6 Frozen Breakfast Sandwiches You Should Buy And 6 To Avoid
I distinctly remember a time when getting a breakfast sandwich at a fast food restaurant was one of the absolute highlights of my morning. The McDonald's steak, egg & cheese bagel was always my favorite. My McDonald's bagel preferences were formed during the same years that Teeny Beanies were all the rage, so it's no big leap to say that my love for breakfast sandwiches had been around for a hot minute.
Of course, you don't need to venture to a fast food restaurant to enjoy a breakfast sandwich. Rather, you can simply open your freezer and take out your favorite option; you'll be less than two minutes away from a high-protein, tasty sandwich, provided you choose the right one, of course. Anyone who walks down the frozen food aisle knows there are plenty of choices.
Having sampled several, I can tell you there are definitely some that are well worth buying and others that are better left hanging out in the freezer. To decide which of these sandwiches are worthy of your time and appetite, I considered both flavor and texture. Given that price and quantity are relatively consistent across the category, these factors were only given secondary consideration. Quite simply: The delicious sandwiches that had an enjoyable texture did well, while the ones that were less appetizing or had a disagreeable texture did not.
Read more: Where To Get Burgers During Fast Food Breakfast Hours
Buy: Red's Egg'wich Chicken Maple Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Choosing these sandwiches for this ranking was a delicate process. During my selection process, I was surprised by how many eggwich style sandwiches there actually are in the freezer aisles. I found that some of these sandwiches were quite enjoyable, barely making me miss the bread aspect at all; others left a little bit to be desired. Red's offering with chicken maple sausage was one of the more enjoyable options I sampled.
In many ways, Red's egg'wich chicken maple sausage felt like a McGriddle, that all important king of the McDonald's breakfast menu. McGriddles comes with your chosen protein and egg, served between two pancake buns infused a maple syrup flavor. While Red's doesn't have pancakes, the buttery maple flavors of the chicken sausage mingles with the savoryness of the rest of the sandwich to create both a sweet and savory experience. With maple syrup and chicken sausage acting as flavors that at once seem to conflict and compliment one another, it works all at once.
Avoid: Good Food Made Simple Egg White Breadless Sandwich Turkey Sausage & Cheddar Cheese
If you've ever needed to give up a type of food for one reason or another, you may know how it feels when you overrotate and give up more than becomes enjoyable, possibly leading to bland food. Of all the sandwiches I tried, this one represented these feelings better than anything else. It has overly white, not at all exciting egg white patties, which are supposed to make up the breading replacement. One this is for sure: This sandwich will make you miss bread.
I imagine the directions didn't help the situation much. Some directions for breakfast eggwiches recommend wrapping the whole thing in a wet paper towel and then cooking it, this version from Good Foods Made Simple did not have that advice. It led to a rather deflated, unappealing breakfast sandwich. Even still, if you simply must go for an egg white sandwich, my biggest complaint about this one is flavor, so to help cover the dull drum of the egg whites, I highly recommend having a bottle of sriracha or Franks nearby.
Buy: Sandwich Bros. Egg & Cheese
While most of the breakfast sandwiches available use either a croissant or a biscuit, Sandwich Bros. offers a whole line of flatbread pocket sandwiches. I chose to sample the egg and cheese variety because I thought the simple and straightforward ingredients of it might give me the best sense of what the company's sandwiches are like on the whole.
The flavors here were quite simple and took me right back to the days when mom would make the simplest of foods that always seemed to do the trick. It's like a grilled cheese sandwich with some protein thrown in the mix, thanks to the egg. With the gooey cheese that slaps just as perfectly today as it did when I was much younger, this one feels like quite a comfort breakfast.
I've also enjoyed having these as midday snacks many hours after breakfast. Not to mention, vegetarians looking for a meat free sandwich would definitely enjoy the pita as a breakfast sandwich alternative. Though I was concerned with how the pita would perform in this situation, it felt just like a pita pocket you might pick up at your favorite Greek bistro. You might missy the gyro meat, but at least the softness of the pita enclosure is spot on.
Avoid: Good Food Made Simple Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich Turkey Sausage
In college, one of my favorite breakfasts came from the Subway located on the first floor of my dorm building. There, I would order a breakfast flatbread, piled high with veggies and sauce and cheese. It was a runaway favorite for me, largely because of the flatbread and the way it seemed to perfectly hold everything it needed to while also being soft and enjoyable.
