For my cheap work lunches $1 (or 99 cent) Banquet and other frozen dinners are on rotation. Sometimes it's Salisbury Steak, Cheese Enchiladas or Turkey Dinners (it's not every day, as I have healthier frozen dinners I also find on sale.) I've recently added their Boneless Pork Riblet Meal. It was only a matter of time until I placed the Pork Riblet with it's barbeque sauce between two slices of bread, adding chopped raw onion and a few pickle slices. It didn't take long to put two and two together -- well, those are the ingredients for the McDonald's McRib sandwich.
Yeah, I know it's a cheat, but it's a lot of trouble to ground a bunch of mystery pork scraps to form a McDonald's McRib patty, so The Slothful Chef is taking the easy but tasty route!
A McRib is relatively inexpensive -- but not cheap enough for The Frugal Forager. A McDonald's McRib sandwich cost almost $3, but with my chintzy twist, you can make your own for less than half that price, after the initial investment for a package of steak rolls, an onion and a small jar of pickles, plus a few Banquet Boneless Pork Riblet Meals. (Another homemade fast food entree I've done is an Egg McMuffin, that's also cheaper than the original, just click here to see my recipe video post.)
I always find all these ingredients cheaply, especially onion, pickles and bread at local 99c only Stores. They don't always stock frozen Banquet meals, but my local big chain grocery stores do for around a dollar each.
A McRib patty is pale white like typical cooked pork (because of extra chemical bleaches and dyes?) while a Banquet Riblet is brown, and it's fine ground, with a little more texture than a hot dog. The Riblet patty is thin and about the same size as a McRib, but still large enough to fill a steak bread roll.
And the Banquet Riblet barbeque sauce is passable, slightly sweet with a typical smokey ketchup flavor. And as a bonus the Banquet meal comes with sides of mashed potatoes and corn -- so take that, McDonald's.The corn is the best side with a fresh frozen kernel flavor -- much better than canned corn. I've never cared for their frozen mashed potatoes. It has the flavor and texture of powdery dried and reconstituted boxed mashed potatoes -- mainly there to soak up the gravy or barbeque sauce that comes from the meat container part.
I guess the main question is how does the Banquet Riblet compare with a McRib pork patty? Well the porkiness of a McRib is superior. While not objectionable, the Banquet Riblet is mild in comparison (it's made from mechanically separated pork and chicken, plus soy protein.) And the advantage of making a Homemade McRib Sandwich is you can add as much barbeque sauce, chopped onion, and sliced pickle as you desire (plus anything else you like.)
Click on photo to read ingredients -- if you dare.
So, on my Deal of the Day and Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, this Homemade McRib Sandwich gets a 6. While my Homemade McRib Sandwich is inferior to McDonald's, it will tide you over until the real thing washes ashore once again. So, keep on reading to see how I make a Homemade McRib Sandwich.
Making a Homemade McRib Sandwich
Microwave or bake the Banquet Riblet Dinner according to directions. While it's heating up, chop some onion and get out 3 pickles slices, and a steak roll.
When the TV dinner is hot, carefully remove riblet and place inside the sliced steak dinner roll. The heated barbeque sauce amount is more than what you get on a McRib, so slather on as much as you like.
Finally top with chopped onion and pickle slices. And serve with the corn and mashed potato sides.
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