Yes they do, and that's a big part of what makes McGriddles so delicious. Personally, we subscribe to the Buddy the Elf school of thought that maple syrup goes with everything and that you can never have too much of it. With that in mind, we recommend asking for one of the containers of syrup that are meant for the Big Breakfast as a side for your next McGriddle.

The tastiest way to enjoy this upgrade is to dip the McGriddle in the syrup before each bite. However, this can prove difficult with the small size of McDonald's syrup containers. It's definitely doable, but you might consider asking for a water cup which you can pour the syrup into for easier dunking. (Be advised that some McDonald's locations charge a small fee for cups.) Pouring the syrup onto your McGriddle like a sandwich condiment is a perfectly valid choice, but things can get sticky and messy quickly if you're not careful so maybe don't do this one in the car. 

This one might seem a little obvious, and if you're a frequent Tasting Table reader you've likely seen us make this suggestion in other articles about upgrading McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. Still, we'd be remiss if we didn't tell you that McDonald's Hash Browns can be more than a side. When added to a McGriddle, they bring a salty, potato-y crunch that really kicks the sandwich up a notch.

While you're at it, don't forget to order your McDonald's Hash Brown crispier. Not only does this make for a hash brown with a more satisfying outside and a creamier inside, but it helps hold things together as you bite into your sandwich. Don't get us wrong, a softer hash brown that spreads out across the sandwich as you eat it is a delightful taste experience, but a big part of doing this in the first place is to add crunch to the sandwich. So, why wouldn't you want your hash brown to be as crunchy as possible? 

This one will take some work, but your end goal is to have a McGriddle piled high with ingredients and an extra Griddle Cake in the middle to imitate the structure of a Big Mac and its three buns. After all, the Big Mac is one of the most iconic sandwiches of all time, fast food or otherwise, so clearly there is something to the whole extra bun thing.

How do you actually order and construct a Big Mac-style McGriddle? There are a couple of different ways to go about it. The simplest way is to order your sandwich with double meat — one of each type, if you're so inclined — plus a Griddle Cake a la carte. Simply open up the sandwich and put the extra cake in. The other way is to order either a Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddle or a Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle as well as a Sausage McGriddle. This will get you the extra meat plus the extra Griddle Cakes. The main reason to go this route is it is simpler to order and doesn't require asking for any extras or subs, and as a bonus you now have an extra Griddle Cake — and who would complain about that? 

There is currently a page on the McDonald's website for the Chicken McGriddle, but whether you are actually able to order it depends on your location. If you can, lucky you! The rest of this trick won't be necessary and you can go ahead and enjoy the sandwich at will.

Still here? That means you likely weren't able to order the Chicken McGriddle the standard way. Luckily, there's a way to hack your own Chicken McGriddle using the same method people have used to custom order a Brunch McMuffin. It all comes down to waiting until the restaurant is in the final stretch of its breakfast service when they've started prepping for the change to lunch. If you time it right (and the restaurant staff is willing), you can ask for a crispy chicken patty to be substituted for the sausage patty on the Sausage McGriddle.

If this doesn't work, you can always order two a la carte Griddle Cakes just as breakfast is ending and then a chicken patty once lunch has started. This'll have to be done in person, though. If all else fails, just order a McChicken and replace the buns yourself.