Unfortunately, this Good Food Made Simple breakfast sandwich captured the experience in the flatbread only. It was soft and reheated well. However, the filling was more like a confused pile of casserole with no distinct flavor. Rather than having a sausage patty that may have stayed together a little bit better within the flatbread, this one had crumbled sausage, and to make it worse, many of the flavors advertised on the wrapper, including salsa, were nowhere to be found. The sandwich could have done with a bit of acidic, tomatoey flavor. This flatbread was nothing like my favorite from Subway, though it did make me miss those old days of picking up a flatbread after early morning classes. I can't imagine craving this sandwich waking up in the morning due to its largely disorganized and largely unflavored filling.
Buy: Jimmy Dean Croissant Sausage, Egg & Cheese
When you start shopping for breakfast sandwiches, one of the first things you notice is that the Jimmy Dean selection is overwhelmingly large. From its lineup, I wanted to choose one that was a more traditional breakfast sandwich and one that was a little more unique. This was the more conventional option, and as simple and classic as it is, it was one of my favorites.
When you see them on display in your favorite coffeeshop or bakery, it's hard not to pick up a croissant during your visit. That buttery flavor and flaky feel are certainly crave worthy, and though a frozen Jimmy Dean's sausage sandwich may feel a world away from a French bakery, the croissant on this sandwich was as good as any croissant frozen options you're likely to find. Between each piece of bread, the ingredients at play — pork sausage, egg, and cheese, are also distinctly individual ingredients that combine in harmony.
I can't say whether this sandwich would contend with a true French pastry, but for a frozen breakfast sandwich, it felt very much like an offering I would be happy getting from a quick service restaurant. It may be worth noting that I did add a little bit of Frank's Red Hot in mine because it wanted an extra zip, but that was entirely my preference.
Avoid: Jimmy Dean Plant-Based Patty, Spinach & Egg White
While that Jimmy Dean's breakfast croissant sandwich was a favorite flavor, the plant based patty from my other selection didn't perform as well. In addition to the rather unexpected flavor of the croissant, I wanted to choose something that was a little less common, so I opted for the most interesting and, admittedly, tasty sounding one I could find. This brought me to the plant-based patty with a spinach and egg white frittata. Sounding like it came from a little breakfast bistro, my hopes were high, but my optimism didn't last long.
The disappointment I felt with this one is, unfortunately, one I have felt many times in the past with a plant-based item. I love visiting vegetarian and vegan restaurants because there are so many unique ways to make plant-based items burst with flavor and really come alive. However, sometimes, you just don't get that. It was bland, boring, and seemed to promise more flavor than it ultimately delivered. The ingredients in the patty — rice, beans, quinoa — gave the taste of a grain-filled sandwich filler. If you want a plant-based patty option, this one is not worth your time, though if it seems and looks promising.
Buy: Great Value Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissant Sandwich
Admittedly, I'm not typically one to reach for store brand items, let alone store brand food items, but I'm always curious to see how they stack up to name brand offerings. To that end, tasting the Great Value croissant sandwiches from Walmart next to the Jimmy Dean flavor was pretty interesting. I found that, much to my own dismay, I preferred the Great Value sandwich, even if the Jimmy Dean ones were quite good, too.
Everyone has a special cafe, dining hall, or guilty-pleasure eatery which slings greasy food intended to satiate hungry appetites of all shapes and sizes. It may not have been everyone's taste, but a little bit of added oomph us comforting in your favorite fast food kind of way. And like that former dining center that may have lacked aesthetics, this sandwich is no frills but delivers on flavor and texture.
Even as a discounted, budget brand, this is definitely a satisfying selection to choose from, and you can tell a fair amount of thought went into the actual cooking process. In fact, this was one of the few that directed me to leave the sandwich in its package. While I don't love having to heat up plastic, the cheese melt, texture, and overall flavors on this one are solidly reminiscent of sandwiches I've loved in the past.
Avoid: Breakfast Best Muffin Sandwiches: Eggs, Canadian Bacon & American Cheese
Of all the pieces in this sandwich, the only real standout was the Canadian bacon, at least in terms of smell. However, as soon as I peeled back the layers to have a look at the piece of Canadian bacon, I was incredibly disappointed. Thin and meager, it was quite impressive that it spewed as much scent as it did. The whole experience felt like walking into a greasy diner amongst the delicious smells, only to be met with a disappointing breakfast. Smells just aren't everything, and when it same to this one, they promised way more than they delivered.
The English muffin, which should be a little firm, felt more like a dishwashing sponge that's sat in your sink a little too long. It may look like it's going to work, but it just doesn't suit the task at hand. Though this Aldi option was ultimately disappointing, its biscuit counterpart was much more impressive. Of the two, the Canadian bacon is better left in the freezer.
