Once or twice a year, McDonald’s Korea turns a regional Korean ingredient into a limited menu: garlic from Changnyeong, green onions from Jindo, corn from Chungju, and right now, heirloom peppers from Jinju — a fan-demanded encore of the 2024 run, back since August 6, 2026 as four items: beef and chicken burgers, a breakfast muffin and a spicy nugget sauce. The program is called Taste of Korea (한국의 맛), it has run since 2021, its items regularly sell out, and it’s the single best argument for checking a Korean McDonald’s menu on any given month. This page tracks the current run and archives every one before it.
The official campaign visual, translated: the headline reads “The
Taste of Korea McDonald’s went and found — Jinju pepper series.” Top
right: the chicken burger, then the beef burger below it. Left: the
Jinju Pepper Spicy Sauce McNuggets meal, with the green sauce packet
front and center. Image: McDonald’s Korea
Fast-food localization usually means a teriyaki sauce or a spicy option. Taste of Korea goes further: each run names the county the ingredient comes from, pays real farmers, gets covered like agricultural policy (because it partly is), and produces items Koreans queue for out of regional pride as much as appetite. It’s the kind of program this site exists to document, because each run vanishes in weeks and the English internet barely notices it happened.
Checked September 10, 2026. The Jinju pepper run is current; this page updates when each run ends and the next begins.
The current run: Jinju pepper cream cheese (the encore)
Back since August 6, 2026 by customer demand — the original 2024 run’s clean, mild heat earned enough re-release requests that Jinju became only the second ingredient (after Jindo’s green onions) to return. Built on the heirloom pepper of Jinju, a southern city better known abroad for its lantern festival:
| Item | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Beef Burger | Beef patty under a cream-cheese-and-Jinju-chili sauce: gentle heat, rich dairy, very Korean-cafe flavor logic |
 |
Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Chicken Burger | The crispy-chicken version |
 |
Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Muffin | The McMorning form, until 10:30am |
 |
Jinju Pepper Spicy Sauce | The nugget dip carrying the same pepper |
Prices for the run aren’t published online (Korea posts calories, not prices); expect the burgers in the ₩6,000-8,000 (~$4.48-$5.97) band singles, and expect the run to end without much announcement, as they do. The adjacent seasonal items on the board right now, the Jeju green mandarin McFizz and Hongcheon rice chips, extend the same local-ingredient idea to drinks and sides.
The archive: every run so far
The record this page exists to keep. Dates are launch windows; every item here is gone from menus, which is precisely why the list matters:
| Run | Item | The ingredient |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Changnyeong Garlic Burger (창녕 갈릭 버거) | Garlic from Changnyeong county: the program’s debut, and proof Koreans would buy a burger for its province |
| 2022 | Boseong Nokdon Burger (보성녹돈 버거) | Pork from pigs raised on Boseong green tea; the program’s most premium-sounding entry |
| 2023 | Jindo Green Onion Cream Croquette Burger (진도 대파 크림 크로켓 버거) | The phenomenon: Jindo’s fat daepa green onions in a cream croquette. It sold out repeatedly, spawned a nationwide daepa trend, and returned by demand in 2024 with a breakfast muffin version (₩4,100, ~$3.06 single at the time) |
| 2024 | Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Burger (진주 고추 크림치즈 버거), original run | Jinju’s mild heirloom chili in cream cheese; praised for its “clean heat” and missed enough to earn the 2026 encore now running |
| 2025 | Iksan Sweet Potato Mozzarella Burger (익산 고구마 모짜렐라 버거) | Iksan sweet potato paired with mozzarella, sold with character-collab packaging that became its own collectible |
| July 2026 | Chungju Sweet Corn Cheese Croquette Burger (충주 찰옥수수 치즈 크로켓 버거) | The sixth run: Chungju’s glutinous sweet corn in a cheese croquette, in burger and muffin forms |
| August 2026 | Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese encore (current) | The 2024 run returned by demand: burgers, muffin and sauce, above |
Two runs in 2026 alone suggests the program is accelerating, and the pattern within runs is consistent: a croquette or sauce carrying the ingredient, a burger and often a muffin form, heavy regional-pride marketing, and a sellout.
