The Brand Behind McDonald's McNuggets Is Already In Your Freezer

Chicken McNuggets are both a bane and a blessing. Once your kids have this convenience food, there's no going back. It's all they will ever ask for.

Chicken McNuggets were born in the 1970s when Belgian chef René Arend, who cooked for Queen Elizabeth, experimented with onion nuggets. McDonald's Chairman Fred Turner told Arend he should use chicken instead, and, eureka, Chicken McNuggets became a thing. Chicken nuggets are so popular you can even make them in your own kitchen.



However, the brand that makes McDonald's McNuggets possible at home is Keystone Foods, which was acquired by Tyson's in 2018. Per McDonald's website , Keystone Foods provides more than 150 million pounds of beef, 300 million pounds of chicken, and 15 million pounds of fish each year. And according to Food Dive , when Tyson acquired the food company, it expected it to generate $50 million by the third year of Keystone Foods calling Tyson home.

But are these nuggets anything like the ones Tyson makes and sells in the frozen food aisle of your local grocery store? There are four shapes What's really in McDonald's chicken nuggets? First, it is, indeed, real chicken. They are made with USDA-inspected, boneless white meat chicken. And speaking of those chickens used to create these tasty and popular bites, chicken McNuggets are born from a large-breasted chicken breed that was aptly dubbed the "Mr.

McDonald." This breaded 2-bite chicken piece starts as ground chicken, which is seasoned and then placed into molds. When Tyson took the ship's helm in making these bite-sized chicken bites, the company also created four iconic shapes.

They are the ball, the bone, the boot, and the bell. This technique creates a more even bake. Additionally, they are bread in a tempura-like breading, partially fried, and flash-frozen, so their flavor remains intact.

Of course, if you prefer, you can easily make a copy-cat version of chicken McNuggets at home if you don't want to give in to going to the drive-thru for the kids, or buy a package of Tyson frozen chicken nuggets and cook them up whenever the mood strikes..