Does It Cost Extra To Add More Patties To Your McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Sandwich?

The McDonald's Filet-O-Fish history dates back to 1962 in Cincinnati, Ohio; it was introduced as a way of increasing sales on Fridays during the Catholic season of Lent — one of those surprising Filet-O-Fish facts you probably didn't know. By 1965, it was on the full menu. The sandwich usually consists of either one or two fried fish fillets, but if you're feeling hungry, you can add a third fillet to the double Filet-O-Fish — but it costs you extra.

McDonald's sells more than 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches each year. Each sandwich keeps it simple with a slice of cheese and tartar sauce alongside the fried Alaskan pollock fillets. Prices vary by location, but if you order the double Filet-O-Fish through the app, you have the option to select an additional fillet for an extra $1.31 — not a bad deal for a piece of fish. However, this option isn't available when ordering the traditional one-fillet version of the sandwich.

Getting an extra fillet is one thing, but if you play your cards right, you can turn a standard double Filet-O-Fish into two fish sandwiches for cheaper than what you'd pay by ordering them outright: Go into the McDonald's app and order a double Filet-O-Fish (which costs about $5.69 depending on where you live), plus a single cheeseburger for $2.49. Customize the burger by removing the patty, onions, and ketchup, just keeping the pickles, American cheese, and bun.

From there, split the two fish fillets between the two buns and you've created two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches — although one has pickles and one has tartar sauce — and saved around $1.40. Plus, the customizations in the app only take a few seconds. You can also try ordering this at the drive-thru and subbing the ketchup on the cheeseburger for tartar sauce, though that option isn't available in the app. If you add in that extra fillet on the double for $1.31 and order two cheeseburgers minus those toppings, then you can get three fish sandwiches and save $2.39 — much less work than creating your Filet-O-Fish at home.