The Filet-O-Fish has been a staple on the McDonald’s menu for decades, so you can count on customers taking notice when something suddenly changes about the longtime fan favorite. Recently, fans have begun to suspect that the Filet-O-Fish portions have gotten noticeably smaller—and they’re not happy about the alleged change.
A myriad of customers have taken to social media over the past few months to complain about the size of Mickey D’s signature fish sandwich, which features a crispy fish filet patty, American cheese, and tartar sauce on a soft, steamed bun. The TikTok creator @neilybob posted a video about the sandwich in October 2023, alleging that the “already small” item had “shrunk” significantly.
“It is comically small,” he said.
Many fellow McDonald’s customers agreed with his observation about the size in the comments section under the video.
“That’s the new McMinnow,” one TikToker quipped.
“Looks like a White Castle slider now,” another commented.
TikToker @pauldesosa posted a similar video about the Filet-O-Fish in October, displaying the sandwich on camera as he critiqued its size.
“What have they done to this iconic sandwich?” he lamented. “This is like a fish slider.”
He also suggested that the sandwich was “at least 25% smaller” now than it used to be.
But is there any truth to these claims that the Filet-O-Fish is shrinking? At least according to McDonald’s, the answer to that question is “no.” When contacted for comment on the size complaints, McDonald’s USA told Eat This, Not That! that the size and build of the Filet-O-Fish hasn’t changed in decades.
Former McDonald’s corporate chef Mike Haracz has also backed up the assertion that the Filet-O-Fish isn’t shrinking. In response to the online discourse about the sandwich’s size, he tried a Filet-O-Fish in a November 2023 TikTok video and said that he didn’t think it was “any smaller than it has been for a while.”
However, even if the Filet-O-Fish isn’t smaller now than it used to be, it doesn’t change the fact that many customers aren’t satisfied with the current portion size of the sandwich.
Notably, the Filet-O-Fish was the smallest by far in our recent taste test of fast-food fish sandwiches, weighing in at just 139 grams. Despite being the smallest of the batch, the $5.75 Filet-O-Fish was nearly as expensive as Popeyes’ 228-gram Flounder Fish Sandwich, which cost $5.99.
Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Read more about Zoe
