Social media is full of people trying to make 'fakeaways', which are cheaper and sometimes healthier versions of their favourite fast foods. We've seen fake Nando's in air fryers and delightful looking Chinese meals, but a firm fave has always been McDonald's.
But while some amateur chefs manage to create delicious looking alternatives, other are frankly a disaster.
So when Liverpool Echo reporter Lydia Bacon tried at home Maccies for herself, she had high hopes. She wanted to try it as real McDonald's "hits the spot" all the time, so she was hoping to be able to make it in the comfort of her own home.
Lydia wanted to try air fryer nuggets because the video she'd seen "really resembled" the fast food chain's version, and she found a TikTok air fryer chips recipe to accompany it.
Thinking it all looked pretty straightforward and already having all the ingredients in her kitchen cupboard, she set to work.
The nuggets are simple to make - you need chicken breast, half a potato, one egg, cornflour, and salt and pepper. After boiling the potato until cooked, you put all the ingredients into a blender until smooth.
You then need to form the nuggets into one of the famous McDonald's shapes, then spray them with low-calorie oil and pop them to cook in the air fryer for 20 minutes.
But Lydia was less than impressed with the sticky mixture that came out of her blender, writing: "This was nearly impossible as with the vile, sticky chicken concoction you could not do this. I feel sick just thinking of that wet chicken mix stuck to my hands."
The chips were also simple to make, with Lydia just peeling the potatoes, slicing them, coating them in salt, and patting them dry. Once they were dry, she put them in a pan of hot oil and let them cook until they were the same golden brown as fresh Maccies fries.
But despite the effort, Lydia was less than impressed with her attempt, referring to it as a "disaster." She described nearly "gagging" when she tried the nuggets thanks to their unusual texture, boldly saying: "I honestly wouldn't even feed them to my dog." She did, however, enjoy the fries.
The ordeal was so traumatic, that Lydia found herself being sick throughout the night, saying it put her off even the real deal, which she said "breaks her heart."
In hindsight, she wished she'd read the comments properly on the video, as one person wrote: "I hope you read this comment before you waste your time and materials, I nearly vomited twice." While another added: "Do not do it. It will be raw from the inside."
So, all in all, probably best to just go to the drive-thru next time.
Are you tempted to try at home Maccies? Let us know in the comments.
