The McDonald's breakfast has got to be one of fast food's most beloved institutions.
But how do the restaurant's many choices actually stack up against each other?
From the newest additions to the McMuffin that started it all, we've compiled a list
of McDonald's breakfast menu items and ranked them worst to best.
McDonald's introduced the sausage burrito all the way back in 1991, so you'd think they'd
have it perfected by now — but apparently not.
Sure, the tortilla is fine, but as you bite into the burrito, you get the strangest mix
of flavors: egg, sausage, chiles, and a whole bunch of black pepper.
Like, a lot of black pepper.
"Cut it out, come on.
Say when.
No come on, don't.
Say when."
At the same time, you're munching on soft, runny eggs, coming together to create a weird
and lackluster experience.
And it's no huge surprise this doesn't work either, considering there are actually more
than 40 ingredients in the sausage burrito.
You've gotta ask: why on earth would you need so many?
McDonald's debuted the Chicken McGriddles sandwich for testing in certain franchises
in August 2019, and, well, so far, so bad.
It's two McGriddles with a McChicken patty in the middle, and... that's kind of it.
And while the flavor combo of syrup-flavored bread and chicken seems like it could work
in theory, it still comes across as possibly the weirdest pairing of flavors McDonald's
could have come up with.
Obviously, chicken and waffles are all the rage right now, but this one totally misses
the mark.
At first bite, it's actually kinda delicious, but then the black pepper hits, and suddenly
everything falls apart.
This is a great example of a genius idea with poor execution.
The best way to describe the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit is probably: dry.
Very dry.
Sure, the biscuit is buttered and it's fluffy enough too, but the boring folded egg is way
too big and overpowers the sandwich.
Pairing all that with just two thin slices of bacon just doesn't add up to much, either.
Luckily, this sandwich is made better with the addition of melted American cheese, but
it still doesn't completely fix that dryness problem.
The ratio of other ingredients to the thick biscuit just doesn't make for the ideal composition.
How could they fix it?
With more bacon?
More cheese?
Whatever it needs… it needs something.
The Triple Stack Biscuit is built with two sausage patties, two slices of bacon, two
slices of cheese, and an egg, all layered on your choice of a biscuit, McMuffin, or
McGriddle.
This behemoth of a sandwich also contains 890 calories and 65 grams of fat.
Oh, and don't forget the 2,080 milligrams of sodium, too.
That's a lot of salt.
"I wish I'd thought this through."
But if the nutrition stats don't scare you away, the actual sandwich probably will.
First of all, you'll be lucky to even get a bite in on this thing, because the Triple
Stack is easily big enough to be seriously frustrating to eat.
Then, after that first, far-too-difficult bite, you find the mixture of sausage and
bacon — a combo which, somehow, doesn't actually work here.
Sure, sausages and bacon work great on a breakfast plate, but contained inside a sandwich it
just feels like a little much.
It's also, again, a massive salt bomb, which goes some way to explaining that high sodium
count.
Honestly, it's just not worth it.
Bagels may not have been invented as a breakfast food, but they've still become one of America's
most quintessential morning snacks.
And why not?
They're awesome.
"Bagel?"
"Don't mind if I do!"
So maybe that's why it's such a shame that the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bagel kinda misses
the mark.
The toasted bagel comes topped with butter, bacon, a folded egg, and American cheese.
Luckily, the addition of another slice of cheese makes this breakfast sandwich a bit
more flavorful, but overall it's lacking.
The bagel is pretty large too, and not really the best bagel we've ever tasted either — but
where this really falls apart is with the toppings.
There just isn't enough bacon or egg to make this sandwich feel like enough.
Okay, let's be honest — if you're ordering oatmeal at McDonald's, you're only doing it
because you absolutely have to.
Most likely you're a healthy eater who didn't have time to cook an actual breakfast, so
you decided you needed to grab something healthy in a pinch.
After all, surely nobody actually goes to McDonald's for the oatmeal… right?
Well, either way: the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal debuted in 2011 and contains a mixture of
oats, light cream, diced apples, cranberries and raisins.
All of these items together may sound delicious, but overall it just comes across as boring.
Weirdest of all is that there's no actual maple syrup in this oatmeal.
It's in the name, but certainly not on the ingredients list.
Sadly, if McDonald's had included it this dish would have ended up tasting so much better.
The oatmeal is wildly bland, and the so-so toppings don't make it any better, either.
It'll work in a pinch, but there's a reason McDonald's aren't famous for this.
McGriddles debuted back in 2003, and truthfully, they're just okay.
The McGriddle is centered around a mushy, soft griddle cake, which McDonald's says features
the sweet taste of maple.
And in a perfect world, that'd make a great pairing with the sausage, folded egg and American
cheese this sandwich also contains.
But there isn't actually any true maple flavor to be found in McGriddles.
There's just sugar and caramel color, which might give the illusion of maple, but really
just adds up to a pale imitation of the real thing.
On top of that, there are way too many flavors going on in this sandwich for it to really
work.
Plus, the texture is kinda squishy, what with the grease from the sausage and the super-soft
textures of the McGriddles cakes.
Truth is, there are better sandwiches than this.
Yeah, we're back in McGriddles town again.
But this time, it's with bacon!
This McDonald's McGriddles sandwich comes stacked with griddle cakes, applewood smoked
bacon, a folded egg, and a slice of American cheese.
Sounds amazing, right?
