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Nugget Nation
The delicious true story behind a fast-food favorite
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A Rare Meal
Before the mid-1900s, chickens were hard to prepare. People ate them only as a special treat.
Hamburgers were under attack!
For years, Americans had been in love with burgers. And few companies sold more of them than McDonald’s. But in 1977, the U.S. government warned that beef burgers were unhealthy. Eat chicken instead, experts said.
Chicken?!
McDonald’s leaders
The answer was the chicken nugget.
Chicken Genius
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It wasn’t McDonald’s that first invented the nugget. It was a scientist named Robert Baker. In the 1950s and ’60s, Baker worked with farmers and chicken companies. His mission? Get Americans to eat more chicken.
Until the mid-1900s, chicken had been a fancy food. People ate it only for special occasions. That’s because getting a bird on the table took work. First, you had to raise one in your backyard or buy one at the market. Then you had to kill the bird, drain its blood, scoop out its insides, and pluck out its feathers in sticky clumps. (Yikes!)
By the 1950s, cooks could skip these steps. Grocery stores sold chickens that were ready to cook. But they still took time to prepare. People preferred quick foods like burgers, hot dogs, and fish sticks. And chicken farmers struggled to make money.
Baker had to make chicken easier to cook and eat. But how?
The Nugget Is Born
Courtesy of Cornell University
Robert Baker
Baker and his team spent hours in his lab. They invented chicken hot dogs, chicken meat loaf, and chicken baloney for sandwiches. But Baker was proudest of the chicken stick. It was a bite-size chunk of chicken coated with batter. Does that sound familiar?
Baker called his invention the “Chicken Crispie.” He gave the recipe away for free. But it didn’t catch on—until nearly 20 years later. That’s when McDonald’s was facing its burger
Instant Hit
In 1977, leaders at McDonald’s knew they had to come up with a new menu item—and fast. The company’s head chef tried some ideas. Chicken potpie? Taste testers wrinkled their noses. Bone-in fried chicken? KFC already did that. Onion nuggets? Just . . . no.
But wait: What about chicken nuggets? The idea was already out there—thanks to Baker’s Chicken Crispie. And that became McDonald’s new secret weapon.
In 1983, Chicken McNuggets appeared in McDonald’s restaurants. They were an instant hit—even though they were really no healthier than burgers.
Baker never made money off his most famous invention. But he achieved his goal. America turned into a nation of chicken eaters. And today we gobble up more than 2.3 billion orders of chicken nuggets each year—for better or worse.
Mac and Cheese Mania
How a fancy dish from Europe became an all-American classic
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The silverware sparkled. The candles glowed. Delicious smells filled the dining room. It was February 1802. President Thomas Jefferson was having a dinner party at the White House.
Soon, the table was loaded with good food. There was tender beef, roast turkey, and a soup with rice. But that night, Jefferson was serving something extra special. He had discovered this
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Fancy Food
Jefferson wasn’t the first person to enjoy mac and cheese. The first recipes were written in Italy in the 1300s. From there, the dish spread across Europe.
In the late 1700s, rich American travelers sampled mac and cheese in Europe. Jefferson was one of those travelers. For five years, he lived and worked in France. James Hemings—his
When Hemings came back, he trained other chefs at Jefferson’s home. Mac and cheese became a regular at Jefferson’s dinners. But most Americans didn’t start eating it until much later.
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YUM!
This ad from 1948 shows Kraft Dinner as a quick, easy, and tasty meal.
Hard Times
By the 1930s, American cooks had changed the mac and cheese recipe. They made it with cheap American cheddar instead of fancy Italian Parmesan. And this was a good thing.
In the 1930s, Americans needed cheap meals. The U.S. was in the middle of the
Thanks to a pasta salesman in St. Louis, Missouri, it was also easy to make. The salesman attached packets of Kraft grated cheese to boxes of noodles. He called it a “meal kit.” Leaders at the Kraft company heard about the salesman’s idea. They turned his creation into a new product called “Kraft Dinner.”
To struggling families, Kraft Dinner seemed like a small miracle. It was a filling dinner for four people that you could make in minutes. And it cost only 19 cents! In the first year alone, the company sold 8 million boxes.
An American Favorite
Today, Kraft sells nearly a million boxes a day. And mac and cheese is loved by people across the country. You can buy it at a corner store for $1. You can order it topped with lobster at a fancy restaurant. There’s even a National Macaroni and Cheese Day—July 14!
Start planning your celebration now.
