Top 23 Craziest Fast Food Items of Each Year (2000 - 2022)
2000: McSalad Shakers
McDonald's Salads aren’t the first thing we think of when we think of fast food. That being said, most chain establishments include some sort of leafy green dish on their menu. Starting in 2000, McDonald's tried to make salads exciting with their McSalad Shakers. They served the meal in a tall, cup-like container with the dressing on the side. It was up to customers to add the dressing and distribute it by shaking the container, like the name suggests. The meal came in three different versions: Chef, Chicken Caesar, and Garden. Unfortunately, the inventive approach to salad has since been discontinued.
2001: Six Dollar Burger
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Carl's Jr. & Hardee’s CKE Restaurants operates both Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s restaurants. The two chains have similar branding, and their menus also overlap regularly. 2001 saw Carl’s introduce a sandwich called the “six dollar burger.” Hardee’s later did the same. Upon the item’s release, the company claimed that a burger of similar quality would cost six dollars at a casual dining establishment, while theirs was originally priced below $4. Consisting of a nearly half pound charbroiled beef patty and all the classic fixings, the burger was a great price for its value. That being said, it has risen in cost over the last two decades. It’s since been renamed the “Thickburger,” with varieties on the original sandwich often being put on the menu.
2002: P’Zones
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Pizza Hut In 2002, Norway and Denmark’s McDonalds’ first released the infamous “McAfrika”. That same year, Pizza Hut made its mark in the fast food sandwich market with a calzone-inspired item. Called the P’Zone, the dish delivered pizza flavors in pocket form. It was made with a medium pizza crust dough, folded over different fixings and cheese, and then baked. The result was a massive, moon-shaped, calzone-like item, big enough to be split into two. While the dish was discontinued for a while, it made a return in 2019 as part of the five dollar line up. It came back with three available options: Pepperoni, Supremo, and Meaty.
2003: Spicy Chicken Burrito
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Taco Bell In recent years, a trend towards extreme heat has led to many fast food joints increasing their spicy offerings. However, Taco Bell was making their customers sweat all the way back in 2003. The Spicy Chicken Burrito had a bigger kick than some people expected from American fast food restaurants at the time. With spicy shredded chicken, spices, and salsa, the dish packed a hot punch. But the regular Chicken Burrito ended up largely taking its place in 2011, and other spicy dishes have since made it onto the menu. That being said, we have to give credit to one of the originals.
2004: The Breakfast Burger
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Carl’s Jr. Many quick serve restaurants have breakfast items that cater to morning crowds. However, Carl’s Jr. idea to top a burger with an egg was pretty novel back in 2004. The chain, known for its burgers, decided to make one that incorporates more traditional breakfast flavors. The sandwich was a hit, and has since become a staple of their lineup. The charbroiled beef patty comes with usual toppings like cheese and ketchup, as well as bacon, hash browns and, of course, an egg. Add in the sesame bun, and you get a pretty massive sandwich that tastes like breakfast and lunch.
2005: Chicken Fries
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Burger King Chicken nuggets are a fast food staple enjoyed by children and adults alike. But in 2005, Burger King launched a similar dish geared towards twenty and thirty somethings. Although fried chicken doesn’t seem like that crazy of a fast food item, BK’s chicken fries are made special by their appearance and serving vessel. They’re longer than the average nugget, with a tapered shape that is great for dipping into sauces. They’re also served in containers that fit neatly into cup holders, making them ideal for customers who drive. The dish was briefly discontinued in the 2010s. Thankfully, chicken fries were reintroduced in 2014.
2006: Sicilian Lasagna Pizza
Pizza Hut In 2006, Pizza Hut executives went back to pizza’s Italian roots in search of a limited time dish. What they came up with was a three cheese, Sicilian-style pie inspired by another Italian classic: lasagna. With ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese baked onto a soft crust alongside beef and marinara sauce, it incorporated most of the ingredients from the traditional pasta dish. Admittedly, without the inclusion of wide noodles, the pizza was missing what makes lasagna, lasagna. That being said, the end result was an insanely cheesy and delicious meal. We get what they were going for.
