25 Weird and Wonderful McDonald's International Menu Favorites

Few brands are seen as more all-American than McDonald’s. But as the world has grown smaller, the fast food giant’s menu has grown wider. And that trend continues this week as McD’s is adding four menu items that show its international flair: Stroopwafel McFlurry (The Netherlands); Grand McExtreme Bacon Burger (Spain); Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich (Canada), and Cheesy Bacon Fries (Australia). Starting Wednesday, these items will be offered for a limited time nationwide at participating McDonald’s, but elsewhere, the chain has been serving up exotic locally inspired fare for years, well beyond its roots as a hamburger stand and far beyond anything the restaurant tycoon Ray Kroc could have imagined. Read on to see what McDonald’s customers have enjoyed abroad.  

Related: From Mongols to McDonald's — A History of the Humble Hamburger

Where to Find It: India
As many in India are vegetarian or don't eat beef for religious reasons, Indian McDonald's locations lack almost all of their American menu staples and carry a multitude of meat-free main dishes instead. The McAloo and McVeggie sandwiches, for example, contain homemade veggie patties made from chickpeas and a blend of peas, carrots, potatoes, peppers, and spices, respectively, while the McSpicy Paneer is built around a spiced, breaded slab of the firm, yet mild Indian cheese and tandoori sauce.

Where to Find It: Canada, Brazil, France
When it comes to breakfast, only select McDonald's diners around the world have the option of a sweet pastry in addition to the standard savory muffin sandwiches. In Canada, that's the chocolate hazelnut croissant, while the Brazilian version comes with just chocolate.

Where to Find It: The Netherlands
The Dutch-originated McKroket sandwich features a deep-fried patty of mixed ground beef and cheese topped with a mustard sauce. McDonald's locations in the nation are also more accommodating to dietary restrictions, offering gluten-free burgers and vegetarian fried "chicken" sandwiches.

Where to Find It: The Netherlands
For dessert, Netherlanders (and now Americans) can try McFlurries flavored like strawberry cheesecake or stroopwafels, a crisp cookie originating from the city of Gouda made with two wafers and a thin layer of caramel in between. This international offering was briefly made available in the Miami-Dade area of Florida during a promotion late last year, and now it can be found for a limited time at participating U.S. restaurants as part of McDonald's Worldwide Favorites promotion. 

Where to Find It: Australia
In Australia, McDonald's — or Macca's in the local parlance — gets fancy with its fry options. In addition to the truffle-infused variety, they also have loaded fries topped with guacamole and salsa or sweet chili and sour cream. And their popular Cheesy Bacon Fries are being rolled out nationwide this week in the U.S. They've also launched a line of "Gourmet Creations" burgers that come slathered with truffle mayo.

Where to Find It: Spain
Thanks to Spain's enduring love of pork, McDonald's locations in the Mediterranean country carry tapas-like croquettes filled with ham bits in cheese sauce. Another staple side dish for the fast food brand in Spain is gazpacho, an Andalusian tomato and vegetable soup served cold.

Where to Find It: Germany
One distinctive McDonald's offering available for a time in Germany was a platter of currywurst, a street food dish of steamed and grilled sausage served with curry-spiced ketchup. The German sausage specialties didn't end there, however; they also served up the pun-tastic Nürnburger, featuring little more than three pork sausage links on a bun.

Where to Find It: China
McDonald's locations in Hong Kong cooked up a black-binned burger colored with squid ink and topped with white sesame. They also offered a white-bunned chicken sandwich topped with bacon and peppercorn mushroom sauce. The monochrome burgers reportedly look much better than they taste.

Where to Find It: China
In 2012, McDonald's locations in China unveiled the Mashed Potato Burger. Topped with bacon and mashed potatoes, advertising for the burger targeted the "manly man." And on Chinese breakfast menus, you may find a twisty pasta dish in broth and veggies, topped with your choice of boneless chicken or sausage and egg.

Where to Find It: Mexico
If you're eating breakfast at a McDonald's south of the border, you might try the McMollete: three open-faced sandwiches topped with refried beans, cheese, and pico de gallo salsa. Their version of the traditional mollete substitutes English muffin for crusty bolillos and processed American cheese for Monterey Jack.

Where to Find It: New Zealand
At McDonald's locations in New Zealand, the Kiwiburger is the chain's take on a typical New Zealand hamburger, which comes topped with fried egg and red beetroot slices. Because the latter ingredient isn't used in any other McDonald's products, the sandwich has been subject to intermittent discontinuations. Kiwi customers can then default to other distinct menu items like the Almighty Texas BBQ or the Big Brekkie Beef Burger.

