Brilliant McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Hacks You Need To Try

Filet-O-Fish sandwiches were originally a solution to a problem. In the early 1960s, a McDonald's franchise owner name Lou Groen was noticed his sales drop each Lent season as a result of his largely catholic customer base eating less meat during the season. So, he invented the Filet-O-Fish. Unconvinced, company CEO Ray Kroc pitted the fish-based sandwich against his own non-meat option, the Hula Burger, a sandwich made with pineapple and cheese between a bun. The agreement was that whichever sandwich sold more units would make its way to the permanent menu. The outcome of this competition is clearly evident today as the Filet-O-Fish graces the base menu, and the Hula does not.

This basic sandwich is a seamed bun topped with a half slice of cheese, tartar sauce, and a fried fish filet of wild caught Alaskan haddock. It's a rather simple sandwich that's tasty on its own, but gets only better with some hacks. From sauce swaps to making the sandwich super robust, this sandwich has quite a bit of versatility when you get creative. To find out the best Filet-O-Fish hacks, I scoured the internet for suggestions before turning my mind to the McDonald's app to see what else was available. Not all of the hacks I came up with were available to order online, so I followed this up with a visit to my local Mac Shack to see what its crew members are capable of. 

One of the simpler changes you can make to a Filet-O-Fish is replacing the tartar sauce with the Big Mac sauce. Former McDonald's corporate chef Mike Haracz relayed this hack via TikTok, saying that when you order, you should ask for two pumps of sauce rather than just one. The tartar sauce containers release more with each pump than the Big Mac sauce, so the extra press will compensate. Though I wasn't charged extra for this change, you won't be able to request it over the app; you'll need to order in person at the counter or at the drive-through.

This sauce swap doesn't dramatically alter the overall flavor of the sandwich. So, if you are a little bit of a Filet-O-Fish purist, this might be the ideal change for you. That said, rather than tasting exactly like the classic, this sandwich gives a little something extra and feels like an artisan bite you might find at a local seafood-focused cafe. It has that slight tang to it that makes a typical tartar sauce crave worthy, but it's not an overwhelming change. The flavor is just salty and savory enough that it's pleasing.

The Land, Air & Sea sandwich was a not-so-secret, off-menu sandwich that McDonald's actually advertised for a short period of time. Essentially, it's a Big Mac with a chicken patty and a fish patty placed among the beef.

I wasn't sure how ordering this one would go, and I was prepared for it to be difficult. However, it was much simpler than I expected. Since McDonald's once advertised the Filet-O-Fish by this name, I figured it might be known by the cashier. I asked the cashier behind the counter if McDonald's was still offering the Land, Air & Sea sandwich, and, thankfully, she knew exactly what I was talking about. Although the register did not have an official button for it, she knew how to ring it in.

In all truth, before I ordered this hack, it reminded me of something like the infamous turducken with a chicken in a duck stuffed inside of a turkey and cooked. I expected to have to assemble the sandwich myself but I was pleased to see that it came ready to eat. This burger is a little overwhelming to look at, but the flavor is a bit of everything. I was most impressed by all of the textures and that they each offered something different but together still felt cohesive. Though, I do prefer steamed buns, the Big Mac bun works well here because it provides sturdy terrain for the monster fillings to hang on to. 

With all of my wild ordering escapades, I was surprised by how many cashiers willingly assumed that the sandwiches should be assembled in the back. However, for my fish and chips combination, I ordered the items separately and then put them together myself. The fish and chips-style hack is a basic Filet-O-Fish with a cross hatch of fries over the top. To add a little more flavor, you can add ketchup. I tried it both ways, with and without ketchup.

Of all of the options I tried, this was definitely one of the most simple but creative ones. It also made a whole lot of sense, given the rich history of fish and chips being served together. If you put your layer of french fries on top of the fish patty and tartar sauce, that tartar sauce becomes a really nice glue to hold everything together, and I was easily able to add two layers of fries to my sandwich before it became a little overwhelming. I enjoyed the sandwich without the ketchup, but did find the ketchup really helped pull in that classic acidity that complements the french fry flavor of those served at the Golden Arches.

Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches are some of my favorite summer lunch options. Though McDonald's does not have an official offering on the menu, the Filet-O-Fish is the perfect base for these fresh additions. Even though these add-ons feel pretty simple, you'll need to order in person, as the addition of tomatoes isn't available in the app.

