Judging by the length of the drive-through queues, the question on everyone's mind at the moment is: "Is McDonald's open today?" Spoiler: the answer is "yes, they are open but there are restrictions (and queues)".
Read on for the full details plus when you can expect to be able to eat indoors at McDonald's. We also have recipes so you can make Big Macs, Sausage and Egg McMuffins, Greggs Steak Bakes, Pret soups and many more takeaway favourites at home.
- When will Ikea open? Here's your answer
- Pizza Hut is doing home delivery across the UK today – you can also do contact-free pickup
- Domino's is also doing home delivery across the UK today – collection is also available
Is McDonald's open today?
Yes. McDonald's has reopened drive-through lanes at most of its restaurants. The restaurants are also open for Click & Serve and home delivery. As of 22 February, McDonald's is also gradually opening for walk-in takeaway "where permitted" in England and Wales, but not in Scotland for now due to Scottish government rules. You can't dine in at McDonald's at the moment and the earliest you'll be able to do that is Monday 17 May.
Opening hours for all branches are 11am to 10pm and orders are capped at a maximum value of £25.
Click here to see whether your chosen branch is open for drive-through or delivery.
Click here to order from McDonald's now with Uber Eats or Just Eat.
The McDonald's branches that are open are offering a reduced menu from 11am to 10pm. That reduced McDonald's menu is below and while breakfast was OFF the menu for a while a limited breakfast is now back on the menu. Hooray!
You don't have to go all the way to McDonald's for its Sausage and Egg McMuffin, though, as the restaurant has shared the recipe on Twitter so you can make it for yourself.
For those who caught us on @thismorning, here is the Sausage and Egg McMuffin recipe without the tea towel fire... pic.twitter.com/ZanBKY18vbApril 28, 2020
On Monday 22 February, Boris Johnson outlined a four-stage roadmap out of lockdown for the, explaining what could reopen and when. In order to move from one stage to the next, certain criteria must be met, such as the vaccine deployment programme continuing successfully and for there to be no sudden surge in infections.
All being well, McDonald's could open for outdoor dining on Monday 12 April, and it could open for indoor dining no earlier than Monday 17 May.
How to make a Big Mac at home
If you're wondering how to make a Big Mac at home, we can help. First off, you could press your own burgers. McDonald's burgers are 100% beef so that's the only ingredient you need.
Browse burger presses at Amazon so you can get that McDonald's burger texture.
Many of the burger presses above come with discs of waxed paper so you can make your burgers in bulk and store them in the freezer, making future fast food burgers at home even faster.
Next, you don't need us to tell you where to buy minced beef, burger rolls, iceberg lettuce, cheese, onions or gherkins from.
Up your burger game by ordering (uncooked) burgers from Farmison delivered to your home.
Or order minced steak and burgers for delivery from The Great British Meat Co.
But what about the final and most important ingredient, the Big Mac sauce? Aldi is stocking a burger sauce called Chunky Burger Sauce which buyers say tastes almost exactly like Big Mac sauce. Happy days! The sauce contains ingredients including mustard, gherkins, onion, sugar, paprika and chilli and costs 75p for a 250ml bottle. It's not available to buy online so you'll need to get a bottle (while stocks last) when you pop into a store to buy essentials.
Alternatively, a Big Mac obsessed work colleague informs me that you can make a fakeaway Big Mac sauce with: 1/3 tomato ketchup, 1/3 mayo and 1/3 old school burger relish.
Now you need something to fry your burgers in. These are the best non-stick frying pans. Alternatively, browse George Foreman grills on Amazon. They're not just for burgers! Prefer to grill outdoors? These are the best barbecues and smokers.
OK, now let's make that Big Mac. Check out the video below by an ex-McDonald's Executive Chef for a step-by-step guide to making a copycat Big Mac at home, including his reveal on how to make home made Big Mac sauce.
How to make fakeaway KFC at home
If you don't have a local KFC that delivers, then fear not because Jordan Moore, senior recipe developer at recipe box company Gousto has created these GFC (Gousto Fried Chicken) recipes for you to make at home.
- Gousto meal delivery boxes start from £2.98 per meal including free delivery 7 days a week. For more information visit gousto.co.uk.
Gousto Fried Chicken
Jordan Moore, senior recipe developer at recipe box company Gousto says: "Stick them in a bucket or serve them on a plate, these drumsticks use six herbs and spices that we bet you’ve already got knocking around in your spice rack, and are the perfect bank holiday weekend treat. We’ve used cornflour in this recipe to give the drumsticks an extra crunchy coating – serve with our ultimate Gousto Fried Chicken gravy for a lockdown alternative to your favourite takeaway"
Ingredients: Serves two
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1kg chicken drumsticks
1.5 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground coriander
1tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
150g plain flour
45g cornflour
Method
Add the dry ingredients to a tray and stir to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg and milk.
