The McDonald's Premium line is a group of products introduced by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

in the spring of 2003. It includes the company's larger

chicken burger A chicken burger, also referred to as a chicken sandwich in the United States, is a chicken patty served on a hamburger bun with similar condiments and toppings as found on hamburgers. While most chicken burgers use breaded and fried chicken, a c ...

, its salad line, and its coffee products. The burger are targeted at various demographic markets, the grilled chicken burger and salads are targeted at both the female and health-conscious demographic markets. The entire line is intended to bring in a larger, more affluent, adult audience seeking better quality products.

Burgers

McDonald's line of larger chicken burger (The Classic, Club and Ranch BLT) were introduced in July 2005 as part of McDonald's menu revamp. The classic includes Lettuce, Tomato, and Mayo. The Club also has Lettuce Tomato and Mayo, but also comes with Swiss cheese and bacon. The ranch BLT comes with a creamy ranch sauce, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. All three can be chosen with either buttermilk crispy or grilled chicken and all are served on a honey wheat roll. A Spicy Chicken burger, with chipotle spices in the breading, was part of the premium line for a limited time in 2006. It was made the same way as a Classic, but with ranch instead of mayo. The spicy Chicken was brought back temporarily in late 2008, but it was not part of the premium line. In 2011, the honey wheat roll for the burger was replaced with a whole grain bakery style bun to make the burger "more neutral" in flavor. The entire Premium Chicken burger line was replaced in 2015 by the Crispy Chicken Deluxe (in August renamed the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken burger) and the Grilled Chicken Deluxe, two burger that were part of the ill-fated Deluxe burger line in 1996 and have been slightly reformulated, meaning that they are now served on artisan rolls.

Salads

The Premium product line in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom includes McDonald's salad products. First introduced in March 2003, the salads all are a mixture of

iceberg lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiches, wraps an ...

and a lettuce assortment ( romaine, etc.), with

cherry tomato The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between Solanum pimpinellifolium, wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up ...

es and different toppings to differentiate them; Each salad is sold plain or topped with either a grilled or crispy chicken patty which has been chopped and added to the salad just prior to selling. The line includes varieties of

Newman's Own Newman's Own is an American food company headquartered in Westport, Connecticut. Founded in 1982 by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner, the company donates all of its after-tax profits to charity through Newman's Own Foundation, a pri ...

salad dressing that are tailored for each type of salad. The line includes: *

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Salad - chili- lime flavored

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread from Mesoamerica originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indi ...

strips, black beans, roasted

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es, poblano peppers, and fire-roasted

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

, a lime wedge and a

cilantro Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the leaves as ha ...

-lime glaze for the chicken served with a "southwest" dressing. * Bacon Ranch Salad -

bacon bits Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the BLT sandwich), or as a flavour ...

Cheddar cheese Cheddar cheese (or simply cheddar) is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white (or orange if colourings such as annatto are added), and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar, Somerset, Cheddar in ...

and Monterey Jack cheese served with

ranch dressing Ranch dressing is a savory, creamy American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, and herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion. Sour cre ...

. * Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad -

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

breast, and

Parmesan cheese Parmesan (, ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others. The term ''Parmesan'' may refer to either Parmigiano ...

served with a creamy Caesar dressing. * Fruit & Walnut Salad - candied

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an invo ...

, low-fat

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

, and red and green apple slices with red seedless grapes. * Fiesta Salad - warm seasoned

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

, cheddar jack cheese, and crispy tortilla strips served with all natural chunky salsa. * The Asian Salad - mandarin oranges,

red peppers ''Red Peppers'', described as "an interlude with music", is a short comic play in two scenes by Noël Coward. It is one of ten short plays that make up ''Tonight at 8.30'', a cycle written to be performed in groups of three plays across three e ...

edamame is an East Asian dish prepared with immature soybeans in their pods, which are boiled or steamed, and may be served with salt or other condiments. The dish has become popular across the world because it is rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and i ...

, snow peas, and an orange glaze for the chicken served with low fat

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

dressing. Additional dressing flavors offered include a low fat

Italian dressing In American cuisine, Italian dressing is a vinaigrette-type salad dressing that consists of water, vinegar or lemon juice, vegetable oil, chopped bell peppers, sugar or corn syrup, herbs and spices (including oregano, fennel, dill and ...

and low fat

balsamic vinaigrette Vinaigrette ( , ) is made by mixing an edible oil with a mild acid such as vinegar (acetic acid) or lemon juice (citric acid). The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can als ...

Chicken Selects

The advertising for its chicken strips product has been modified so that the word ''Premium'' appears in its description in its print, online and broadcast media. The word is capitalized, which indicates its association with the line. McDonald's stopped selling chicken selects in 2013, but they were brought back for a limited time promotion in March 2015 to combat McDonald's low sales.

Beverages

In the United States McDonald's has upgraded its coffee line. In the Northeastern States coffee is sold under the Newman's Own brand. In 2007 McDonald's expanded the Premium coffee line to include flavored

iced coffee Iced coffee is a coffee beverage served cold. It may be prepared either by brewing coffee normally (i.e. carafe, French press, etc.) and then serving it over ice or in cold milk or by cold brew coffee, brewing the coffee cold. In hot brewing, sw ...

. In 2008–2009 it was expanded once more to

latte Latte () or caffè latte (), also known as , or , is a List of coffee drinks, coffee drink of Italian cuisine, Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk, traditionally served in a glass. Variants include the chocolate-flavored ''caf ...

cappuccino Cappuccino (, ; from German ) is an espresso-based coffee drink traditionally prepared with steamed milk, including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes ...

s and mochas in the North American market. The Premium coffee line is designed to compete in the high end coffee segment created by Peet's Coffee, specifically the international chains

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

and

Dunkin' Donuts DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...

and is advertised under the McCafé brand.

References

External links