McDonald's Brings 4 New Caesar-Inspired Menu Items This Summer
McDonald's is adding four new limited-time menu items to its U.S. menu this summer, marking the return of a flavor many customers have been asking for since the chain discontinued its salads in 2020.
Starting July 21, participating restaurants nationwide will offer a new Caesar Sauce alongside three chicken-based menu items built around the classic dressing-inspired flavor. The launch includes a Bacon Caesar McCrispy sandwich, a Caesar Snack Wrap, McCrispy Strips served with Caesar Sauce, and standalone Caesar dipping cups.
The new item that got food vloggers talking is the new Bacon Caesar McCrispy. The sandwich features a McCrispy chicken filet topped with Caesar Sauce, applewood-smoked bacon, shredded lettuce, Roma tomatoes, crispy onions, and crinkle-cut pickles on a toasted potato roll.
McDonald's is also adding a Caesar version of its recently revived Snack Wrap. The Caesar Snack Wrap includes a McCrispy Strip, shredded cheese, lettuce, and Caesar Sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. The wrap will be available nationwide for $2.99.
The relaunched McCrispy Strips have drawn their own round of comparisons. Many customers have pointed out how closely the new tenders resemble the chain's discontinued Chicken Selects.
Not everyone was satisfied, though. Some customers used the announcement to renew calls for McDonald's to bring back its full salad lineup, while others reminisced about discontinued menu items such as McSalad Shakers and Chicken Selects.
The launch follows another recent nostalgia-driven move from McDonald's. In June, the company brought back its fried apple pie for a limited time, reviving a menu item that had largely disappeared after being replaced by the baked version decades ago.
Why is McDonald's bringing back the Caesar flavor now?
Caesar's return to McDonald's menus lines up with a flavor trend already taking over the food industry. The dressing has been showing up on pizzas, at fried-chicken chains, and across restaurant menus for a while now, so McDonald's is only capitalizing on the opportunity.
The trendiness of the sauce works to McDonald’s advantage. Since the Szechuan sauce craze of 2017, McDonald's has treated a new sauce launch as its own marketing event, one that can bring in sales and talk similar to a new sandwich release, at a fraction of the cost.
There's also genuine pent-up demand behind the move. Customer interest in the Caesar salad, discontinued back in 2020, never really faded, and that sustained appetite appears to have played a role in the decision to bring the flavor back.
Rather than reviving the salads themselves, though, McDonald's is pairing Caesar with chicken items customers already order regularly. Food industry observers see that as a lower-risk way to capitalize on the flavor's popularity while reinforcing the chain's growing focus on chicken, without the commitment of relaunching a discontinued product line.
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