McDonald's is betting big on beverages, chicken, and beef for 2026 as the fast-food giant seeks to maintain momentum in an increasingly competitive quick-service restaurant landscape. The company revealed plans during its fourth-quarter earnings call to expand offerings across these three categories, with beverages representing a global opportunity worth more than $100 billion.

In 2025, McDonald's tested energy drinks, iced coffees, fruity refreshers, and crafted sodas in 500 U.S. restaurants with highly successful results that drove incremental occasions across different dayparts and higher average checks. The chain is also doubling down on chicken, where it now has twice the menu presence of beef across its top 10 markets, and plans to grow chicken-based items by at least 1% by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, burgers remain central to the brand identity through the continued rollout of its Best Burger initiative, described as hotter, juicier and even tastier.

This strategic pivot follows the closure of all CosMc's locations last year, which served as a beverage-focused test concept. The company has reorganized its innovation approach by launching a Restaurant Experience Team and creating three global Category Management teams dedicated to beef, chicken, and beverages/desserts. Early results are promising: global comparable sales increased 5.2% year over year in Q4 2025, with U.S. sales up 6.8% after reversing a previous decline.