6 Fast Food Chains That Use Real Whole Eggs And 7 That Don't

Fast food chains that use real whole eggs exist, but you have to look (and we mean really look) to find them. While most restaurants are shelling out egg patties that come precooked and frozen, other chains have stepped up their game to include freshly cracked eggs just like the kind you'd find at home. Of course, there are nuances to what we consider "fresh" whole eggs, so allow us to get specific. When we say whole eggs, we mean the egg is going from the shell directly onto the grill. And though this might seem like a far-off fantasy in terms of fast-food breakfast grabs, you'd be surprised at the restaurants we've found sporting warm, savory, and totally delicious fresh cracked eggs.

So, which fast food chains have the leg up on their egg game? Stay tuned. We're revealing the restaurants that do and don't offer fresh cracked eggs, along with the ones dishing up a mixture of both. Join us as we explore some of fast-food chains that use real whole eggs and ones that don't.

Tim Horton's may have "seasoned egg patties" as a part of its past, but as of 2021, the Canadian chain has committed to using real, fresh cracked eggs. As part of its Back to Basics Plan, the company made several changes, one of which was making Canadian whole eggs a part of all breakfast sandwiches. This means that all your Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich favorites, including the Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit and the Bacon Egg and Cheese English Muffin, have the same comforting warm eggs you crave at home in the morning.

We wondered whether there were any other offerings at the chain that might still contain the usual culmination of multiple ingredients via scrambled eggs, and from what we can tell, there isn't — at least not in the U.S. at the time of publication. Though the chain once offered Grilled Breakfast Wraps featuring scrambled eggs, it no longer does, but instead focuses mainly on those hearty breakfast sandwiches with wholesome eggs in its midst. All in all, our hats are off to Tim Hortons, and though it might not be as popular in the U.S. as it is in Canada (Canadian locals love the place) if you happen to come across the restaurant, know that the eggs on your sammie are the real deal.

There's no guessing when it comes to Burger King egg fare — none of its breakfast menu offerings come with a freshly cracked egg. Granted, it's often incredibly hard to track down ingredients for BK's menu items, as the chain isn't quite as transparent as other fast-food giants regarding what's inside. Nevertheless, there are some sources that insist Burger King makes its eggs from a liquid egg-pasteurized mixture containing various ingredients.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Burger King's eggs are bad for you per se, especially if you don't consume them often. What it does mean is that you shouldn't expect any of your long-time favorite Burger King breakfast sandwiches to contain the rich and savory flavor of whole eggs from the shell — even releases like Burger King's Grill-wich sandwiches sold back in 2023 still seem to tote that same old sad egg song.

White Castle is known for the original slider, but dag-gone it, its got some pretty delicious breakfast options, too. Add to that the fact that White Castle dishes up its morning offerings from shelled eggs, and you've got a fast-food breakfast option that's near perfect.

Now, we realize not everyone will be able to get in on the action, and if that's you, we're sorry. As of 2015, White Castle made the commitment to serving breakfast all day and features yummy menu offerings like the Belgian Waffle Slider and Breakfast Toast Sandwich options. States like Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio will see the most "crave"-worthy White Castle locations, and other states, including Tennessee, Minnesota, and Kentucky, are lucky enough to have a few White Castle restaurants here and there, as well. Ultimately, if it's freshly cracked eggs you're after, White Castle is one of the best fast-food places to snag them — especially given that you can enjoy them any time of the day.

Sorry, Chick-fil-A fans. Not only does that supposed free Chick-fil-A breakfast hack not work (at least not at our location), but you also shouldn't expect to get your breakfast from shelled whole eggs at this fast food chain.

We weren't able to spot a detailed breakdown of the exact ingredients used in the Chick-fil-A folded egg that grace most of its sandwiches, but according to former employees on Reddit, the eggs are liquified rather than fresh cracked. That being said, the company seems to have plans to switch over to 100% cage-free eggs by 2026, though whether this means the eggs will be cracked directly into a pan before winding up on your sandwich is beyond us. Either way, know that your Chick-fil-A breakfast sandwiches, though hot and ready for you by 6:30 a.m. according to Chick-fil-A's breakfast hours in 2024, won't feature cracked eggs like the offerings found at a few other fast food chains.