Where to Find It: Middle East
Also called the McKebab in Israel or the McTurco in Turkey, this pita sandwich is one of McDonald's flagship offerings across the Middle East. It comes with either grilled chicken or beef and lamb meatballs called kofta. Other versions, offered for a limited time or only in certain regions, contain extras like halloumi cheese, eggplant, and sujuk sausage.

Where to Find It: Europe
McDonald's may have more international menu variations than any other fast food chain, but the one Americans may envy most is the presence of beer and wine at the majority of their restaurants in central and western Europe as well as South Korea. This is reportedly based on consumer demand, but one can also presume that because alcohol carries more social and legal stigma in the U.S., selling it might go against the kid-friendly image McDonald's tries to cultivate domestically.

Where to Find It: Italy
In addition to wine, Italian McDonald's locations sell these vegetarian-friendly fried nuggets, filled with spinach and herb-seasoned melted cheese. It's also one of many nations where McDonald's sells the McVeggie, which has a patty made of broccoli, carrots, corn, spinach, peas, and cheese.

Where to Find It: India
Few of international McDonald's items are so singular yet tempting to American tastes as the chicken McCurry Pan, which consists of a rectangular bread bowl filled with chicken and vegetables in a tomato-curry sauce. Unfortunately, it is available only in India, along with the double decker Chicken Maharaja Mac, their Hindu-friendly version of the Big Mac.

Where to Find It: Japan
Instead of the apple pie pockets, McDonald's stores in Japan sell a similar dessert filled with gooey baked taro, bacon and potato, or s'mores fixings. Unsurprising for a nation that's largely unparalleled in bizarre culinary concoctions, Japnese McDonald's locations carry numerous singular main dishes too, like the Idaho burger with an onion-flaked bun, bacon, mustard seed sauce, and a potato patty; the Sakura Teritama burger with pork patty, over-easy egg, and a cherry blossom-infused bun, and a whole line of fried egg-topped tamago burgers.

Where to Find It: Japan
One of McDonald's Japan's more limited menu items is this sandwich with a patty made from snow crab and mushrooms — both popular ingredients in Japan — and served on ciabatta bread. Unfortunately, the croquette burger is reportedly more tasteless and goopy than its gourmet-sounding pedigree might suggest.

Where to Find It: Japan
One of the tastier-sounding items unique to McDonald's Japan, the cheese katsu burger features a deep-fried pork cutlet patty filled with melted cheese. This tasty-sounding but limited availability menu item is so popular that an occasional re-release is enough to generate international headlines akin to the McRib in the U.S.

Where to Find It: Philippines
One of the most unexpected items on McDonald's menus in the Philippines is this two-piece meal of fried chicken, which comes with an optional side of McSpaghetti. Garlic-flavored rice is another side dish absent from American McDonald's locations, and for breakfast, they have poached egg and Longaniza, a chorizo-like sausage.

Where to Find It: Philippines
Filipino and Taiwanese McDonald's locations sell beef and fried chicken varieties of the McRice burger with dried rice cakes subbed for standard buns — a gambit that won't sound too wild to anyone that's ever tried a ramen burger stateside. Hong Kong locations offer a similar rice cake chicken sandwich, though they call it the Kao Fan Burger.

Where to Find It: Canada
Poutine is a well-known Canadian dish consisting of French fries topped with gravy and melted cheese curds, so naturally, McDonald's stores in Canada have come up with their own version. For curious Americans who want to try this dish without crossing the border, try the McDonald's at the corporate HQ in Chicago where international menu items are made available on rotating schedules. 

Related: Over-the-Top French Fries

Where to Find It: Canada
The other major novelty you'll find on Canadian McDonald's menus is this Atlantic lobster roll with an all-too-predictable name, served only in certain locations during summer as availability dictates. Luckily for residents of New England, this one isn't entirely limited to outside the U.S., but also makes the occasional appearance at locations in Maine.

Where to Find It: Malaysia
One of the staple non-burger dishes at Malaysian McDonald's is this version of national specialty Bubur Ayam, a white porridge with chicken, ginger, and diced chilies in the mix. A similar stew called SingaPorridge also features prominently on Singaporean menus.

Where to Find It: Singapore
Another fixture of McDonald's stores in Singapore and other East Asian markets, shaka shaka chicken is a do-it-yourself menu item in which you pour a packet of Chinese five-spice seasoning mix over a deep-fried chicken patty and "shaka" the components together in a wax paper bag. As in several other East Asian nations, this and other McDonald's offerings are available for delivery.

Where to Find It: Asia
One more from Japanese and other East Asian McDonald's locations: the EBI Filet-O is a breaded shrimp burger served on a Big Mac roll with spicy sauce. The international chain's fusion of Eastern and Western culinary traditions also extends to their dessert menu with items like the green tea and Oreo McFlurry.