The Egg Swap That'll Upgrade Your Next McDonald's Breakfast Sandwich

McDonald's breakfast sandwiches are already things of beauty, from their delightfully greasy and glistening sausage (or bacon) to their melty yellow cheese to their eggs-cellent round egg or folded eggs, all of which are piled onto an English muffin, biscuit, or McGriddle cake. But what if you could take your breakfast sandwich soaring to new eggy heights — and all you had to do was ask the cashier for a simple swap?

At the counter or drive-thru, you can actually ask for the scrambled eggs that are part of McDonald's Big Breakfast to be used on your breakfast sandwich instead (be prepared to hear "No," though — this is really at the employees' discretion, but it does work on occasion). Like the round egg disc from a McMuffin, the scrambled eggs are cooked up fresh on the griddle, though the egg discs are made with fresh-cracked eggs while the scrambled version uses liquid egg product and butter. The scrambled eggs tend to be more pillowy and, to some tastes, have a far superior flavor compared to the folded egg sheet that's used on sandwiches like the McGriddle.

You should also be aware that there may be an additional charge since you're asking for a substitute, but there's also a chance the cashier will let it slide for the same price. Also, this hack only works if you're ordering at the register or drive-thru; there's no option for egg substitutes on the app or at the kiosks.

McDonald's actually offers four types of eggs as part of its breakfast menu: the round egg, the scrambled eggs, the folded eggs, and the eggs that form part of its Sausage Burrito filling. As mentioned, the round egg and the scrambled eggs are made fresh in the restaurant; the round egg consists of a fresh-cracked egg that's dropped into a round egg mold.

Both the folded eggs and the Sausage Burrito eggs are pre-made using liquid eggs and then flash-frozen before they're packaged and sent to restaurants. The folded eggs are folded up before they're frozen and are then reheated with butter and a little water on the flat top (that's right — they're not microwaved). The eggs that fill the Sausage Burrito get scrambled with their Southwestern veggies and seasonings before freezing.

If you prefer one type of egg over another — say you prefer the round egg over the folded version or the Sausage Burrito egg over the round — this egg-upgrade hack can work for any substitution (even the McBrunch Burger, which you can only order at 10:35 a.m.). All you have to do is ask. The worst they can do is say no, but with so many McDonald's locations, you could just drive to another and see if they'll do it.

If you were thinking that you've seen scrambled eggs on a McDonald's breakfast sandwich before, you have a good eye and a great memory (and you might not be from the U.S.). McDonald's apparently started giving the people what they wanted in 2019 with its Breakfast Scrambled Egg Sandwiches — the only catch is, you have to be in Malaysia to try them.

These breakfast sandwiches, which come in three varieties — a chicken sandwich, a sausage sandwich, and just the scrambled eggs with cheese — actually aren't served up on breakfast bread like an English muffin or biscuit. Instead, everything is stuffed between two burger buns. While a commercial for the products on YouTube shows fresh eggs being cracked, whisked, and scrambled on the flat top, there's little way of knowing (besides McDonald's website stating, "Enjoy fluffy scrambled eggs made fresh daily") if this is actually how they're prepared in stores, or if the sandwiches use liquid eggs like McDonald's does in the States.