Chicago, April 22, 2026, 11:15 CDT
McDonald’s rolled out a revamped U.S. McValue menu on Tuesday, adding under-$3 items and a $4 breakfast meal deal while phasing out a buy-one, add-one-for-$1 offer that some customers viewed as the stronger bargain.
The change matters because McDonald’s is trying to sharpen its value message at a time when lower-income diners remain sensitive to menu prices. The company has leaned harder into deals since 2024, when fast-food chains faced criticism over post-pandemic price increases and weaker traffic from budget-conscious customers.
The new McValue lineup includes at least 10 items priced under $3 at participating U.S. restaurants. Breakfast choices include the Sausage McMuffin, Sausage Biscuit, Sausage Burrito, Hash Browns and medium McCafé Premium Roast Coffee; later in the day, the menu includes the McChicken, McDouble, four-piece Chicken McNuggets, small fries and a medium soft drink.
McDonald’s also added a $4 breakfast meal with a Sausage McMuffin or Sausage Biscuit, Hash Browns and a small coffee. Its lunch and dinner Meal Deals remain, including a $5 McChicken meal and a $6 McDouble meal, each with nuggets, fries and a small drink.
Alyssa Buetikofer, chief marketing and customer experience officer at McDonald’s USA, said the company was trying to make it easier for diners to find value “on their terms.” Scott Rodrick, a McDonald’s owner-operator and chair of the chain’s national operator advertising group, said the next version of McValue was meant to fit customers’ “lives, routines and budgets.” McDonald’s Corporation
But the arithmetic is not clean. The old McValue structure let customers add a second eligible item for $1 after buying a full-priced item of equal or greater value; the new version makes individual prices easier to read but may cost more for some order combinations.
Heather Nelson, senior director of syndicated research at Technomic, told Fast Company that McDonald’s is “always experimenting with the architecture of their value offerings.” Darren Tristano, chief executive of FoodserviceResults, said some fast-food deals amount to “a small discount” or a spotlight on products that were already lower cost. Fast Company
The move also puts McDonald’s into a broader fast-food fight over simple price points. Taco Bell has pushed a value menu with $3-or-less items, while Wendy’s has refreshed its Biggie Deals platform with $4, $6 and $8 options.
McDonald’s has reason to keep pressing. The company said U.S. comparable sales rose 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, and Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski said its value leadership was working after the chain improved traffic and affordability scores.
There are catches. McDonald’s says prices and participation may vary, Meal Deals may cost more at select restaurants and the offers are not valid for delivery. Around 95% of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are run by franchisees, who set their own pricing, so a national value menu can still look different from market to market.
The risk is that clearer pricing does not translate into a meaningfully cheaper receipt. Some under-$3 items were already selling below that mark in parts of the country, and food-away-from-home inflation has made consumers quicker to notice when a deal feels repackaged. Roger Beahm, an emeritus marketing professor at Wake Forest University’s School of Business, put the question bluntly: “If everything is always positioned as a value, then can anything really be a value?” AP News
McDonald’s shares were little changed in late-morning U.S. trading at $301.44.
