McDonald's Is Finally Launching A McPlant Nugget, But It Might Not Ever Reach The U.S.

Even the most voracious of carnivores must be aware that the world of cuisine is slowly moving away from meat. Burgers and barbecue are ingrained in American culture, and though it's unlikely that the supermarket will stop stocking steaks anytime soon, enough businesses have involved themselves in the alternative meat market to make the possibility of a meatless future a touch more conceivable. The alternative meat market was worth just under $10 billion in 2021. Your local grocery store may have even set aside space for a section devoted entirely to meat alternatives. 

Though some consider plant-based meat a fast food failure, that hasn't stopped some of our favorite restaurants from experimenting with alternative takes on their classic offerings. Burger King took the Impossible Whopper national, and the sandwich, which features a flame-grilled Impossible Burger patty, has been a smashing success for the franchise. Not to be one-upped by their competitor chain, McDonald's gave one of their signature items a plant-based overhaul.

For an untold number of silently suffering vegetarians out there, chicken nuggets were one of the biggest sacrifices in switching to a meat-free diet. These unfortunate folks could only satiate their McDonald's cravings with the franchise's famous french fries. However, McDonald's will soon introduce a plant-based version of their Chicken McNuggets, though at first, only a select number of German locations will have access to the inventive snack. 

The McPlant Nuggets, which are a tempura-battered and fried mix of peas, corn, and wheat, derived from a recipe that Beyond meat has been selling as a chicken alternative for several years, will officially appear on 1,400 German McDonald's' menus on February 22nd. McPlant Nuggets will be joined in their German debut by the McPlant Burger. The McPlant Burger is another collaboration between Beyond Meat and McDonald's. It is available all around the world but has struggled to gain a foothold in American markets. 

Interestingly enough, the famous Chicken McNugget itself had a vegetarian predecessor, fried onion nuggets. Furthermore, the McPlant Nugget is not the first meatless alternative that the franchise has come up with — McDonald's recently sold fried potato and veggie balls in Norway, and called them Vegetarnuggets.