Chef Transforms McDonald's Meal Into Incredible Gourmet Dish

A video showing how a chef turned a McDonald's meal into a gourmet feast has got fast-food fans talking.

Although secret menu items and meal mash-ups are nothing new in the world of McDonald's, one foodie on TikTok has taken the concept to another level.

Danny Kim enlisted the help of his friend, Chef Mikey, to do something a little different with his order: a double quarter pounder with cheese and fries. "Asking my chef friend to turn my McDonald's gourmet," the accompanying caption explains.

Chef Mikey begins by searing the beef patties in some olive oil in order to "condense that flavor." The burger buns are discarded, as the chef explains his plan to turn the two patties into a beef wellington.

Next, the fries are added to a saucepan with milk, cream, garlic and bay leaf. This is left to boil in what Chef Mikey tells viewers is the first step towards creating pomme puree, which is "a fancy way of saying mashed potatoes."

Chef Mikey then turns his attention back to the beef. A handful of spinach and artichoke is carefully chopped and sandwiched between the patties, with the cheese facing inwards.

Next comes the most decadent touch, with Chef Mikey wrapping the patties in prosciutto and covering this package in two sheets of egg-brushed puff pastry.

The wellington is placed in the oven, while the chef moves on to the quarter pounder's pickles and onions, which are diced and added to a pre-prepared beef gravy mix.

By now, the creamy fry and herb mix has reduced considerably. Chef Mikey whizzes it in a blender at a low speed until the mixture looks more like mash.

He puts it through a sieve and back into a pan to cook a little longer. Butter is added to the gravy before it is time for the big reveal of the beef wellington, perfectly baked with flaky pastry.

All that is left is for Chef Mikey to give fans the money shot: a cross-section of the wellington cut in half, before serving it with the mash and gravy.

Danny Kim's video has been watched more than 17 million times since it was posted on August 5. More than 15,000 comments have been left on the clip, which can be viewed here, and not all of them were loving it.

McDonald's Canada praised the transformation, writing: "If 'chef's kiss' was a video." Nick DiGiovanni, a MasterChef finalist and popular TikTok foodie, dubbed the creation "McFancy."

Bibodaqt joked, "That's no burger, that's a burger," while YodaThe Memeinator posted: "That looks amazing: take my money."

Others were unimpressed. Bored af asked: "Am I the only one who would rather eat McDonald's than what he made?"

Jared_deathwish07 agreed: "Ima just eat the McDonald's, it's too much work."

Baconisagiftfromgod added: "Those poor French fries."

Rebecca_Dawson made a similar point, writing: "It physically hurt me to watch those fries get mashed. They were already gourmet in my eyes."

TikToker 10k Gods felt these commenters were missing the point. "Y'all are saying 'he ruined it' but the point of the video was literally to change it and make it fancy. Doesn't matter if you'd rather it regular."

Chrisdragone concurred: "Just reading the comments like damn y'all don't know how to cook. This is extreme skill. And I do this a lot with leftovers. It's so satisfying."

Kim told Newsweek the chef in the video is the owner and operator of the Red Hen and All Purpose Pizzerias in Washington, D.C.

The TikToker says he was inspired to put the video together after seeing others do similar online. "I saw some videos online like Buzzfeed Tasty showcasing their chef turning Lunchables into a fancy dish so I thought why not bring my chef friends fast food to turn into a gourmet dish?" he said.

"Something cheap turned into something expensive is cool to see and you learn a lot listening to the chefs."

And while some may have their doubts, Kim says Mikey's finished dish was a major upgrade on a standard trip to the Golden Arches.

"The meal tasted like a luxury McDonald's," he said. "Same flavors, just more delightful and intense."