McDonald's debuts new plant-based menu item: non-chicken McNuggets

FILE-Image of a McDonald's restaurant. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

McDonald’s is adding another plant-based menu item that may cause more traditional customers cry foul.

The Chicago-based fast food giant is introducing plant-based McNuggets next week.  The item is being co-developed with Beyond Meat, the California-based maker of plant-based meats.

The McPlant Nuggets will be made from peas, corn and wheat with a tempura batter.

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Germany will be the first market to test the newest offering.

It will be the second plant-based item that McDonald's has offered. The Golden Arches has been selling a McPlant burger since 2021.

McDonald’s will also start selling the McPlant burger in Germany next week.

FILE-n this photo illustration, packaging for the McDonald's McPlant Beyond Meat burger is displayed with French Fries at a McDonald's restaurant in San Rafael, California.  (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The August rollout to more than 1,400 restaurants follows a limited-time test at nine restaurants in the Stuttgart area. 

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Availability of the McPlant nuggets and burger in future markets will depend on customer demand, McDonald’s said.

The McDonald’s in the U.S. ended a test of the McPlant burger last summer without announcing any future plans for its sale.

European customers have generally been more receptive to McDonald’s plant-based meat products than those in the U.S. 

The McPlant burger is now a permanent menu item in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands. 

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Beyond Meat began selling plant-based chicken in U.S. groceries in 2021. It has also co-developed plant-based tenders and nuggets with other chains, including KFC and Panda Express.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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