If you were alive in 1971 and went into a McDonald’s to get some breakfast, the employees
would have stared at you with a confused look on their faces. That’s because the great
golden Arches didn’t introduce a breakfast menu until 1972! In 2015 they took the next
step and introduced all-day breakfast. So now you can get these any time you want: the
top 10 McDonald’s breakfast items ranked from worst to best!
Fruit And Maple Oatmeal
Like the Yogurt Parfait, Fruit and Maple Oatmeal probably isn’t what you think of when you
think about breakfast at McDonald’s. But not only is it an item on their menu, it’s
a pretty good one at that. It’s simple, tasty and warm and if you skip the brown sugar,
you are looking at about 260 calories. It won’t fill you up like many of the other
items listed here, but not everyone needs or wants a big breakfast. A cup of oatmeal
and a coffee is a great, and healthy, way to start your day. And if you go light and
healthy in the morning, then you won’t feel bad splurging on extra calories at lunch - while
your coworkers, who started the day with a heavy breakfast, are poking sadly at their
boring salads. And for all you whose spidey-senses are tingling, thinking that Starbucks also
has oatmeal… You are right again! The coffee super-chain introduced oatmeal back in 2008
and it didn’t take long for it to become their best-selling breakfast food. If they
can do it, why can’t McDonald’s right? Which they did just a few years later in January
of 2011 - and the fact that it’s still on the menu means it must be doing well enough
for them.
Big Breakfast With Hotcakes
Can’t decide what you want? Well with the McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hotcakes,
you can get a taste of almost everything. This belly-filling item comes with a biscuit,
sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns and hotcakes (McDonald pancakes). Pour the provided syrup
all over it and you have got yourself one hunger-satisfying start to your day - although
you will probably need a nap soon afterwards, so maybe pick a day where your morning work
schedule isn’t super busy. Or, given that they now serve breakfast all day, do breakfast
for dinner and fall right into bed afterwards. Obviously, unlike every other item on the list, the Big
Breakfast with Hotcakes isn’t an on-the-go breakfast item. You definitely can’t eat
this while you’re driving. You can try to chow down in the passenger seat, but if your
driver is anything like Leonard from The Big Bang Theory, eating food with sticky maple
syrup is strictly not allowed in his car. So, know the rules of the car you’re in.
Or just leave a little early and instead of doing drive-thru, sit in the restaurant and
enjoy your breakfast, jump around in the ball pit to work off a few of the just-ingested
calories and get to work ready to rock and roll!
Coffee
Ok, so it might not be as spectacular as the coffee you can get at your local shop that
roasts their own beans and uses multiple hipster brewing methods to bring out the most perfect
and aromatic cup of coffee you’ve ever had. But McDonald’s coffee is actually good - even
better than good - and since you're already there getting breakfast, adding a cup of java
to your order makes sense, and the coffee standard is at a level where you won’t be
disappointed. McDonald’s has had coffee on their menu since the very beginning. And
back then you could get a cup for just 10 cents. Although, these days, they run $1 coffee
promotions so often it's still one of the best places when it comes to price to quality
ratio to get your cup of joe. Most of you are probably familiar with the McCafe brand.
The first McCafe opened up in Australia back in 1993 and it was with the introduction of
said brand that McDonald’s really started taking their coffee seriously. And in 2009
they introduced the whole line of McCafe coffee drinks in an effort to directly compete with
Starbucks. And, as of 2016, the McCafe line was generating $4 billion dollars annually
for the golden Arches compared to the $25 billion that Starbucks reported in 2018. While
McCafe hasn’t brought down Starbucks as some crazy analysts had predicted at the time,
coffee is doing very well for the fast food giant and the McCafe offshoot was definitely
a great move by the company all those years ago.
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bagel
Is a biscuit better than a bagel? That is an argument that could get very heated, very
quickly. Just like trying to convince a New Yorker that bagels are better in any other
city. Putting the Bacon, Egg and Cheese bagel at such a low spot on this list may look to
be implying that the biscuit vs. bagel debate has been decided with the biscuit winning.
But don’t jump to any conclusions just yet, please. The reason this tasty breakfast item
is sitting where it's at is two-fold. The first is that while the bagels are good, they
aren’t the top-notch bagels you get from your local bakery. You know, the kind that
are so fresh and delicious that they aren’t just a vessel for your sandwich, they are
probably the best part of any sandwich. And the second reason is originality. You aren’t
going to find McGriddle and Biscuit sandwiches everywhere, but most fast food places, coffee
shops and corner stores have breakfast bagel sandwiches on offer. We wonder if McDonald's
locations in the Big Apple are serving this breakfast sandwich on real New York style
bagels. Only one way to find out.
Steak, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
As with a few of these Items, the order in which they get ranked comes down to only one
specific thing. In some cases it may only come down to bacon over sausage. And the reason
why the Steak, Egg & Cheese biscuit is sitting in this spot is because of the biscuit. Not
that the biscuit isn’t a yummy item to stack your breakfast food in between, but it just
isn’t as yummy as the other options that have preceded it. It’s still well worth
your hard-earned breakfast dollars though. The steak, grilled onions, egg and cheese
obviously all go together (who hasn’t had a steak and eggs breakfast, and loved it,
at some point in their lives?). And more so than a sausage, the steak is much heartier
and, of all the McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches, this one might be the most filling. And for
anyone wondering, the “steak” isn’t a filet mignon or a ribeye. It is ground beef
made into a patty. But still delicious, and it is the only meat option that isn't pork
on the breakfast menu. So, if you, like Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction,
“don’t dig on swine” but still want some morning meat, this would be a great way
to go!
