McDonald's Daily Double Copycat Recipe at Home

To make a McDonald’s Daily Double at home, sear two thin 1.6-ounce (45 g) beef patties on a very hot griddle and salt and pepper them once they’re on the heat. Stack them on a bun with one slice of American cheese, mayonnaise, two tomato slices, slivered fresh onion and shredded lettuce. No ketchup, no mustard, no pickles. That’s the build McDonald’s lists on its US product page. The patty weight, the seasoning and the toppings come from published sources. The topping amounts, the griddle heat and the assembly order are my estimates or one tester’s observation, and I flag each one below. This is a homemade copycat, not McDonald’s official recipe.

I’ll say it up front: of the two burgers McDonald’s builds on these patties, the Daily Double is the one I’d rather make at home. Cold tomato, raw onion and mayo on hot, thin beef make a fresher burger than the ketchup-mustard-pickle McDouble, and you don’t need a secret sauce for any of it.

What’s on a McDonald’s Daily Double?

A McDonald’s Daily Double is two seasoned 100% beef patties, melted American cheese, shredded lettuce, slivered onions, mayonnaise and two slices of tomato. That’s the list on the official McDonald’s US Daily Double page. The page blocked me with a 403 error on November 2, 2026, so I checked the wording against search snippets, Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Dive.

One slice of cheese, not two: The Takeout and The Daily Meal agree on that. The patties are the regular 1.6-ounce ones, the same as in the McDouble.

What McDonald’s confirms and what I assume

McDonald’s confirms the toppings, and the press confirms the patty size and the seasoning. Nobody publishes the topping amounts, the mayo recipe, the bun or the grill heat, so those gaps are mine to fill.

How much does a McDonald’s patty weigh?

A regular McDonald’s patty weighs 1.6 ounces, about 45 g, before cooking. It’s called a 10:1 patty because ten of them make a pound, per this unofficial analysis. The Daily Double takes two, so each burger starts with 3.2 ounces (90 g) of raw beef, exactly like the McDouble.

Daily Double copycat ingredients (makes 2 burgers)

These amounts make two Daily Doubles. Weigh the beef to the gram. On a patty this thin, an extra 10 g changes the cook. McDonald’s publishes no amounts for the mayo, lettuce or onion, so those are my estimates.

• 6.4 oz (180 g) ground beef, about 80/20, for 4 patties of 1.6 oz (45 g)
• 2 plain white hamburger buns
• 2 slices of American cheese
• 2 tablespoons (about 30 g) mayonnaise
• 1 oz (about 30 g) lettuce, shredded
• 1 small tomato (Roma if you can find one), for 4 slices
• 1.4 oz (about 40 g) onion, slivered
• Fine salt and ground black pepper

Equipment: kitchen scale, parchment paper, a flat griddle or cast-iron skillet, a stiff metal spatula and an instant-read thermometer. A 12-inch skillet takes all four patties in one batch, which is how I cook them.

Times: prep 15 minutes, cooking about 5 minutes, total about 20 minutes.

How to make a homemade Daily Double, step by step

Prep every topping before the beef goes on. The patties cook in about 2 minutes, and the cheese melts from their heat, so there’s no time to slice a tomato halfway through. The cooking base is the same one I use in my McDouble copycat recipe.

1. Weigh and shape the patties

Divide the beef into 4 portions of exactly 1.6 oz (45 g). Press each one thin and flat between two sheets of parchment paper. Don’t mix salt or pepper into the meat.

2. Prep the toppings

Cut the tomato into 4 thin slices. Sliver the onion as thin as your knife allows, shred the lettuce finely and keep everything cold until assembly.

3. Heat the griddle

Heat a flat griddle or cast-iron skillet to 400 to 450°F (200 to 230°C). McDonald’s doesn’t publish its grill temperature. I picked this range because a patty this thin has to sear fast, or it dries out before it browns.

4. Cook and season the patties

Lay the patties on the griddle and press each one for 3 seconds with the spatula. Salt and pepper the tops right there on the heat. Cook about 1 minute per side, until the center reads 160°F (71°C), the USDA safe minimum for ground beef. One minute is where I start. Trust the thermometer, not the clock.

5. Warm the buns

Warm each bun for 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave, or toast the cut sides on the griddle. Only one source calls the Daily Double bun toasted, but I toast mine anyway: a soft bun under mayo and tomato turns soggy fast.

6. Assemble the Daily Double

Spread 1 tablespoon of mayo on each bottom bun and lay a slice of cheese on it. Stack the two hot patties on the cheese so it melts, then add two tomato slices, the onion and the lettuce. Close the burger and eat it right away.

The Daily Double assembly order, as one tester saw it

One tester at The Impulsive Buy found this order, bottom to top: bun, mayonnaise, cheese, two patties, two Roma tomato slices, slivered onions, shredded lettuce. That’s a single observation from July 2025, not an official build. Cheese under the patties is unusual. At home I’ve come to prefer it: the hot beef melts the slice into the mayo, and the cold vegetables on top stay crisp.

Fresh slivered onions: why they matter

The Daily Double uses fresh slivered onions, sharper than the rehydrated chopped onions on the McDouble, Chowhound reports. That’s the biggest flavor gap between the two burgers. Don’t swap in dried minced onion: you’d lose the bite that cuts through the mayo. And slice thin. Thick rings slide out of a burger this small at the first bite.

