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McDonald’s launches Spicy McMuffin to celebrate 50 years of breakfast classic

Posted: 8 July 2025 | | No comments yet

The fast food giant spices up its US breakfast menu with a limited-time Spicy McMuffin range to celebrate 50 years since its iconic nationwide launch.

McDonald’s launches Spicy McMuffin to celebrate 50 years of breakfast classic

McDonald’s spices up its breakfast menu with a limited-time Spicy McMuffin range to celebrate 50 years since the iconic nationwide launch. Credit: McDonald's

McDonald’s has launched three spicy new McMuffin options across the US today (8 July) to celebrate 50 years since its first-ever breakfast item hit menus nationwide.

The limited-time menu additions – Spicy McMuffin, Spicy Sausage McMuffin, and Spicy Sausage McMuffin with Egg – add a new twist to the iconic Egg McMuffin, which McDonald’s first introduced across its US restaurants in 1975.

Described by McDonald’s as “the Egg McMuffin you love with a fiery attitude,” the new items feature the same traditional breakfast build (buttered English muffin, cheese, egg and Canadian bacon or sausage) topped with a Spicy Pepper Sauce.

Brief history of the Egg McMuffin

The Egg McMuffin has long been hailed as a gamechanger in fast food. Franchisee Herb Peterson from Santa Barbara, California, originally created it by adapting a version of Eggs Benedict for customers.

According to McDonald’s website, Peterson decided that packaged Hollandaise sauce didn’t deliver the flavour he wanted. Therefore, he replaced it with a slice of cheese and added Canadian bacon, creating the early version of what would later become the Egg McMuffin.

In another innovative move, Peterson developed Teflon rings to cook fresh-cracked eggs into a rounded shape that perfectly fit an English muffin.

By 1972, the Egg McMuffin, then an open-faced sandwich served on a small tray with honey or jam, entered test markets before its nationwide launch three years later.

Part of broader summer US menu

The spicy rollout forms part of a broader summer campaign for McDonald’s US menu. On 10 July, the long-anticipated Snack Wrap returns to restaurants nationwide in both Spicy and Ranch flavours, following nearly a decade off the menu.

Later this month, McDonald’s will also be expanding its value-focused offerings. From 22 July, the Daily Double – a two-patty burger featuring American cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, diced onion and mayonnaise – will join the McValue Meal Deal bundle nationwide, after testing in Chicago, Miami and Seattle.

In the sweet department, McDonald’s added the Blueberry & Crème Pie to its baked goods range on 30 June. The warm, striped dessert combines blueberry and vanilla crème fillings in a signature pie crust.

These launches follow a strategic shift in menu focus as McDonald’s ended its partnership with Krispy Kreme in the US on 2 July. The companies called it a “joint decision,” drawing a close to a trial that had seen Krispy Kreme doughnuts offered at select McDonald’s locations.

The promotions also arrive amid pressure from consumer advocacy group The People’s Union USA, which recently called for a week-long boycott of McDonald’s over alleged price gouging and other business practices.

In a statement shared with New Food, McDonald’s denied the allegations, saying it was “disappointed to see these misleading claims that distort our values and misrepresent our actions.”

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