Our Least Favorite Fast Food Egg Sandwich Is Unfortunately A Classic

When you're on the run, stopping at McDonald's for a quick bite probably comes to mind more times than not. Known for its tasty offerings and speedy service, McDonald's has reigned as the world's most popular fast-food restaurant for quite some time now, especially when breakfast time rolls around. It's tough to find a quick pick-me-up when on the road or at the airport, so grabbing a McGriddle egg sandwich or Hotcakes is precisely what your rumbling stomach craves. McDonald's breakfast, in general, is nostalgic and remains slightly frustrating for not being available all day. But what's surprising is the sandwich that helped put McDonald's breakfast on the map isn't at the top of everyone's list to order — that honor belongs to the Egg McMuffin.

Cue in the Sausage McMuffin with Egg. One could argue that this menu item has a decent balance of nutrition for a fast food restaurant, but other than that, there's not much to write home about. Even though it might not be the tastiest breakfast item at McDonald's, it has a long history, starting with the sausage patty being the first meat offering on the breakfast menu in 1977. It wasn't until 1984 that sandwich and sausage became one.

McDonald's breakfast seems like it's been around forever, and it kind of has. But, if we're basing it off when the fast food giant opened in 1940, the early riser offerings were implemented decades later. Originally, McDonald's only served lunch and dinner and called itself a barbeque joint very early on. It wasn't until 1970, a whopping thirty years, that a Pittsburgh franchise owner named Jim Delligatti approached McDonald's owner Ray Kroc to ask about adding breakfast food to his menus. 

From that moment on, the idea of breakfast was a trickling effect, but only in specific locations. It wasn't until 1975 that the McMuffin was rolled out in every U.S. location and then, in 1977, the sausage patty was sold as an a la carte item alongside Hotcakes, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. Fast-forward seven years later and McDonald's decided to add the Sausage McMuffin as a menu item. Its sandwich offerings have since expanded to the beloved biscuits and the McGriddle.