Fresh white onion slices in a bowl. The Daily Double uses fresh onion instead of the McDouble’s rehydrated chopped onion, so for the copycat, cut it into thinner slivers than these. Illustrative photo, not taken at McDonald’s (4912×3264). (Photo: Sakartvelo, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sliced\_onion.JPG)

Why this copycat works

It sticks to what McDonald’s and the press document: two regular 1.6-ounce patties, salt and pepper on the heat, one slice of cheese, and mayo, lettuce, tomato and fresh onion instead of ketchup, mustard and pickles. Salting on the griddle rather than in the mix keeps the meat loose instead of firm and sausage-like. The thin patties also keep the original’s balance of a lot of topping on very little beef. That’s why it eats fresher than most double cheeseburgers.

Daily Double vs McDouble vs Double Cheeseburger

The Daily Double and the McDouble share the same two patties and single slice of cheese; only the toppings change. The Double Cheeseburger is a McDouble with two slices of cheese. As Restaurant Dive sums it up, the Daily Double swaps the McDouble’s ketchup, mustard and pickles for mayo, lettuce, tomato and fresh onion.

The comparison isn’t new. In October 2012, the Herald Extra already called it a dressed-up McDouble: $1.99, against $0.99 for the McDouble.

Daily Double history: from 2011 to the 2025 national launch

The Daily Double was already on menus in 2011 and 2012. It came back for a limited time around Chicago in April 2016 at $2.19, NBC Chicago reported. Before 2025 it was tested or sold regionally, notably in Chicago, Miami and Seattle.

The lit McDonald’s sign in Chicago’s Theatre District, at N Dearborn St, December 2014. In April 2016, the Daily Double came back for a limited time in the Chicago area at $2.19 (3456×5184). (Photo: Daniel Huizinga, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago\_McDonald%27s\_(15948516449).jpg)

McDonald’s launched it nationwide in the US on July 22, 2025, inside the McValue Meal Deal: a Daily Double, 4 Chicken McNuggets, small fries and a small drink for $6 or $7 depending on the restaurant, announced through the end of 2025, per NRN. For the rest of the chain’s lineup this year, see new McDonald’s burgers in 2026.

Is the Daily Double still on the menu in 2026?

Yes. The Daily Double is on the US menu in 2026, according to the press: The Daily Meal listed it in September 2026, and menu aggregators showed it that same month. McDonald’s hasn’t said it’s permanent, though, and the 2025 deal was billed as running only through the end of 2025.

How much does a Daily Double cost?

A Daily Double costs about $4 to $5 on its own in the US, and the price varies by restaurant. Reported prices: $3.99 in Chicago (The Takeout, July 28, 2025), $4.79 in Los Angeles (Brand Eating, July 2025), $4.19 in Hawaii (The Impulsive Buy, July 10, 2025) and $4.39 “depending on location” (The Daily Meal, September 19, 2026). That’s double the $1.99 it cost in 2012.

Bar chart of McDonald’s Daily Double prices in the US: $3.99 in Chicago, $4.19 in Hawaii and $4.79 in Los Angeles in July 2025, and $4.39 “depending on location” in September 2026. Sources: The Takeout, The Impulsive Buy, Brand Eating, The Daily Meal. (Chart: Burger Breton, original work (rendered with QuickChart, 1600×900), data from The Takeout, The Impulsive Buy, Brand Eating and The Daily Meal)

Daily Double calories and nutrition

A US Daily Double has 490 calories, 31 g of fat, 810 mg of sodium and 22 g of protein, according to McDonald’s US figures as listed by FatSecret and The Impulsive Buy. The 2012 version was lighter: 440 calories, 24 g of fat and 23 g of protein, with the same 810 mg of sodium, per the Herald Extra. These are McDonald’s figures, not those of my homemade version.

Daily Double nutrition, 2012 vs 2025–2026: 440 vs 490 calories, 24 vs 31 g of fat, 23 vs 22 g of protein. Sodium is 810 mg in both versions. These are McDonald’s US figures, not the homemade copycat’s. Sources: Herald Extra (2012), McDonald’s US, FatSecret, The Impulsive Buy. (Chart: Burger Breton, original work (rendered with QuickChart, 1600×900), data from Herald Extra, McDonald’s US, FatSecret and The Impulsive Buy)

Daily Double copycat FAQ

What’s on a McDonald’s Daily Double? Two seasoned 100% beef patties, one slice of melted American cheese, shredded lettuce, slivered onions, mayonnaise and two slices of tomato, per McDonald’s US.

What’s the difference between a Daily Double and a McDouble? The toppings. Both have two 1.6-ounce patties and one slice of cheese. The McDouble adds ketchup, mustard, pickles and rehydrated onions; the Daily Double adds mayo, lettuce, tomato and fresh slivered onion.

How many slices of cheese are in a Daily Double? One. The Double Cheeseburger is the one with two.

How many calories are in a Daily Double? 490 calories for the US version, with 31 g of fat, 810 mg of sodium and 22 g of protein, per McDonald’s US figures.

Is the Daily Double sold outside the US? I found no source showing it outside the United States. My reference market is the US in 2025 and 2026, and I haven’t checked every country.

What mayonnaise should I use? A plain mayonnaise you like. I couldn’t read McDonald’s official ingredient list, so I can’t tell you which mayo or recipe it uses.

Why fresh onions instead of dried ones? Because that’s what the Daily Double uses. Fresh slivered onion is sharper and crunchier than the McDouble’s rehydrated onion, and it cuts the richness of the mayo.

More McDonald’s and double-patty copycat recipes

Want the ketchup-and-mustard version? Start with my McDouble copycat recipe, which uses the same patties. For bigger doubles, try my Double Whopper copycat recipe, my colleague Alice’s Wendy’s Dave’s Double copycat or my colleague Julia’s Shake Shack Double Cheeseburger recipe. Check the Burger Patty Guide for internal temperatures, read the chain’s history on our McDonald’s brand page, or browse every recipe in the Burger Breton recipes section.