What does Wendy's put on their burgers? (2024)

Wendy's® wants to serve you quality food, down to the last detail. Especially oursfresh, never frozen beef* – an iconic mainstay of our menu and the base ingredient of our famous square burgers, still served exactly as our founder Dave Thomas said they should be.

Dave Thomas has never served a customer something he wouldn't serve his family. That's why we continue to serve 100% fresh beef* on our menu, because our beef is grown so close to our restaurants that it never needs to be frozen. In addition, we have carefully selected partners who share the same values ​​when it comes to quality, animal care and safety, both in the product and in the working environment.

We know you all appreciated oursdive deeper into Wendy's pickles, so we chatted again with our Vice President of Culinary Innovation John Li to deconstruct Dave's Single®. John is not only responsible for helping Wendy's achieve our food vision,Fast food done right, he also happens to be very passionate about the classic American hamburger. Here he shares some insight into Wendy's burger offering and how the team approaches burger innovation.

How would you describe the construction of the classic Dave's Single?

Of course, all of our Wendy's sandwiches are made to order, but our classic combination can't be beat (there's a reason our formula for the perfect burger hasn't changed in decades). A traditional Dave's Single comes with a quarter pound** of fresh beef, American cheese, crispy lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, mayonnaise and onion on a toasted bun.

What is the innovation and research process for Made to Crave hamburger menu items like the new Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger or Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger?

It all goes back to the pillars of our Fast Food Done Right food vision platform. Usually we start by coming up with new ideas to make a burger even more exciting, and then try it firsthand with fresh and real ingredients. Then we do our best to make sure we can replicate that on the Wendy's menu in a way that doesn't cost a lot of money. We want to make sure it can be a go-to meal for all our customers.

To determine whether a new hamburger will be a success with our customers, we go straight to the source. We really enjoy doing market research and seeing what works (or doesn't) for our customers. Our goal is to be progressive and develop delicious, trendy burgers, but always with a touch of something extra that makes them unique to Wendy's.

In short, we want to deliver the luxury car quality of a sandwich without the luxury car price.

Do you remember the first hamburger you tasted and loved?

My first experience trying a hamburger was when I was a child and my parents, first-generation Chinese immigrants, gave me a hamburger made with soy sauce and served on a bed of rice with a bit of ketchup on top. It may not be your "typical" burger, but it was delicious. It wasn't until a few years later that I ate a traditional American hamburger in a restaurant - and nowbeewas love at first bite.

Why do you think hamburgers remain an American classic?

As Americans, we love portable food. There's something about eating with your hands that takes you back to your roots and really connects you to the dining experience - whether you're aware of it or not.

Furthermore, Dave Thomas founded Wendy's on a simple concept: a tasty burger experience using only fresh ingredients. It may seem like an obvious choice, but Dave used the holy grail of ingredients to achieve this. How can you beat that?

What is your favorite burger at Wendy's? Why?

Dave's single, for sure. I could eat them all day long. Of course I love all our Made to Crave burgers, but for me they are more of a special occasion.

What is your favorite hamburger topping?

Ketchup, easy.

What drink do you prefer to wash down your hamburger with?

My favorite is Diet co*ke®. But if I have access to a Coca-Cola Freestyle® machine, I go with Fanta® (personally, I think orange is the best flavor of Fanta, but the little kid in me also likes Grape or Fruit Punch).

You can use ourfull menufor additional nutritional and ingredient information for all our sandwiches andfind the nearest wendy'sserving quality food, including our delicious burgers, near you.

Whatever you order, be sure to registerWendy's Rewards™-programmaso you can be rewarded for something you already do: eating at Wendy's.

*Fresh beef available in the contiguous United States, Alaska and Canada.

** Approximate weight before cooking.

"Diet co*ke", "Coca-Cola Freestyle" and "Fanta" are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company