The best fast food breakfasts in America, ranked

Eggs are expensive these days. So is beef. And if you’re looking to stock up on both in a big, protein-filled breakfast, look no further than Subway’s steak-and-egg flatbread. This nearly foot-long flatbread sandwich comes packed with three whole eggs and a generous portion of steak, ideal for a morning, post-gym protein load. That said, what it offers in macros it can lack in flavor with bread that’s, well, flat, and meat that definitely tastes like it’s been through a processing plant or two. Still, it’s a good change from the usual breakfast sandwich lineup of pork products, and a big, hearty meal that’ll leave you full until well past noon.

Price: 6-inch $5.49; 12-inch $8.49

Calories: 6-inch 520; 12-inch 1030

Time Out tip: This can easily be two meals if you’re planning ahead. With over 50 grams of protein in a 12-inch serving, it is ideal for a lower-carb protein pack.

Menu hours: All day

There’s a lot going on with Wendy’s AM version of the classic Baconator burger. With sausage, bacon, egg, and cheese packed between the bun, your mouth takes a while to fully comprehend everything Wendy’s is throwing at it. Salt is the flavor that wins out,  which, given we’re talking about fast food, shouldn’t be a surprise. The bacon is far and away the tastiest ingredient, leaving the kinda-dry sausage to play a sad second fiddle. It’s certainly one of the most complex breakfast offerings along franchise row, but you’ve gotta be ready for it.

Price: $6.20

Calories: 710

Time Out tip: Try eating it deconstructed. It lets you taste more of the ingredients, especially the sausage.

Menu hours: 6:30–10:30am

Einstein Bros., not usually a spot known for bold flavors, went big in creating this new-ish breakfast offering, where smoked brisket is piled alongside eggs, cheddar, and chipotle aioli on a jalapeño bagel. The smooth and creamy aioli complements the eggs and cheese, tempering the heat and creating an intriguing blend of smoke and spice in this sandwich. The cheese on top of the bagel adds a hint of sourness to the experience, and because the sandwich is freshly toasted, the crunch counters the soft meat and cheeses inside. 

Price: $10.79

Calories: 820

Time Out tip: They’ll put this on any bagel you ask for, and the Everything gives it more garlic than heat. 

Menu hours: All day

I got a lot of heat for choosing BK’s French Toast sticks over the classic Croissan’wich. But Burger King’s sticks are a good deal better than many sit-down restaurant French toasts I’ve had. That’s because these aren’t a mushy pile of egg-saturated bread, and bring the same sweet, cinnamon-and-nutmeg flavors with a pronounced crispiness. If a chef had thought these up and offered them in a trendy brunch spot with bottomless mimosas, it would draw lines around the block. Lucky for you, they’re available at BK for breakfast, where lines are usually pretty small.

Price: 3-piece $3.69; 5-piece $4.59

Calories: 3-piece 230; 5-piece 520

Time Out tip: If you can get a side of the cinnamon roll frosting, it makes an excellent pairing with the maple syrup.

Menu hours: 6-10:30 am

Sausage, eggs, and hash browns, all top-tier breakfast foods on their own. Throw them together in a tortilla, then put that wrap under a panini press, and you might have the most efficient fast food breakfast in America. The brilliant innovators at Taco Bell have another hit on their hands, bringing a brilliant crunchy texture to the traditional breakfast sandwich with the toasted tortilla and fried hash brown patty. The meat and dairy aren’t quite as crisp, but they bring the requisite protein to this compact morning meal. The Crunchwrap’s convenience factor is also off the charts, because you can absolutely devour this thing in your front seat without ruining your work clothes.

Price: $4.99

Calories: 750

Time Out tip: Open this baby up and cover it in allll the hot sauce. It folds back up nicely and does wonders for the flavors.

Menu hours: 9-11 am

Panera’s Chipotle Chicken, Egg & Avo Sandwich evokes a light, southwestern breakfast on a ranch somewhere in New Mexico. Sadly, chances are you won’t be enjoying this sandwich at sunrise over the desert, but more likely in a strip mall parking lot. Still, the flavors  bring exactly what they advertise, with a cool, smoky first bite that’s not overpowered by the pulled chicken breast. Panera wisely uses white meat chicken to keep the grease down and let the other flavors shine. And as the cheese melts down over the avocado and the spicy peppers, you’ll almost feel a warm desert breeze blow through your car. 