2007: Oreo Dessert Pizza
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Domino's Here is the proof that two delicious foods don’t always combine well. While the idea of an Oreo-inspired pizza is one that had us salivating at first, this dish lacked in execution what it had in concept. The hot dish consisted of a bland wafer crust, cloyingly sweet vanilla icing, and Oreo cookie crumbles. Without a good balance of flavor and texture, the end result felt more sad than anything else. The disappointed response from customers to Domino’s attempt at a dessert pizza was pretty unanimous. We were hoping this one would be crazy good. Unfortunately, it was crazy bad.
2008: Cheesy Macaroni Bites
Jack in the Box Mac and cheese isn’t a dish we typically think of as portable. That changed when Jack in the Box made it into a finger food with this now discontinued menu item. The triangle shaped, deep fried pockets were easily hand held, perfect for eating as you’re out and about. You may remember the ad they released, which highlighted the item’s portability by suggesting that it was much safer to eat while driving than say, burgers or hot dogs. After being removed from the menu for a brief time, the dish returned in 2021 with a slightly different name and look. This cylindrical variation was dubbed the Mac and Cheese Bite.
2009: Black Jack Taco
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Taco Bell This menu item was released just in time – and for a limited time – for Halloween in 2009. With beef, lettuce, a three cheese blend, and Baja sauce, the ingredients for the taco seemed relatively normal. That is, until you considered the black hard corn shell. The dark and edible outer vessel gave a whole new look to the familiar dish. The craziest part about it, however, was what happened after you ate it. Certain customers reportedly discovered that something in the taco, presumably the shell’s dye, turned their bowel movements green. Now that’s what we call spooky.
2010: Double Down
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KFC This menu item brings a whole new meaning to the term, “chicken sandwich.” It asks the question, who needs buns? The original version was made up of cheese, bacon, and sauce sitting in between two pieces of fried filet. First announced in the United States on April Fools Day in 2010, some customers assumed the Double Down was a joke item. But of course, it wasn’t. It’s since been served in KFCs all over the world, with grilled and spicy versions also being available at points. Although the sandwich is periodically removed from the restaurant’s menu internationally, it always seems to make a comeback.
2011: Foie Gras Rossini Burger
Wendy’s Here’s something for the high-end foodies. The French cuisine-inspired burger debuted in Japan in 2011, when Wendy’s was making a push to open more locations in the country. It consisted of a square shaped patty, capped with a heaping slab of foie gras and flavored with truffle. Talk about a fancy offering. We’ve never seen a dish like this sold at a quick service joint. When it was first released, the sandwich put customers back $16 dollars per burger. While that number seems steep for a fast food item, it’s a steal compared to the price of a comparable dish served at a New York bistro.
2012: Crown Crust Carnival
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Pizza Hut Although 2012 was the year that Burger King tried to make bacon sundaes a thing, we want to talk about Pizza Hut’s wild approach to stuffed crust. Many quick service pizza joints have tried to put their spin on the crust, but this menu item takes the crown, pun intended. Released first in Middle Eastern countries, it combined pizza with other fast food classics. Two versions of the pie were sold, one with a crust made of mini cheeseburgers, and the other made of chicken nuggets. Each version came with its own sauce. A year later, Pizza Huts in the UK released their own cheeseburger stuffed-crust pie.
2013: Peanut Butter & Bacon Shake
Sonic The drive-in restaurant is known for offering a wide variety of milkshake flavors, with new ones added to the menu regularly. In 2013, they introduced a wild flavor combination: Peanut Butter and Bacon. Although we would have never thought of this pairing by ourselves, we can see why it works. Peanuts are often used in sweet and savory dishes. Elvis Presley famously combined peanut butter with bacon on his fried banana sandwich. That being said, we’re still unsure about the choice to blend bacon and peanut butter together with ice cream. Maybe it's an acquired taste…
2014: Popcorn Chicken Nacho Box
KFC Arby’s monstrous meat mountain may be the biggest sandwich they’ve ever sold, but these nachos released the same year by KFC are more creative. We never would have considered putting popcorn chicken on top of nachos. The menu item, released in Australia, was also served with traditional fixings like shredded cheese and salsa. In case the wacky combination of breaded chicken and nachos wasn’t enough for you, the fast food joint also introduced a nacho burger to the menu. Why pick between different types of cuisine when you can have it all at once?
