How To Get Fresh Nuggets Every Time At McDonald's

There are a few Mickey D's ordering hacks you should know if you're a regular at the fast-food chain, including a sneaky strategy to upgrade your way to a Bigger Mac, though it does come with an extra charge. If you're one of those loyal fans who order chicken nuggets on autopilot, there's a trick to help you score a fresh batch every time. 

We know a few McDonald's menu items aren't as fresh as we might think, including breakfast burritos, which are pre-cooked. While you could always request fresh nuggets, you might not get what you expect. A former McDonald's employee, who goes by Bigjettyfunny on TikTok, joked about "re-dropping" nuggets into the fryer to give them a crisp, just-cooked feel. While he claimed it was all in good fun, it's not hard to believe that kind of shortcut could happen behind the scenes.

Instead, hit up your local McDonald's during peak hours. One Reddit user explained how nugget trays are constantly in rotation around these hours and can increase your chances of landing a fresh batch. Give it a whirl by ordering during lunch or dinner hours. If you don't want to go through the trouble of timing and would rather stick to the good old-fashioned way of making a request, remember that chicken nuggets typically take between four and eight minutes to fry, depending on the quantity. So if you've asked for fresh ones and they're ready suspiciously fast, it might be more flash-fry than fresh.

While one way of getting a fresh sandwich every time you order at the Golden Arches is to customize your meal, that option gets limited when it comes to chicken nuggets. But there's another way around it. You just have to shell out a little extra and have a serious appetite or a few people to share the chicken bites with. 

McDonald's has the option of 4-piece, 6-piece, 10-piece, 20-piece, or 40-piece McNuggets. The trick is to order 20 pieces (or even go big with 40). Chances are, the fast food giant won't have enough nuggets just sitting around to fulfill your order, so they'll need to drop a fresh batch in the fryer. Though there's no guarantee the hack is always going to work, you can try putting it to the test. 

Want a surefire way to score fresh nuggets? Try combining strategies. Swing by during rush hour and ask for the 20-piece box. With orders flying in and that many nuggets in one go, there's a good chance you'll bag a win and walk out with a fresh batch of the fan favorite — crispy, hot, and straight from the fryer.