Here's How To Order A McDonald's Filet-O-Fish For A Fresh Sandwich Every Time
When it comes to seafood, fresh is always best. That is true even when it comes to a fast food seafood, like the McDonald's Filet-o-Fish sandwich — which was first created because fish isn't considered meat during Lent. Fried fish is definitely not something you want sitting for a long period of time on a warming tray, which is what McDonald's uses to hold much of its prepared food. Luckily, there's an easy way to ensure you get a fresh Filet-O-Fish sandwich every time — ask for it to be "made fresh" or "cooked to order."
Although there are some hacks that suggest making modifications to your order (such as ordering it with no cheese or tartar sauce) will lead to a fresh sandwich, doing so changes the inherent balance of a classic sandwich. There's also no need to do so when you can simply ask for it to be cooked to order, as verified by McDonald's workers on Reddit. In fact, you can ask for just about anything on the McDonald's menu to be cooked to order, but it's especially relevant for the Filet-O-Fish.
Things to keep in mind when ordering fresh
When you ask for a Filet-O-Fish to be made fresh or cooked to order, it will take more time, so you must be willing to wait a bit longer to get your food. It takes about three minutes and 15 seconds to cook a filet-o-fish according to the McDonald's website, and a few minutes longer to assemble the sandwich — according to a McDonald's worker on Reddit, the whole process should take around six minutes.
It's best to make this request inside the restaurant as opposed to the drive-thru line. You should also avoid asking for cooked to order items when a restaurant is really busy — although depending on the McDonald's location, if you order a Filet-O-Fish normally (and not cooked to order) during really busy periods, it's more likely to come out fairly fresh given the higher turnover on food during peak times. And of course, you should always be polite when making your request. Then get ready to enjoy a piping fresh, cooked to order Filet-O-Fish sandwich.