Why this program works
Three reasons worth stating, because they explain why we cover a limited burger series this closely. It’s real localization: the ingredient is named, sourced and seasonal, not a flavor concept. It’s agricultural PR that functions: Jindo’s green onion farmers genuinely benefited from the 2023 run, and Korean media covers each launch as a farm-economy story. And it archives badly everywhere else: each run gets a flurry of Korean-language coverage and then vanishes; the English record, as far as we can tell, is mostly this page.
For the rest of what’s current in Korea, the full burger menu and sides and McCafé listing carry the standing board, and the worldwide roundup tracks what’s dropping this month, including the gochujang butter burgers arriving September 17.
FAQ
What is McDonald’s Taste of Korea?
A limited-run program since 2021 pairing McDonald’s Korea with a named regional ingredient: Changnyeong garlic, Boseong green-tea pork, Jindo green onions, Iksan sweet potato, Chungju corn, and currently Jinju peppers. Runs last weeks and regularly sell out.
What is the current Taste of Korea item?
The Jinju pepper cream cheese encore: beef and chicken burgers, a breakfast muffin and a spicy nugget sauce, returned August 6, 2026 after the 2024 original’s fan demand, available while stocks last.
What was the most popular Taste of Korea item?
The 2023 Jindo Green Onion Cream Croquette Burger, by a distance: repeated sellouts, a national green-onion moment, and a 2024 encore run with a breakfast muffin version.
Will past Taste of Korea items come back?
It’s now happened twice: Jindo’s green onion run returned in 2024, and the Jinju pepper run currently on menus is the 2024 original’s encore. Demand loud enough gets heard; this page keeps the record of what existed, when, and why it mattered.
Keep reading
- McDonald'sThe Full McDonald's Korea Burger Menu, in English
Every burger and McMorning item on McDonald's Korea's menu, translated — the Bulgogi Burger, the 1955, the shrimp pair, Taste of Korea specials, with ₩ prices and photos. Checked September 10, 2026.
- McDonald'sThe McDonald's USA Menu: Burgers, Chicken and Breakfast, Verified
The current McDonald's US menu, checked against the chain's own site — every burger, the McCrispy line, the returned Snack Wrap, Spicy McNuggets, breakfast, and how McValue pricing works. Checked September 10, 2026.
- McDonald'sThe Full McDonald's India Burger Menu: No Beef, No Pork, Half Vegetarian
Every burger and wrap on McDonald's India's menu — the ₹79 McAloo Tikki, McSpicy Paneer, both Maharaja Macs, the new Signature range — with veg/non-veg marks and current prices. Checked September 10, 2026.
- McDonald'sThe Full McDonald's China Burger & Breakfast Menu, in English
Every burger and breakfast item on McDonald's China's menu, translated — the McSpicy institution, the double cod burger, congee and youtiao at dawn, and how the coupon economy actually prices it all.
- McDonald'sMcDonald's Korea Beyond the Burgers: Sides, Desserts, Drinks and McCafé
The rest of McDonald's Korea's menu, translated — McWings, mozzarella sticks, four McFlurrys, the Jeju green mandarin McFizz, the Grimace Shake and a fully decaf-capable McCafé. Checked September 10, 2026.
- McDonald'sMcDonald's Around the World: The Exclusives That Are Actually on Menus Right Now
The famous international McDonald's items, checked against current 2026 menus — McAloo Tikki, the Teriyaki McBurger, Korea's ₩2,500 Bulgogi Burger, Germany's permanent McRib, Hong Kong's breakfast pasta and more.
Prices, schedules and closures change. If you spot something stale, email us and we’ll check it.