Well, the sweet flavor of the McGriddles does overpower the smoked bacon a little, but at
least the texture is spot on.
It's a soft sandwich with a bit of crunch from the bacon, all paired together with just
the right amount of melted cheese.
It often seems like the texture of folded egg can throw off a breakfast sandwich, and
honestly, this is one of those options that could be made so much better if it used the
same round eggs as the Egg McMuffin.
Something to think on, Ronald.
With just a sausage patty and a folded egg sandwiched between a biscuit, the simplicity
of the Sausage Biscuit with Egg is certainly its downfall.
After all, who orders their McDonald's in half-measures?
Honestly, this sandwich isn't awful.
The sausage gives it enough overall flavor for it to hold its own, pairing well with
the buttery flavor of the biscuit.
But it's hard to get over that lack of cheese — especially when, at 530 calories, this
sandwich clearly isn't intended to be a healthy option.
So why not throw the cheese in anyway?
Isn't everything better with cheese?
"I can ignore the cheese... sorry I can't do it."
The Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait is definitely one of the better options on the McDonald's
menu, especially for those looking for a decent breakfast or a quick, sweet snack.
Registered Dietitians have even agreed that it's one of the less nutritionally offensive
items the restaurant sells.
The parfait is made up of low-fat vanilla yogurt, blueberries, and strawberries, and
it's served with a little packet of crunchy granola to go on top.
The strawberries are pretty sweet too, with the addition of Konjac Flour acting a little
bit like cornstarch to create a sweet syrup.
Unfortunately, the granola throws things a little off-kilter.
It has an overpowering cinnamon flavor, which doesn't pair well with the rest of the ingredients.
Still, it'll do just fine — and at only 210 calories, it's not gonna kill you, either.
Ordering a cinnamon roll at McDonald's seems like it might possibly be the worst idea ever.
After all, what can McDonald's do that a proper bakery can't?
Well, be prepared to be surprised — because these really aren't that bad.
Obviously you're not getting the real bakery experience here, but the McDonald's Cinnamon
Melt is still pretty darn good.
The cinnamon flavor of the soft, fluffy roll is spot on, and the texture is nigh-on perfect.
The Cinnamon Melts are also topped with a light cream cheese icing, which pairs nicely
with this treat.
To be fair, however, more of this topping would have been nice — when warmed, the
icing tends to melt, leaving you with more of a drizzle than icing, but this is a minor
complaint.
Definitely a great choice, this.
Considering they're pancakes made in a fast food restaurant, Hotcakes are surprisingly
delicious, mostly thanks to the texture, which is pretty much spot on.
They're not overly fluffy but still have the right consistency to make for the perfect
on-the-go pancake.
These hotcakes are also served up with salted butter, which may seem a little strange, but
it really does work.
The only thing that would have made this item better is an upgrade in the syrup department.
Hotcakes are served with something called Hotcake Syrup, which is nothing even remotely
close to maple syrup.
It's a mixture of corn syrup, sugar, and water with the addition of caramel color to trick
you into thinking you're eating the real thing.
"Do you smell maple syrup?”
“Yes!”
“Don't panic, Lemon.
It's probably not a chemical attack."
The Big Breakfast comes with every single thing you could possibly want in a breakfast.
First, you've got those soft, fluffy Hotcakes, complete with butter and syrup.
And then there's also scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, biscuit and, of course, hash browns.
The Big Breakfast is basically made up of all of the best components of the McDonald's
breakfast menu, piled high on a single plate.
This item does definitely come with one drawback though: this breakfast packs on 1340 calories
and 64 grams of fat.
So, while it is delicious, it's gonna require a heck of a workout to burn off.
The Egg McMuffin was the original McDonald's breakfast item, and honestly, it's almost
the best, too.
It's a simple concept, really — English muffin, slice of ham, eggs, and cheese.
Wrap it all up and you have the perfect hot take-out breakfast.
The McMuffin is also the only item on the breakfast menu that uses a freshly cracked
egg in its recipe — which is a real shame, because it's so much better than the folded
egg used elsewhere.
And that egg paired with Canadian bacon and cheese is the most magical combination, especially
if you let it sit just another minute after it's served to let that cheese get a little
meltier.
Heaven in a muffin.
Just as McDonald's is widely-renowned for their french fries, so too are its hash browns
loved around the world.
These little potato pillows are the quintessential comfort food from McDonald's.
Once you bite into that crispy, golden shell you know you're in for a real treat, and the
experience is made that much better for those fluffy shredded potatoes on the inside.
Piping hot, a little greasy, and ridiculously delicious.
No wonder they've been holding strong for more than 40 years.
Well, here it is — the best of the best.
What is it about the Sausage McMuffin Egg that works so well?
Perhaps it's that delicious fresh egg, or maybe it's the wonderfully greasy sausage
patty on top.
Or maybe it's all about the cheese, which melts almost immediately on top of that hot
English muffin.
This savory sandwich is the ideal balance of breakfast flavors, with the slight sweetness
from the sausage pairing perfectly with that round egg.
And that soft, buttery English muffin rounds out all those flavors into the perfect little
bundle of breakfast magic.
It may not have been the first McMuffin on the menu, but it sure is the most delicious.
"Hey, Yappie! If you end the conversation, I'll get you an Egg McMuffin."
"How bout a Sausage McMuffin with hashbrowns..."
"You got a deal!"
"Look, look, look, he fell asleep!"
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