McDonald’s menu has featured many different offerings over the years, from the crispy Chicken Selects to the popular Snack Wraps, both of which have long since been discontinued. While some, like the meaty McRib, come back regularly, others haven’t been so lucky. A recent example of this is McDonald’s salads, a surprisingly popular menu item that was discontinued in 2020.

In an effort to offer consumers something healthier, salads were added to the McDonald’s menu in 1987, but were never as popular as the brand’s burgers and chicken nuggets. Still, McDonald’s stuck with its salads, even offering premium options and its McSalad shakers to boost sales. Unfortunately, McDonald’s salads experienced another crisis in 2018 when nearly 400 people became ill with Cyclospora infection after eating McDonald’s salads. The cases were linked to contaminated salad mixes from Fresh Express. Although McDonald’s changed suppliers, the incident did little to increase the popularity of their salads.

Ultimately, the nail in McDonald’s salad coffin came in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic created a huge labor shortage that impacted both its restaurants and their suppliers. To stay on top of things, McDonald’s has decided to remove many less popular items from its menu, including salads. The goal was to simplify things and streamline internal processes. While the move worked during the pandemic, fans of the salads have been stumped ever since.

Although McDonald’s officially discontinued its salads in 2020, it gave franchisees the option to reintroduce the Southwest Style Salad and Chicken Caesar Salads to menus in 2022. Unfortunately for salad fans, not many locations took up the offer.

Additionally, Food & Wine reported on an interview between Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, and Kate Linebaugh, a Wall Street Journal journalist. Speaking to Linebaugh at the WSJ Global Food Forum, when asked about the return of salads, Erlinger stated: “(…) If people really want salads from McDonald’s, we will happily bring salads back to the market. However, our experience has shown that this is not what the consumer expects from McDonald’s. Erlinger went on to explain what customers want most: “They’re looking for great fries, they’re looking for a $5 meal, they’re looking for a hot, fresh sandwich, and that’s exactly what we are.” I will continue to provide them .

Basically, while there are people who want salads to be back on the McDonald’s menu, they’re a small minority, which makes sense since salads have never been a big hit, especially compared to things like this Double Cheeseburger and McDouble. Although salads are absent from American McDonald’s menus, they are still available internationally in countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Japan.

While it’s a little sad that salads may never be available at McDonald’s in the US again, it’s just one more reason to learn how to make salads at home. Luckily, there’s no shortage of salad-making tips that make whipping up a delicious salad easier than ever. Add some Ina Garten lemon vinaigrette, and you might miss McDonald’s salads a little less.