I've got a confession to make: despite considering myself a good Catholic, I've never actually had a Filet-O-Fish sandwich from McDonalds. This is likely because, being one of eight children, my family almost never ate out. That meant we usually had fish sticks at home when observing those holy days when Catholics abstain from eating meat.
And I loathed fishsticks. No matter how much ketchup my mother would pour on them for me, I just couldn't get past their unrelenting fishiness. Thus, began a lifetime of avoiding fish and fish-adjacent products, which is problematic when you need food options on Lenten Fridays.
Now, I was always vaguely aware that the legacy of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich was intertwined with Catholic practices, but only recently came across its true origin story. Its birth wasn't so much a corporate machination as it was a practical solution suggested by a franchisee running a McDonalds in a predominantly Roman Catholic area.
To fully understand the sandwich, it's important to remember mid-century American Catholic life. For decades, Catholics observed strict rules of abstinence from meat on Fridays both during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter, and, in many places, year-round. Catholic parishes often held Friday fish fries to provide families with options for their dinners – something still common during Lent.
Then, along came Lou Groen, a McDonald’s franchise owner in a predominantly Catholic area of Cincinnati, Ohio. According to McDonald's own website, Groen proposed in 1962 that the fast-food chain provide a non-meat option to help alleviate flagging Friday sales.
At first, McDonald’s executives were not certain about adding fish to the menu, which required a more complicated cooking process. As a matter of fact, McDonald’s Founder Ray Kroc had plans for what he called the Hula Burger ― a slice of grilled pineapple and cheese on a bun. Kroc made a deal with Groen that they would sell the Hula Burger and the Filet-O-Fish on a Friday, and whichever sandwich sold the most would be added to the permanent menu.
The Filet-O-Fish won, and was officially added to the McDonald's menu in 1965.
McDonald’s Company Historian Mike Bullington commented, "The Filet-O-Fish has become a popular menu item enjoyed by millions of customers around the world. Many franchisees have inspired McDonald’s menu items from the Filet-O-Fish and Big Mac to the Egg McMuffin and it’s been great to see the popularity grow for such iconic menu items."
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Though it's on the menu all year round, 25 percent of the sandwich's sales occur during Lent. You can apparently find it being sold in Russia, Japan, and India, and it even comes with wasabi in Asia and a specially-formulated OLD BAY tartar sauce in some parts of the United States.
25% of all McDonald's Filet-O-Fish are sold during Lent
— Robbert Leusink (@robbertleusink) February 18, 2026
The sandwich only exists because Catholics in Cincinnati stopped buying burgers on Fridays in 1962
A 2,000-year-old fasting tradition forced the world's largest fast food chain to change its menu
(Lent starts today) pic.twitter.com/7Wcx8HyI9a
And, although it's not to my tastes, the Filet-O-Fish clearly has a devoted following.
My oil painting of the Filet-O-Fish pic.twitter.com/78s9ens7Fc
— Noah Verrier (@NoahVerrier) February 19, 2026
All of this means that the Filet-O-Fish is some pretty solid proof that Catholic culture at one point had enough gravitational pull to literally move the menu at the world’s biggest fast-food burger chain. The Friday practice of abstinence didn’t just shape what families cooked at home, but it also helped to shape what businessmen sold, what franchises stocked, and what corporate executives eventually blessed as a permanent menu item. One that Americans and other cultures have embraced.
And maybe that’s why, despite my fishstick trauma, I’m now slightly tempted to finally try one, even if only out of Catholic curiosity about those working-class Catholics of Cincinnati who unintentionally changed fast-food history. It's not likely to become a weekly thing, of course; I'm still not entirely sure about seafood that comes in a tidy rectangle loaded with tartar sauce. But, hey, it's Friday, and I've nothing planned for dinner – and, honestly, it sounds a lot better than a Hula Burger.
