Faux- McRibs...ain't nobody takin' these away

Growing up, I despised McDonald's McRib sandwiches. There was just something weird about the pork/pickle/onion/BBQ sauce combo to my juvenile palette. Fast forward to adulthood. I've come to quite enjoy the McRib. As we all know, McDonalds takes away and revives the McRib at some seemingly unpredictable intervals. McRib lovers flock to McDonalds when they see those signs telling us that the "McRib is back". I have to admit that when I see those signs, I salivate. And then like a puff of wind, the McRib is gone again. What is a McRib lover to do during the McRib droughts? Make a Faux- McRib!!!!!

The Faux- McRib is rather easy to make.You only need FIVE things to make the sandwiches. The most important feature of the McRib as well as the Faux-McRib is the meat. The meat used in the sandwich is a rib shaped pork patty. I read all of the time about the suspect nature of "pork patties". I say to all who scoff...WHO CARES!?!?!? You are not eating a McRib for it's nutritional value. They are delish and fun to eat...that's the reason they are consumed. I mean, come on. I've never met an actual rack of ribs that look anything like the "pork patty". Therefore, let's just keep it real here. Take a deep breath and don't think about what a "pork patty" is. Just enjoy it. Of course, you might see people trying to convince you to make your own "pork patties" from scratch. I ask--why? Why not just let someone else do the work for you? There are a few companies out there that take care of the "pork patties" for you. On-Cor brand has a nice patty in a BBQ sauce (I'll talk more about the sauce in a bit) that you can find in the freezer section at the grocery store.


**Photo provided by www.on-cor.com

Banquet makes them too.

***Photo courtesy of www.grocerycouponnetwork.com

There are some that come without a sauce as well. The first time I made a Faux-McRib, I used a frozen patty that had no sauce included. It worked out great. Those patties were on sale for $1.50 for 6 of them. I've never been able to find them again. Perhaps they were being discontinued. :-) My most recent Faux-McRibs were the Family Buffet brand that I found at Walmart in the frozen section. These patties come covered in a sauce. The instructions state to microwave for 7 minutes, stir, then cook for another 4 minutes (those times were for my microwave oven wattage). Easy.

Once you've procured the rib shaped "pork patties", you need to make another big decision about your sandwich--the sauce. Fans of the McRib know that the sauce is very sweet--unbearably sweet for some. This is where making the sandwich at home can have an advantage. My first foray into my creation, as I stated previously, was using a non-sauced patty. I poured some inexpensive bottled BBQ sauce on top and it was very similar to the McRib. I, now, do something a little different which creates a less sweet sauce that I've come to prefer. I still use an inexpensive bottle of BBQ sauce, but mix it with the sauce that the pork patties are covered in. I simply pour the BBQ sauce over the cooked patties in the tray they come in and mix well (no need to use any additional bowls). Usually, the sauce that the patties are originally surrounded by isn't as sweet as regular bottled BBQ sauce. Mixing the two together makes the bottled sauce not too sweet. It's just a suggestion. You can do it anyway you please...full strength out of the bottle or not. Experiment. The thing to remember here is that these sandwiches are just to give you your McRib fix until the real thing is available. You might end up making a creation that you feel is better than the beloved McRib.

One other unique thing McDonalds does is with the cut of their onions. Some of their burgers have a minced onion. The McRib has slivers. Simply cut a white onion into rings and then cut the rings into halves. Then cut the halves into half (basically cross- cutting the whole onion slices with a giant "X"). This will make slivered onions.

The last two features of the McRib is a bun and sliced dill pickle chips. You can try to get as close to the original McRib as possible by finding a bun with sesame seeds on top. Or, you can use any kind of bun you prefer. I like to use whole wheat sub rolls. The whole wheat flavor has a sweetness to it similar to a McDonalds bun. Use any kind of sliced dill pickle chips you prefer.

Assembling your Faux- McRib is simple from this point. Heat up the frozen pork patties per the directions and mix up your sauce. Place a patty or two on top of your bun or sub roll along with some of the sauce. Top the patties with pickle and onion. Hope you enjoy your Faux-McRib until the real thing comes back.