To order this Filet-O-Fish hack, ask for a basic Filet-O-Fish sandwich but request bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and extra cheese. Technically, cheese on a BLT is not required, but I felt the extra unctuousness of cheese balanced all additional elements well. I found that, like my favorite BLT sandwiches, this one was perfectly measured. It reminded me of a fish sandwich from my favorite restaurants up north rather than one I got from a fast food chain. The crunch of lettuce and garden flavor of tomato pull in that quality factor, and I found that the smokiness of the bacon was subtle so as not to overpower the fish. A delicious BLT should be a balance of textures and flavors, and often that requires a firm piece of toasted bread. One of the risks you run with BLTs then is getting an overly toasted bread. Given that this Filet-O-Fish hack comes with a steamed bun, that problem was actually the opposite. This somewhat sticky bun made it more difficult to eat, but there was a squish factor that avoided having too much crunch against the roof of your mouth.

Unfortunately, the McDonald's app doesn't allow for many large customizations of its sandwiches. Users  can easily take away condiments or even add them, but when you start trying to include different patties, the options become increasingly unavailable. With that being said, I definitely wanted to try some Filet-O-Fish hacks that you could order right from the app, in the event you want to avoid any potentially confusing conversations with cashiers.

One of these simple changes is taking a Filet-O-Fish and adding mustard and pickles to it, as recommended by a McDonalds in Houston via TikTok. Neither of these changes will cost you extra, and the substitutions are very simple to make. These changes added levels of briny, pungent flavor from the mustard, and the pickles added a nice crunch. Even though this was obviously a fish sandwich, with the pickle and mustard each added in, it tasted more like a basic McDonald's cheeseburger than I expected it to.

Though the Filet-O-Fish Big Mac is certainly large in size, this request is simple. All that this hack requires is asking the McDonald's crew member for Filet-O-Fish patties in place of the beef ones when you order your Big Mac. In many ways, this felt like a typical Big Mac sandwich. Yet, it was a little more robust in stature because the Filet-O-Fish patties are slightly taller than your typical beef patty. Granted, its size makes it difficult to eat, and there's more fish flavor here than a regular Filet-O-Fish because of the double-patty situation.

I found there is less of a smush factor because the bun is a typical sesame seed bun rather than a Filet-O-Fish steamed bun. I like this as an option for people who need to replace beef in their diet. With my first ever Big Mac, I had been stunned by the size; it's just such a big sandwich. Eating a Big Mac with a replacement of fish filet reminded me of that first encounter, because it felt like a whole new experience given the height of the sandwich. Though enjoyable, this hack isn't for those who love the beefy flavor of a Big Mac because the taste of the sea is pretty strong.

If you want an easier-to-eat version of beef and fish, consider ordering what I call the surf and turf burger. It's a double cheeseburger with a Filet-O-Fish patty in the middle of it. This is a much smaller sandwich in size compared to the Big Mac, making the bite a bit more manageable. You get the flavor of something earthy which comes through right along with the taste of oceanic cod fish.

You definitely get the beef on the front end and the fish as more of a back end flavor. This really feels very much like the classic double McDonald's burger with only a slight twist to it. Plus it has a lot more texture. Although I did not add it to mine, if you want to bring out that fish taste even more, I think it would be really great with some tartar sauce added to it. Like the rest of the odd changes I made on other sandwiches, I had absolutely zero trouble ordering the sandwich with the cashier behind the counter, and the kitchen even assembled it for me.

The internet is ripe with food hacks, and TikTok has become one of my favorite places to go to find the best hacks and tricks. In addition to hacks formerly advertised by McDonalds, I ventured to social media and began assembling a collection of items I knew would be stellar based on my experience with the Filet-O-Fish and other items on the menu. 

Of course, I had to sample each item, and though I tasted some excellent options, perhaps the one that stood out the most and the one I'll return to for another taste is the BLT option. That said, I evaluated hacks based on their flavor, texture, and what the ordering process required. If you're worried about getting some side-eye when ordering McDonald's sandwiches that deviate from the menu, don't let that stop you. It was never a hindrance in my experience and I visited two different McDonald's throughout these taste tests, finding that the experience was simple no matter where I went.