Toss the chicken with the spiced flour mixture, then coat them in the egg and milk mixture and then return them to the flour tray.
Once all your chicken has been coated with the egg, drizzle around 1 tbsp leftover egg mixture into the flour to create little clusters that will stick to the chicken and get extra crispy when frying. Then, using clean hands make sure that all the drumsticks are covered with the spiced flour.
Heat a large, deep pan with about 7-10cm of oil, over a medium-high heat until it registers between 175-190C or until a small scrap of bread dropped in bubbles and rises to the surface.
Gently add the drumsticks to the hot oil, being careful to place them away from you so the oil doesn’t splash you. You want them in a single layer, so cook them in batches.
Fry for 10 minutes, cooking until golden brown and crispy, and cooked all the way through – no pink meat!
Ultimate GFC Gravy
Jordan says: "This gravy is perfectly paired with succulent fried chicken, or ideal for upping your Sunday roast game. We heard that a certain colonel says the secret to your favourite takeaway gravy is to use the drippings at the bottom of the chicken frying pan as your gravy base. But don’t worry – olive oil works just as well."
Ingredients
1 Kallo chicken stock cube
2 tsp Marmite
2 tbsp fried chicken drippings or olive oil
2 tbsp flour
Method
Dissolve the stock cube and Marmite in 450ml boiled water.
Add fried chicken drippings to a pot over a medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] flour and cook for 30 secs until a sandy paste has formed.
Add stock to the pan and simmer for 4-5 min, stirring occasionally, until thickened to a gravy-like consistency.
How to make Gregg's food at home
Can you make Greggs at home? Yes! Greggs has shared recipes for its Sausage, Cheese & Bean Melt, its Chicken Bake and its Steak Bake on its Facebook page in its GIY (Greggs It Yourself) series of videos so you can make them at home.
How to make the Greggs Sausage, Cheese & Bean Melt at home.
How to make the Greggs Chicken Bake at home.
How to make the Greggs Steak Bake at home.
What about Greggs sausage rolls? There's no officially sanctioned recipe for making Greggs sausage rolls at home but The Big Bakes has recreated the famous recipe for you. Read on, sausage roll fans...
For the pastry:
Strong flour – 200g
Salt – ½ tsp
Chilled butter – 200g cubed
Chilled water – 40g
For the filling:
Pork sausages – 450g
Green apple – 1 (peeled and grated)
Fennel – 2 tsp
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 beaten egg for brushing and finishing
Method:
Preheat your oven to 190c. Mix the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
Add the butter and rub in using your finger tips, stop when the butter is pea sized. It will not be completely mixed in.
Add enough chilled water to make a shaggy dough - you may not need all of it.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and work the dough with your hands into a ball, flatten slightly and wrap your disc of dough in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Once chilled, remove the pastry dough from the fridge and dust your work surface with flour.
Roll the pastry out to a 30 x 15cm rectangle, then take the short ends of the rectangle and fold towards the middle of the dough. Repeat again to form a book.
Repeat step 6 and rest the dough in the fridge for a further 30 minutes. While the dough is resting make your filling.
To make your filling:
Remove the sausages from their casings and place in a large mixing bowl.
Peel and grate the apple and add to the pork along with the fennel, salt and pepper.
Mix to combine and shape into 2 logs 30cm long and wrap in clingfilm. Rest in the freezer.
Now split the dough into 2 portions, roll each portion into a rectangle 15 x 30cm.
Lay half your sausage mixture down each piece of dough, lengthways in a cylinder shape leaving a 1-2cm edge.
Brush the long edge with beaten egg and tightly fold the pastry over the sausage mixture until the edges meet each other.
Turn the sausage logs over and cut into 8cm lengths, brush with egg and top with fennel seeds.
Rest in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Bake on a greased baking tray for 20 minutes.
How to make Pret's at home
If you don't want to go to Pret, you can make Pret food at home. The chain has shared recipes including Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Lemon & Blueberry Cheesecake and more.
Visit the Pret recipe page to discover how to make Pret food at home.
How to make Wagamama katsu curry at home
Order Wagamama for delivery from Deliveroo.
Good news: Wagamama has released the recipe for its famous katsu curry so you can cook it at home! It's part of an online video series called Wok From Home, where Wagamama executive chef Steve Mangleshot shows you how to make some of the restaurant's most popular dishes. Learn how to make your own Wagamama katsu curry by watching the video below. The ingredients list is below the video.
Wagamama katsu curry ingredients – serves two
The katsu curry sauce
2–3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled + grated
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 heaped tablespoons mild
curry powder
1 tablespoon plain flour
300ml chicken or veg stock
100ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar, to taste
The dish
120g rice (any rice will do!)
1 quantity katsu curry sauce
2 skinless chicken breasts
50g plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100g panko breadcrumbs
75ml vegetable oil, for deep-frying
40g mixed salad leaves
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