Ah, another fast-food chain that gives us all the comforting feels of a warm freshly cooked egg made at home. Find Whataburger offering delightfully tasty breakfast sandwiches that envelope richly satisfying pure egg in every bite. And while Whataburger is another one of those fairly tight-lipped fast food chains when it comes to ingredients, we can at least see that many Whataburger breakfast offerings, including its breakfast biscuit sandwich, make mention of a cracked egg in its description.

So, what's the catch? Though it seems most of Whataburger's offerings contain whole shelled eggs, you should note that the company's taquitos and breakfast platters might not. However, the use of "scrambled eggs" in breakfast burritos and tacos is not unusual and is even expected in the world of fast food. As for what ingredients are contained in those breakfast burrito eggs, your guess is as good as ours — thus, we would recommend simply ordering a breakfast sandwich if you're wholly devoted to egg purity.

Sorry to have to break it to you, but Dunkin' isn't quite like Tim Hortons in terms of egg purity, though the two breakfast chains are quite similar. While Tim Hortons is serving up breakfast sandwiches with lots of yummy egg goodness inside, Dunkin' is still serving egg patties containing a variety of ingredients.

Now, don't get us wrong here — many Dunkin' sandwiches sound great, and we know from experience that some are quite delish. From the sausage egg and cheese croissant to its sourdough breakfast sandwich, most of the sandwiches sold at Dunkin' are a joy to wake up to. Nevertheless, Dunkin' eggs come precooked, according to employees over at Reddit, and contain ingredients like soybean oil, corn starch, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, and a few other additions. And though the egg patties contain less than 2% of the ingredients we just mentioned, we would much prefer eggs that come from shell to pan.

If you haven't been graced with a Jack in the Box location near you since its 2023 expansion, you may soon, which could prove lucky for egg lovers. Not only do Jack in the Box restaurants serve breakfast around the clock, but they use real eggs in the process. Now, when we say "real eggs," we don't mean the kind that come pre-packaged. Rather, as some employees confirm, most of Jack in the Box breakfast sandwiches do indeed come with a freshly cracked egg rather than the typical additive-ridden egg concoction.

We scoured the Jack in the Box menu and found delicious picks like the Supreme Croissant and Bacon Breakfast Jack containing a fresh egg just like you would find at home. You'll also be happy to know that 77% of the eggs that Jack in the Box uses come from cage-free environments, according to the website, which is a boast not all fast food giants can make. Just know that if you're grabbing any breakfast option from Jack-in-the-Box that contains "scrambled eggs," you might end up consuming a few more ingredients than you bargained for. Though technically also including a whole egg, the scrambled eggs found in the burritos and other breakfast menu items may also contain other ingredients, including citric acid, xanthan gum, and butter flavoring.

We've spotted some Subway fans asking how the popular sub chain gets its eggs so impossibly fluffy, and employees on Reddit were ready with a quick answer — it's the ingredients. We aren't talkin' fresh eggs, melted butter, and a dash of salt here; rather, you'll encounter additions like cellulose gum, soybean oil, and xanthan gum. Subway eggs also come to the chain as premade patties as of the time of publication, and thus, it might be difficult to whip up eggs like the ones found at Subway at home.

Despite the fact that Subway eggs aren't freshly cracked, we're at least relieved that the chain is making diligent efforts to switch over to cage-free eggs, according to the restaurant's website. But as this switch takes place at a location near you, breakfast fans should keep in mind that Subway eggs, even when cage-free, aren't free of additives. A quick glance over the already published ingredients reveals that the cage-free eggs contain pretty much the same ingredients as the traditional egg patties. Sigh.

We must admit, we're pretty impressed when it comes to Wendy's egg offerings. All of Wendy's breakfast sandwiches come with a freshly cracked egg. As if this isn't exciting enough, Wendy's took the extra step of detailing the egg frying process on its website. As of the time of publication, Wendy's is placing its eggs on the grill, breaking the yolks, frying, flipping, and frying them again until they are fully cooked. Then, employees layer the eggy goodness onto Wendy's breakfast favorites like the egg and cheese biscuit, all before serving it up hot and fresh. Hey, it might not be breakfast made from scratch, but with a fresh whole egg, it can feel pretty darn close.

