McDonald's Burgers And Sandwiches Have This Type Of Bacon

McDonald's iconic Egg McMuffin is famously made with Canadian bacon, but the three other breakfast sandwiches and one burger on the regular menu that also feature bacon are all made with the American strip, or streaky, style. The Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel, and Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle all come with thick-cut, applewood-smoked strips. A limited-time item that debuted in late July 2026, the Bacon Caesar McCrispy sandwich, is also topped with them.

McDonald's bacon is made from pork bellies cured with water, salt, sugar, and natural smoke flavor. Although two major suppliers of beef for the burger giant are Lopez Foods and Keystone Foods, and the latter also provides some of its chicken and fish, where it gets its pork products is less public. However, the fast-food chain works to source ingredients from the countries where the restaurants using them are located.

A former McDonald's corporate chef revealed in a 2024 TikTok that the bacon strips arrive at restaurants partially precooked and frozen. The former chef explained that they're partially cooked to render some of the fat, resulting in less mess when employees finish cooking them at each location, either on the regular grill or in the oven. The reduced fat content also makes the bacon more compact for shipping.

Strip bacon is made by first curing pork belly with salt, usually in a wet brine, and sometimes with sugar and other spices, although it can also be cured using a dry method. It's then smoked over wood chips, which impart different flavors depending on the type of wood used. Applewood bacon has sweet, fruity notes with a lighter smokiness, similar to bacon smoked with another fruitwood, such as cherry. Bacon smoked with traditional hickory has a more robust, smoky flavor. Maple wood creates a sweeter taste, while mesquite produces the boldest flavor.

There are a number of other bacon varieties in addition to the streaky and Canadian styles. One is slab bacon, which is pork belly that's been cured and smoked but not sliced. This can be a good choice if you want freshly cut slices or prefer to cut them thicker and meatier than the prepackaged options sold in grocery stores. Another is pancetta, which differs from strip and slab bacon because it's cured but not smoked. Guanciale is processed the same way as its fellow Italian product, but the traditional ingredient in Rome's famous spaghetti alla carbonara is made from the pig's jowl rather than its belly.