2015: Cap'n Crunch Delights
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Taco Bell We thought this crazy menu item could only exist in our dreams. While some call it a breakfast dish, it’s honestly more like a dessert. The deep fried balls consist of a bright pink pastry with a “sweet cereal milk icing” center and an outer coating of cereal bits. Not only are they achingly sweet, they’re also full of nostalgia. It’s always fun when food comes in a ball form. It's even better when they don’t turn our waste into a funny color, unlike the Burger King Halloween Whopper which was also released in 2015.
2016: Pumpkin Spice French Fries
McDonald's McDonald’s tried to tap into the pumpkin spice trend with this item available for a limited time only in Japan. The dish consisted of a serving of their classic french fries with chocolate and pumpkin sauces on the side. It was left up to the customer to dress the fries using the unique dual dispensing sauce packet. The menu item was also marketed as a Halloween dish, which makes sense after seeing the bright orange and dark brown colors together. It received mixed reviews when it came to taste. Still, we’re kind of into the cool packaging and interactive element.
2017: Buffalo Latte
Tim Hortons How about this as an alternative to pumpkin spice lattes? Available for a brief time in Buffalo, New York, this beverage embraced the culture of where it was being served. Instead of flavored with more typical syrups like chocolate or vanilla, the caffeinated drink was flavored with buffalo sauce. Then, it was topped with whipped cream and seasoning. For those who don’t know, buffalo spice refers to a mixture of garlic, onion, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Doesn’t that sound good in your coffee? It probably did wake folks right up! This item is truly out there.
2018: Pickle Juice Slush
Sonic We didn’t realize anyone would ever make and sell a sweet, frozen pickle beverage. However, back in 2018, Sonic surprised us all when they did just that. The bright green colored drink was reportedly described by a taster as “tangy”, but a bit too sweet. They speculated that the sweetness was possibly there to cover up the pickles’ innate acidity. In any case, the menu item doesn’t seem like it was as bad as we would have expected it to be. It got us thinking, what else could be pickle flavored? Ice cream, coffee, pizza – the possibilities are endless.
2019: Kentucky Fried Chicken & Donuts Sandwich
KFC KFC’s underwhelming Cheetos chicken sandwich couldn't compete in the Chicken Sandwich Wars of 2019. On the other hand, their fried chicken and donuts sandwich upped the ante with its dual donut bun situation. Among all the fried chicken products on the market that year, the seemingly out of place glazed treats in a savory dish helped to catch our eye. The combination might sound weird, but we have a feeling it works really well. Sweet and savory go great together, and fried chicken and donuts are each delicious individually – so why not combine them?
2020: Spam & Oreo Burger
McDonald's This exclusive, “members only” menu item caused a lot of confusion when it was released in China. Made with two slabs of Spam, oreo crumbles, and mayo on a sesame bun, it was a strange sandwich to say the least. And the concoction received mixed reactions from customers. Some accused the fast food joint of purposefully introducing a bizarre meal in order to grab attention. Others were simply displeased by the odd combination. Yet one loyal fan commented online saying they found the meal “delicious.” With all that said, we’re still not sure what to think of this dish.
2021: Stuffed Quesadilla Tacos
Del Taco Combining a quesadilla and a taco together may sound crazy, but it's really genius. Since 2021, the Mexican-American style restaurant chain has delivered what might just be one of the best fast food mashups ever. It treats a cheese quesadilla as a taco shell, folding it over and then filling it with all the goods you’d expect. It makes sense that the two dishes would go well together, considering they’re both Mexican staples and incorporate similar flavors. The company also gives customers different filling options, ranging from grilled chicken to Carne Asada, so there’s something for whatever mood you’re in.
2022: Fan-Inspired Hacks
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McDonald's McDonald’s had the craziest idea of all when they started empowering customers to create their own concoctions. The company took inspiration from the various combinations of their menu items being created by fans and posted online. They chose four recipes, for lack of a better word, and marketed them as “menu hacks.” The resulting sandwiches loomed tall with many layers. While the Hash Brown McMuffin was only served during breakfast, the other three mashups were sold throughout the day. Funnily enough, the hacks didn’t actually reach their final form in McDonald’s kitchens. Instead, it was up to the customers to stack the different components, DIY-style.