Still, you should note that, like many of the other chains on this list, there is at least one menu item that doesn't contain a shelled whole egg. Wendy's burritos contain scrambled eggs made from a liquid egg mixture, and this makes sense. Since many breakfast burritos and tacos we've explored also neglect to contain fresh eggs, we weren't really expecting anything much different where Wendy's is concerned.

Ah, Starbucks. From olive oil-infused coffee drinks to popular pumpkin-spiced lattes, this coffee chain is known for many things, but eggs that come fresh from the shell aren't it. The chain touts the egg patties we've seen cropping up on so many fast food breakfast menus, with each sandwich and wrap offering containing various additives that are a far cry from what you'd get straight from the egg carton.

So, what all's included? We took a peek at the ingredients included in the Double Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg sandwich, and much to our chagrin, the "eggs" contained a little more than a single fresh-cracked egg fried in oil as stated on the company website — there's modified food starch and citric acid thrown into the mix, as well.

As for the fluffier "puffed scrambled egg patties" you'll find on other savory Starbucks breakfast sandwiches? Expect them to contain even more ingredients, with dicalcium phosphate, butter flavor, xanthan gum, and guar gum, just to name a few. You may love the coffee, but when it comes to fresh eggs, Starbucks might have you scramblin' to another restaurant.

Before we begin, we'd like to state how much we love when companies like Del Taco are transparent about what's in its food, even if we don't like what we see. Del Taco is one of the few fast-food restaurants on this list that actually details exactly what goes into every layer of its menu offerings. As such, we are confident that the restaurant doesn't use whole eggs in its breakfast items, with additions like xanthan gum, annatto, citric acid, and butter flavor all gracing its eggy breakfast selections.

Although Del Taco dishes up breakfast fare that isn't complete with whole eggs, we do want to highlight the fact that this fast-food joint isn't exactly known for sandwiches. After all, there's only one burger featured on the menu, and most fast food restaurants featuring breakfast tacos like these contain scrambled eggs that are indeed "scrambled" with a few more ingredients than we would normally add at home. This means that what you find at Del Taco isn't really that out of the norm. Still, we agree that it'd be awfully groovy to find a fast-food chain willing to put fresh-cracked eggs even in its burritos, but, alas, Del Taco isn't the place.

There's a bit of controversy swirling around Taco Bell's breakfast grabs, especially given the kind of gross way Taco Bell makes its eggs. Nevertheless, we'll start off by answering the question you're burning to know, and the answer is no, Taco Bell does not serve freshly cracked eggs on its breakfast taco offerings.

At this point, you're probably curious about the way this popular taco chain actually makes its eggs, and for that, we have an answer — we think. As far as we can tell from what a former employee on Reddit states online, Taco Bell might be cooking up its eggs while they're still in a bag. We got further confirmation of this information on TikTok when an employee gave us a backstage view of this egg-cooking strategy in action. We also have very little information about what exactly is contained in Taco Bell's eggs, keeping things a bit more mysterious than we would like. Thus, though opinions vary when it comes to Taco Bell's breakfast items, one thing is for certain, and that is that the restaurant doesn't seem to offer its customers fresh whole eggs.

Like a few other fast-food restaurants mentioned, there is sometimes a more complicated response than a simple yes or no when it comes to whole eggs used at fast-food chains. McDonald's touts the most confusing number of options when it comes to the types of eggs it sells, but no worries, the chain breaks it down in a super simplistic and easy-to-understand way on the company's website.

According to McDonald's, the types of eggs used vary in relation to each menu item and even within the sandwich category. At the time of publication, only the Egg McMuffin sandwiches are graced with fresh eggs cracked into a ring shape on a grill. Other sandwiches, like the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, contain folded eggs that come precooked and frozen. There are also scrambled eggs, which start as liquid before getting cooked on the grill in real butter. Finally, there are the eggs that you'll find in the sausage and egg burritos that come precooked and flash-frozen with veggies and seasonings.

Phew — there's a reason we saved McDonald's for last. So, if you're in the mood for a "real" whole egg, you'll need to grab one of the Egg McMuffin varieties — that is, unless you're brave enough to upgrade your McDonald's breakfast sandwich by asking for a fresh egg substitution. Give it a go; the worst they can do is say no, right?