Overview
The patty is the giveaway. It is pork, minced and pressed into a mold shaped like a tiny rack of ribs, then dropped in barbecue sauce and slid onto a toasted homestyle roll with slivered onions and pickles. Nothing about it pretends to be a real rib. That has not stopped people from planning road trips around it.
McDonald's put the sandwich on the national menu in 1981. It lasted four years before sales fell off and the company pulled it in 1985. A 1989 reintroduction kept it in many markets until 2005, and since 2006 it has mostly surfaced for a few weeks each fall. Germany and Luxembourg were the outlier, selling it year round until October 27, 2026.
The current run starts October 27, 2026, and it is not a national rollout. McDonald's confirmed the sandwich would return in select cities, with Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta among the first six markets named in reports. Indiana locations got it a day earlier, on October 26. The pattern is familiar: scarcity first, availability second.
Key Features
- Restructured boneless pork patty shaped like a miniature rib rack
- Tangy barbecue sauce
- Slivered onions and pickles
- Toasted homestyle bun
- Limited-time, select-market availability
- Roughly 520 calories
Specifications
| Patty | Restructured boneless pork, molded to resemble a rack of ribs |
| Sauce | Tangy barbecue sauce |
| Toppings | Slivered onions and pickles |
| Bun | Toasted homestyle roll, roughly 5.5 inches |
| Calories | Approximately 520 per sandwich |
| Meat type | Pork, not beef |
Pros & Cons
Pros
- • Distinct barbecue flavor and texture that fans seek out
- • Pickles and onions cut through the sweet sauce
- • Toasted homestyle bun holds up better than a standard hamburger bun
- • Its limited window makes each return feel like an event
Cons
- • Patty is restructured pork, not actual rib meat
- • Available only in select markets and for a few weeks
- • Polarizing: some eaters find the texture and sauce off-putting
- • Price and availability vary widely by location
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the McRib back in 2026?
Is the McRib pork or beef?
Why is the McRib so hard to find?
How much does a McRib cost?
Is the McRib good?
Keywords
Sources
Product Info
- Brand
- McDonald's
- Category
- sandwich
- Released
- 1981
- Price
- $4.49 (varies by market)
- Availability
- Limited Edition
- Manufacturer
- McDonald's
- Introduced
- 1981
- First discontinued
- 1985
- Reintroduced
- 1989
- Mostly seasonal since
- 2006
- 2026 return date
- October 27, 2026 (select cities); October 26 in Indiana
- Calories
- Approximately 520
- Meat
- Restructured boneless pork
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