McDonald's menu added four limited-time Caesar chicken items on July 21 at participating restaurants. The lineup gives customers a new sauce-driven option, but it does not bring back the chain’s traditional salads.
The release includes a Bacon Caesar McCrispy, a Caesar Snack Wrap and McCrispy Strips, all served with Caesar Sauce. The sauce can also be ordered separately for dipping, and the price varies by location.
Joe Erlinger and salads
Joe Erlinger, McDonald's U.S. president, said in 2024: “If people really want salads from McDonald's, we will gladly relaunch salads,” and added, “But what our experience has proven is that's not what the consumer's looking for from McDonald's.” That earlier statement now sits alongside a different answer to the same menu demand: Caesar flavors, not salads.
McDonald's discontinued its traditional salads, including a Chicken Caesar salad, in 2020 as it streamlined its menu during the COVID pandemic. The chain introduced salads in 1987, then moved away from them; the new rollout uses the Caesar name in a chicken format instead of restoring the old salad line.
McCrispy Strips and Caesar Sauce
The Bacon Caesar McCrispy pairs a McCrispy filet with Caesar Sauce, applewood-smoked bacon, shredded lettuce, Roma tomato, crispy onions and crinkle-cut pickles on a toasted potato roll. The Caesar Snack Wrap uses a McCrispy Strip with cheese, shredded lettuce and Caesar Sauce inside a tortilla.
McCrispy Strips now use panko breading, and they can also be ordered with Caesar Sauce. For customers, the practical takeaway is simple: the new Caesar items are available only at participating restaurants for a limited time, so the menu change is a temporary add-on rather than a permanent reset.
What the launch leaves open is how long the Caesar run will last. McDonald's has put the items on the board, but it has not given a public end date for the promotion.