Buy: Breakfast Best Biscuit Sandwiches Sausage, Egg & Cheese
Aldi's brand Breakfast Best offers a line of frozen breakfast choices including pancakes, sausage links, waffles, french toast stocks, and other breakfast items, inclusive of two sandwich options. Even if the muffin is a miss for me, the biscuit is definitely an enjoyable variety.
One of the most basic breakfast sandwiches out there is a biscuit, egg, and cheese sandwich. Mcdonald's does them well, but it turns out, so does Breakfast Best, with a sandwich that feels and tastes just like the ones you can enjoy on the road. The sandwich leans into that nostalgia. With a familiar, nicely crumbly biscuit and moist flavor, it's one that will feel familiar while also being surprising that it's coming from your freezer. That said, I should note that sandwiches sometimes develop a greasiness from sitting in the wrapper under heat lamps. A benefit of zipping one of these from your freezer to the microwave is that it'll taste and feel fresh, ensuring that the biscuit doesn't have such an oily quality.
Avoid: Mason Dixie Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches With Sausage & Egg
Having enjoyed a breakfast biscuit sandwich that does the job well, I can say with confidence that the Mason Dixie buttermilk biscuit sandwich leaves much to be desired. It's everything the Breakfast Best sandwich isn't, and not in a positive perspective. I was expecting a crumbly, comforting buttermilk biscuit with a balance of flavors, but this just wasn't the case. If you've ever tasted a biscuit that's been sitting out or cooked for too long, you'll immediately recognize the biscuit here.
Not to mention, it's also pretty basic in terms of parts. It feels like three pieces are just together in one sandwich rather than being combined to form an enjoyable sandwich. The flavors don't meld together, even if the cheese is trying its very best to pull the situation together. It feels like Mason Dixie relies too heavily on the biscuit to do the heavy lifting, but when it doesn't step up to the plate, there are no other ingredients that successfully slip into that second string position.
Buy: Trader Joe's Eggwich Breadless Breakfast Sandwich
I am always a big fan of Trader Joe's products and find that the nearly 45 minute drive from my house is almost always worth it. Among the hustle and bustle on the random Tuesday that I visited the Trader Joe's nearest to me, I scoured everywhere looking for any classic frozen sandwich but only came up with an eggwich much similar to others I had tried.
Like some of the other eggwich sandwiches, this Trader Joe's edition recommends cooking the sandwich in a wet paper towel to ensure the fluffiness of the egg. I found that the egg patties used in place of buns felt and tasted like ones you'd make right in your own kitchen. Most of the other eggwiches I tried were not distinctive in their egg patty quality. Eggwiches often seem like they're attempting to replace bread with eggs as a swap to increase protein in a sandwich, without adding much flavor. These Trader Joe's eggwiches took a different approach, using the egg as an element that adds taste. The sausage patty was also substantial and well seasoned, giving homemade traits. If you can brave the Trader Joe's crowds, this one is worth picking up on your next run to Trader Joe's if you're looking for a bread free breakfast.
Avoid: MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage, Egg & Cheese Sandwich
As a former vegan, my expectations for meatless variations are pretty high. With so many companies now offering excellent alternatives to meat and other animal products, having a less than enjoyable version of feels especially insulting. Morningstar Farms has many great products on its roster, but this isn't one of them. The sausage is a plant-based meat, it still has a regular egg and cheese, so it's a vegetarian offering, not a vegan one.
This one had a really interesting cooking process and instructed me to fold up a paper towel and cook the sandwich on top of that rather than wrapping the sandwich in the paper towel. I also noticed that the egg piece went a little far off the edges of the sandwich, more than I am used to. Along with being oversized, it felt rubbery. Overall, this sandwich looked and tasted like something that would be for a vegetarian but based on something a non vegetarian would enjoy. But with a too thin English muffin that doesn't even get close to covering the whole egg, it's a miss.
Methodology
When I pulled together my sampling choices, I wanted to taste as many brands as I possibly could. As a result, the sandwiches came from Publix, Target, Aldi, and Trader Joe's. Each of these grocery stores had options to choose from, but some of them were more limited than others. When tasting and ranking the flavors, as well as deciding whether they are worth your money, I considered overall taste and texture as my primary deciding factors. I wanted sandwiches that came out of your microwave ready to enjoy and ones that would make you excited to open the freezer and pull out the sandwich. Bland and mushy sandwiches had no place here, and they certainly wouldn't meet my criteria.
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