McDonald's McRib is a relatively simple sandwich: pork, barbecue sauce, pickles, and onions, served up on a hoagie bun. It doesn't seem like the type of thing that would make people crazy, and yet it has an incredibly devoted following. Over the years, it's popped on and off the menu at McDonald's across the nation, creating what The Atlantic refers to as the "Cult of the Elusive McDonald's McRib." In fact, the sandwich is so popular, it spawned a McRib Locator website, allowing fans to find a McRib or share the most recent sighting of the hard-to-find sandwich.

What makes this sandwich so craveable? Forbes argues that the sandwich achieved cult status because of McDonald's brilliant marketing campaign. It's so well hyped when it's re-released — enticing people with quite a bit of urgency, using language like, "Get it while it lasts!" — that it creates its own buzz. That might be true, but the flavor of the sandwich has to hold up to the excitement. This is where the McRib truly shines. It's simultaneously sweet, salty, savory, and sour, stimulating your taste buds at the mere thought of taking a bite. We would be lying if we said our mouths aren't watering just thinking about it.

Instead of waiting until the next McRib release, why not try making it at home? It seems like something that would be close to impossible, but when we put our McDonald's McRib copycat recipe to the test, we were pretty amazed at the results.