Ex-McDonald's Chef Claims You Can Find the Hash Browns at the Grocery Store
The next time you're craving a piping hot McDonald's Hash Brown, you might be able to skip the drive-thru lines and fry one up at home. A company insider just revealed that you can purchase a version that's remarkably similar to the original at one of America's major grocery chains.
Mike Haracz, a TikToker and former McDonald's corporate chef who frequently shares insider tips and tricks about the chain (@chefmikeharacz), recently set out to find the closest match to McDonald's Hash Browns at grocery stores. In a viral video with more than 525,000 views, he explained that customers won't be able to purchase the exact hash browns that McDonald's uses since the company has its own recipes and formulas. But many grocery chains and big brands try to develop dupes for popular products like McDonald's Hash Browns, so "there are quite a few that are almost identical" on the market right now.
To find the one closest to the original, Haracz compared the ingredient lists and nutrition information for McDonald's Hash Browns to a variety of grocery store versions. The product that ended up being most similar was Aldi's frozen Season's Choice Hash Brown Patties, which Haracz recommended deep frying for best results.
He did note that the taste of the Aldi hash browns may differ slightly from McDonald's. That's because McDonald's fries its hash browns in oil with beef flavoring, so customers who don't have access to beef flavoring won't be able to replicate the classic McDonald's taste. But Haracz still stressed that the flavor is "almost identical" to the classic Mickey D's Hash Browns.
In the video's comments section, several McDonald's fans backed up Haracz' claim that the Season's Choice version is extremely close to the original.
"Been buying Season's Choice at Aldi for years. Can confirm if done right they're almost identical," one TikToker commented.
"Aldi comes the closest. Throw them in the air fryer about 12 minutes and go. Easy peasy," another said.
This isn't the first time that Haracz has helped McDonald's fans find dupes for their favorite menu items at grocery stores. Just last week, he discovered that the Great Value Fully Cooked Original Pork Sausage Patties at Walmart are the closest grocery store version of McDonald's breakfast sausage after comparing the ingredients and nutrition information for the two. And back in October, he determined that the closest match for McDonald's famous Big Mac sauce is Walmart's Great Value Secret Sauce.
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