Fruit N’ Yogurt Parfait
Yes, this is a list about McDonald’s best breakfast items and fruit and yogurt doesn’t
just make the list, it finds itself rather high up on the list. The Fruit N’ Yogurt
Parfait is a cup of low-fat vanilla-yogurt, fresh blueberries and strawberries and they
even give you a little packet of granola to pour on top for an added crunch. So, why is
this so high on the list? For starters it tastes good. Fruit, yogurt and granola is
a classic combination - one that most people have probably made for themselves at home
on multiple occasions. Also, sometimes you just want a little something and aren’t
hungry enough for a breakfast sandwich. Or maybe you’re trying to eat healthier but
your carpool always stops at McDonald’s in the morning. Well, this Parfait is the
perfect choice for you. If you’re thinking, “hey, doesn’t Starbucks also sell a yogurt
parfait?” Well, yes they do. In fact, while McDonald’s has been selling the parfait
since 2002, Starbucks rolled out their version of the healthy breakfast item four years later
in 2006 to compete directly with the home of the Big Mac. The nutrition stats are pretty
similar, although, the Starbucks version is bigger, so it does, obviously, have a few
more calories. This wouldn’t be the first or last time the two companies went at each
other to gain new morning customers.
Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddle
Did you know that the McGriddle has been around since 2003? Has it been that long already?
For those of you who have unfortunately never tried this item and are wondering - what is
a McGriddle? Well, McDonald’s describes it as, “soft, warm griddle cakes with the
taste of sweet maple.” You can wipe the drool from your face now. And don’t worry,
you aren’t the only person who thinks of a McGriddle and ends up looking like Homer
Simpson thinking about donuts. While most people would take bacon over sausage at McDonald’s
(and pretty much everywhere else they are given the choice), for those sausage-first
folks (you know who you are), it’s as simple as a quick switch and all will be right with
the world again. For those who are so in love with the sausage and don’t want anything
else cluttering up the sandwich, there is a simple sausage McGriddle which is just one
sausage patty between two McGriddle cakes. It’s sure to be tasty, but without the egg
and cheese it doesn’t bring enough to the flavor table to make it much higher on the
list. And sure, this sausage, egg and cheese item is rocking over 500 calories. But you
are also getting 20 grams of protein. And if you really want to take a less caloric
route with your breakfast, you will find a couple other great items on this list to help
you out.
Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle
Those yummy, maple-flavored pancake griddle cakes are considered by many to be the perfect
bun vehicle in between which to place breakfast items. And between these griddle cakes are
egg, cheese and, of course, bacon. Everyone knows that everything tastes better with bacon
and the McGriddle breakfast sandwich is no exception. And if you are wondering about
that maple-taste goodness, just like the sausage version of the sandwich, the McGriddle pancake
buns are actually injected with maple syrup (or something similar). What this does is
it provides the wonderful sweet, maple flavor you want, without having to actually pour
maple syrup in the sandwich (which would make it much stickier, messier and definitely less
conducive to eating on the go). This is definitely one of Mickey D's most popular breakfast items
and worthy of its position on this list - and it's all thanks to the bacon.
Egg McMuffin
The Granddaddy and the OG of McDonald’s breakfast items… The Egg McMuffin! Remember
back in 1972 when McDonald’s decided to change the world of fast food and start serving
breakfast? Well, it was the Egg McMuffin that was that first ever breakfast item. Prior
to that, Pittsburgh-area franchisee Jim Delligatti had been - with permission from McDonald’s
President Ray Kroc - selling donuts and sweets at his location during breakfast hours. But
that isn’t really breakfast is it? The Egg McMuffin is definitely breakfast and it is
the oldest item on the Mickey D's breakfast menu. It’s the best-selling item as well.
Breakfast accounts for about 15% of McDonald’s sales and the majority of that 15% is still
coming from the Egg McMuffin. The Egg McMuffin was invented in 1972 by a couple guys, the
operator of a McDonald’s franchise in Santa Barbara, California - and his assistant. What
they showed McDonald’s President Ray Kroc was actually an open faced sandwich on a half
an english muffin: the egg formed in a circle with the yolk broken, along with a slice of
cheese and a slice of grilled ham. It was thought of as an eggs Benedict on the go.
Kroc obviously liked what he saw because the first corporate-approved, what became the
Egg McMuffin as we know it, was sold later that year in a McD’s restaurant in New Jersey. Fun
Fact: Franchise owner Jim Delligatti is also the man credited with inventing the Big Mac!
Hash Browns
Technically, these could be considered a side-dish, but they are definitely a breakfast item and
they are the best things on McDonald’s rather impressive breakfast menu. A yummy, crispy
outer layer surrounding the soft, fluffy potato goodness with a little salt to accentuate
the flavor! Sure, you can dip them in ketchup or something else, but they are perfectly
delicious all on their own. If you are with a group of people and you all order a bag
full of breakfast items from McDonald's, you better make sure you get your hand in that
bag and grab a hash brown right away, because they are always the first to go! And with
the handy little bag they come in you can enjoy them without getting your hands all
greasy. Hash browns have been on the menu since 1977 when McDonald’s took breakfast
national and introduced it into every one of its restaurants. You could also find a
danish, hot cakes, a toasted English muffin, scrambled eggs and sausage on that first national
breakfast menu, which was highlighted by the Egg McMuffin. And If you hadn’t thought
of it already, with breakfast being available all day now at McDonald's, you can get the
hash browns as a side to go with anything. Sure, they go great with any of the breakfast
Items, but what about with a Big Mac? Or a McChicken sandwich? Or how about as a special
treat on the side when you order a salad. Or if you are having a major potato craving,
why not get an order of fries and an order of hash browns. You can thank us later.
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