If you’re reading this article, there’s a very high chance that you’re craving something from KFC, Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s or somewhere similar that’s been tragically removed from the menu. Whilst it’s normal for these fast food chains to have limited-time items, such as the McDonald’s McRib or the KFC Double, which come and go every few years, there are numerous beloved mainstays that were available for years that have disappeared without a trace, leaving fans devastated.
KFC’s Krushers
One of the most popular articles on this site has been about KFC’s Krusher drinks which have been gone since 2019. These drinks appeared to be quite popular with the public, with over 11,000 people signing a change.org petition to bring them back. These drinks were notoriously difficult and messy to make, making staff unhappy whenever they were ordered. The introduction of these added a lot of extra cleaning and maintenance to the restaurants, resulting in the drinks not being available at certain times during cleaning cycles or close to closing time.
McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast
I was in the USA when McDonald’s announced it’s All Day Breakfast there, which was national news at the time. I remember it later being a big deal here in Australia when we got it as well. It was great for shift workers, people with hangovers and those who love breakfast foods, but now we are back in the dark ages, with Australia’s McDonald’s Breakfast Menu ending at 10:29 am each day.
Since October 2021 we have instead got the “All Day Menu” which only keeps hashbrowns available at all times rather than the other breakfast classics such as Hotcakes and Breakfast McMuffins. The availability of Big Macs, cheeseburgers, nuggets and fries at all times is far more important to me personally as I prefer them to breakfast foods.
The reason McDonald’s removed the All-Day Breakfast was to speed things up at peak times such as lunch and dinner when these speciality breakfast items were slowing things down in the kitchen.
Hungry Jack’s Cheesy Cheese Burger
I quite liked the Hungry Jack’s Cheesy Cheese Burger, yet had forgotten all about them until I saw someone else complain that they are missing. These appear to have left in 2021.
Toys at KFC in Australia
Did you realise that Australian KFC stopped giving toys with their kid’s meals in 2011? KFC said that they did this as it was the right thing to do and stopped marketing junk food to kids. As an enthusiast of fast-food collectables, I had a special fondness for KFC toys in particular, often being better quality than those of Hungry Jack’s or Red Rooster.
McDonald’s Create Your Taste Burgers
Now that McDonald’s Australia has the MyMacca’s App and is available on food delivery apps like Uber Eats, it seems very strange that “Create Your Taste” is no longer available. In case you’ve forgotten, this dine-in experience allowed customers to fully customise a gourmet burger using a touch screen in the restaurant. These screens were later turned into self-ordering stations for the full menu.
Why is Create Your Taste gone? Whilst technology has definitely caught up to allow people to customise their own burgers from their own phone without having to touch a dirty screen, it is likely the real reason would come down to the cost and waste of stocking so many extra ingredients coupled with most people not wanting to spend upwards of $20 on a single burger at a McDonald’s.
Corn on the Cobb at KFC
Whilst very simple and perhaps a little boring to many, the corn cobs that KFC uses to sell as part of family meals. I actually wish these were back as my son loves corn and doesn’t eat anything at fast food places other than chips.
Hungry Jack’s Angry Onions
This is one of the items that I miss most. I loved Hungry Jack’s Angry Onions and would usually order them as a side instead of chips. I’ve written a whole article about them that you can go and read. Most of the burgers that included these could also return if they were reintroduced.
KFC Crispy Strips + The Original Twister Wraps
The original KFC Crispy Strips were generally better than the replacement item – KFC Original Tenders. These were much crispier and crunchier than their new slightly healthier counterparts.
The swap in chicken pieces isn’t the only change that made the original KFC Twisters different. The original KFC Twisters had a Crispy Strip inside with lettuce, diced tomato cubes and mayonnaise. The new KFC Twister instead has coleslaw, Twister sauce and corn chips. I never heard of anyone who thinks this was an improvement in any way.
I believe Twisters were the only item that used diced tomato cubes, so I think the coleslaw which they already sell anyway made this faster and easier to prepare, with the corn chips making up for some of the lost crunch from the new protein.
Hungry Jack’s Big Jack Burger
It was only just as I researched this article that I found out that the cheekily named Big Jack burgers are no longer available at Hungry Jack’s. The reason for this is not one you’d expect either. Whilst McDonald’s tried to sue Hungry Jack’s over the similarity in the name to its Big Mac burger, Hungry Jack’s actually won as there was no evidence that consumers had been tricked into buying a Big Jack at Hungry Jack’s when trying to buy a Big Mac from a McDonald’s. However, the marketing claims that it contained 25% more Australian beef was its undoing, causing legal issues around false advertising. Due to this, I can’t see it coming back.
KFC’s BBQ Bacon Roller
Back around 2007 I was obsessed with KFC’s BBQ Bacon Roller, it was one of the main things I ordered and was great after a night out. This included Popcorn chicken, bacon BBQ sauce and I believe there was also cheese in there. There was also Nacho Cheese Roller, but no one really talked about those.
Popcorn Chicken Shakers at KFC
In the early 2000s, KFC in Australia (and in other countries such as the UK in the picture above) you could get a Popcorn Chicken Shaker. This was similar to the shaker fries concept that McDonald’s sometimes does, but it felt like it was around for quite a while and is thus appropriate for this list. The flavours offered in Australia were Salt & Vinegar, Nacho Cheese and Hot Shot. Salt & Vinegar seemed to be most people’s favourite. My sister claims she had these as her choice of birthday dinner multiple years in a row. These came in a cup with a clear plastic lid so that there was room for the popcorn chicken to bounce around and the sachet’s flavour dust could get all around it.