Price: $12.29

Calories: 930

Time Out tip: If this sandwich starts feeling a little heavy, take out the avocado. It’s good fat, but adds some serious density.

Menu hours: Opening–10:30am

Given the miles-long lines at pretty much every Chick-fil-A drive-thru, I expected this sandwich to be the kind of thing that’s worth adding half an hour to your morning commute. And while the buttery biscuit and spicy chicken breast are certainly a solid morning offering, it may suffer from a little too much hype. Don’t get me wrong, if I had somehow never heard of Chick-fil-A, wandered in, and paired this with my morning coffee, I’d say it was a fantastic find. The spices bring a ton of flavor without singeing your mouth, and the buttery contrast is beautiful, if not a little overpowering. But I would hesitate to call this thing “life changing,” making any drive-thru line not worth the hassle.

Price: $4.65

Calories: 450

Time Out tip: You may be tempted to add the famous Chick-fil-A sauce on top, but the buffalo is a far better pairing

Menu hours: 6:30–10:30am

Donut holes are nothing novel, and pretty much any self-respecting donut chain has some version. But none are as finish-the-whole-box-on-the-drive-home addictive as Timbits. They stand apart because they’re not just delectable nugget versions of their full-sized counterparts. Sure, you can get chocolate-glazed or old-fashioned Timbits. But Tim Hortons also throws cookies n’ cream, birthday cake, and strawberry-stuffed powdered in the mix, making the requisite variety pack a true pastry tour of the Great White North. 

Cost: 10-pack $20.99

Calories: 60-70 per Timbit

Time Out tip: Get a variety pack. No matter how much you love chocolate or apple fritters, you’ll want to sample as many as you can.

Menu hours: All day

Starbucks’ annoying habit of microwaving the soul out of everything robs this first-rate sandwich of any texture, degrading it to a nuclear-hot collection of mushy spinach and cheese. Which is a shame, because the blend of mild feta, tomato, spinach, and bread makes it taste like a nice little morning pizza. If Starbucks heats it for you, it’s more like a healthier Hot Pocket. It’s also the healthiest solid food you’ll find at Starbucks in the morning, where you can actually taste the vegetables, the grease is minimal, and you won’t leave weighed down.

Cost: $5.75

Calories: 290

Time Out tip: If time isn’t an issue, order this unheated then take it home and heat it in your toaster oven. It’s a completely different sandwich when the outside is crispy.

Menu hours: 5–10:30am

There are fast food breakfast sandwiches, and then there’s the Egg McMuffin, the venerable OG of drive-thru breakfast that tastes like summer road trips with your parents. It’s not just the spice of nostalgia that makes this such an epic breakfast selection. The sausage patty is noticeably juicier than any others on this list, complementing the crispiness and slight sour flavors of the McMuffin. Sure, every kid had their preferred breakfast order that they shouted at Dad from the back seat. But the McMuffin is the one that’s quintessentially McDonald’s. And though others have brought the fast food breakfast sandwich concept to croissants, bagels, and brioche buns, nobody’s been able to quite duplicate Mickey D’s magic.

Cost: $6.59

Calories: 480

Time out tip: If you’re throwing calories to the wind, order a couple of hash brown patties and put them on either side of the muffin.

Menu hours: 6-11am

Jokes about home ownership aside, if you’re big on avo toast but trying to budget then Dunkin' is your best breakfast hack. In perhaps the most pleasantly surprising fast food offering before 10am, Dunkin’s avocado toast with bacon uses fresh avocados atop crispy rye toast, bringing a hot, creamy, crunchy contrast you wouldn’t expect from a train-station coffee counter. The bacon brings even more complexity, blending hot and salty with cool and creamy, good fat with bad fat, char with fresh vegetables. The everything bagel spices on top give it the perfect accent, making a dish so good you’ll forget they also serve donuts. 

Cost: $4.49

Calories: 290

Time Out tip: For a lighter meal, it’s also available without bacon and is slightly cheaper.

Menu hours: All day