The McDonald's McRib has garnered a near cult following since its introduction in 1981. The sandwich comprises boneless barbecue pork ribs topped with onions and pickles. The McRib is known in part for its elusivity: it has left the menu and been reintroduced multiple times throughout its history.

The McRib consists of a restructured boneless pork patty shaped like a miniature rack of ribs, barbecue sauce, onions, and pickles, served as a sandwich on a 51⁄2-inch (14 cm) roll.

The idea for the McRib came after the chef had enjoyed some Southern barbecue, he said in 2009. “I had just come back from Charleston, South Carolina, where I ate sandwiches made from pulled pork,” Arend told Maxim. “I said to myself, 'Something with that flavor should really go over.'”

The McRib can be attributed largely to two men: a meat scientist from Nebraska and a Luxembourg-born, French-trained chef from the Drake Hotel. The former is Roger Mandigo, a longtime prof at UNL, a recent inductee into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame and an innovator in restructured meat products.

McDonald's is once again promoting a “farewell tour” for the McRib sandwich. The seasonal offering, which since its introduction in 1981 has periodically disappeared from the fast food giant's menu, is making one more appearance at McDonald's locations nationwide.

The reason for this is that the McRib® patty is made from ground pork and, in the U.K., we consider it important to separate pork and beef on the grill. Unfortunately, many of our restaurants do not have enough grill capacity to cook pork and beef products at the same time.

In principle, the sandwich is fine. There's a nice roll that's soft and chewy. The pickles and onions add a nice contrast of flavor and texture. The pork patty tastes like pork, barely.

Since McDonald's first offered the McRib on its menus in 1981, the sandwich has grown into a cult favorite. Every time it reappears, fans post their love of the barbecue sauce-covered sandwich on social media.

boneless pork picnic “We have a boneless pork picnic, which is the main ingredient in the McDonald's McRib patty,” Kevin Nanke says in the video. “This is what we purchase and bring in to the facility to make the McRib.”

1981 First debuted in 1981, the McRib has since repeatedly appeared and disappeared from the fast-food ether. After leaving the menu in 1985, it never again became a permanent offering, instead resurfacing for limited and seasonal runs.

It almost like eating a split hot dog on sandwich bread. Even so, the sauce is better than most fast-food barbecue dips, and it complements the minor amount of porkiness in the patty. The McRib is still good for a sandwich of the boxed meat variety.

The McRib made its debut in 1981, but was pulled from the menu four years later due to poor sales. It made another run from 1989 through 2005. Since then, it has been a seasonal item, and the scarcity has made it a legend among fast-food fanatics.

“The McRib, however tasty and in demand, would not be considered a health food,” says Gina Keatley, a certified dietitian-nutritionist practicing in New York City. “This sandwich has about half the maximum daily amount of total fat, is high in calories for a sandwich, and has a ton of sodium and carbs.”