The Newest Item at McDonald's: A Hamburger Patty Between Some Lettuce

Long car rides are the perfect opportunity for a quick trip through the drive-thru. But if you’re the driver and hoping to eat low-carb or gluten-free, your food options are pretty limited. Do your splurge on a calorific Big Mac? Or do you attempt to hastily eat a salad while trying to keep both hands on the wheel?

If you’re road tripping through select cities in Australia, you won’t need to think twice. McDonald’s Australia is coming out with a low-carb burger that swaps traditional buns with two large pieces of lettuce. The news of the lettuce-wrapped burger comes just a few days after Mickey D’s announced they are trying out a gourmet menu. 

‘Lettuce’ introduce you to our famous #lettuceburgers . All the same ingredients packed into a couple of large lettuce leaves!

A photo posted by McDonald’s Springfield (@springfieldmaccas) on May 21, 2015 at 11:16pm PDT

The restaurant is calling the no-bun option a ‘lettuce wrap.’ Customers can also order the bunless burger with extras like cheese, jalapeños, a pickle, guacamole, onions, sliced beetroot (so Australian), grilled pineapple, and tortilla chips.

According to CNN, the lettuce wrap is part of the “Build Your Burger” contest, which gives Australians the opportunity to create a custom hamburger online. On the McDonald’s website, you can craft your own burger using 31 ingredients and assembling tools. The top designs are featured on the the menus at participating McDonald’s locations as well as the company website, and winners of the competition are awarded items ranging from free meals to a trip to Thailand or Sydney.

A photo posted by McDonald’s Queensland / NT (@mcdqld) on May 19, 2015 at 9:56pm PDT

Macca’s (or what Australians call McDonald’s) is not the first restaurant to create a lettuce bun for its burgers. West-Coast burger haven In-N-Out has offered a “protein-style” burger on their secret menu since the dawn of the restaurant. Similar to the McDonald’s version, the burger is virtually the same as a regular one, just sans bun.

#innout #cheeseburger #proteinstyle #animalstyle #extraeverything #eatinghealthy

A photo posted by KL (@keeejooo) on Jul 28, 2015 at 6:08pm PDT

[via Grub Street]