Bologna Is The Ingredient Your Breakfast Has Been Missing

Bacon and sausage are the breakfast meat workhorses that team up with eggs or cheer enthusiastically from the sidelines for pancakes and waffles — ham and steak make appearances, too. Bologna deserves a place with them on your morning roster but not as the cold slices from childhood bologna and cheese sandwiches. Frying bologna and layering it between bread with eggs and melty cheese is the lusciously flavorful breakfast you didn't know you were missing (and one of the many ways to upgrade a bologna sandwich).

Frying bologna brings out deeper flavor from the salty meat, adds that delicious browned taste, and creates pleasing crispiness. You can fry bologna in oil, but using melted butter will create a richer flavor. Choose one of the bologna brands with the highest quality ingredients; get it sliced thinner if you want it to really crisp up or thicker for a meatier bite. Bologna tends to curl up when cooking, pulling part of the slice off the hot pan. Prevent this by cutting four small slits on each slice from the edge halfway to the center.

Fry or scramble the eggs as you would for any breakfast sandwich. You can melt the cheese directly over the bologna or egg after you flip them, or place it on the bread alone. You can also load up each half and put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to melt. Another option is to toast the sandwich like you would a grilled cheese, or go in an unexpected direction by poaching the egg and serving the sandwich open-faced.

Playing with different ingredients in your fried bologna breakfast sandwich will give you more fun flavor combinations. Instead of white bread or a standard roll, use whole wheat, potato bread, sourdough, brioche, bagels, English muffins, or even biscuits. Toast the bread in a skillet in melted butter; if you're good with garlic first thing in the morning, spread the bread with a combination of softened butter and garlic salt instead and brown it in a dry pan. Cheese options besides American include creamy cheddar, buttery provolone, nutty Swiss, mild Monterey Jack, or its spicy cousin pepper jack. 

Spread spicy mayo, brown mustard, or honey mustard on the bread, or drizzle on hot sauce or hot honey. These sweet and spicy elements will balance the rich fattiness of the fried bologna. Finish the sandwich with a slice of tomato for a pop of veggie freshness.

Give your breakfast sandwich a fancier spin by making it with mortadella, the forefather of bologna that comes from Bologna, Italy – it has distinct white squares of pork fat and can include pistachio or black peppercorn pieces. Thinly slice and fry the mortadella, and use it in place of its descendant. You can even try out late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's fried mortadella sandwich for the perfect late-night snack.