Breakfast Sandwiches and Hash Browns: Dunkin’ Donuts vs. McDonald’s

We’ve heard from multiple sources that McDonald’s Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles® is the king of fast food breakfast sandwiches, but until this taste test, we had never tried one. We decided to put it up against Dunkin’ Donuts’ Turkey Sausage, Egg & Cheese, another breakfast sandwich that we hadn’t tried. And while we were at it, we tacked on an order of hash browns to each order to give them a comparison as well.

Dunkin’ Donuts

A twist on a classic breakfast favorite. Delicious turkey sausage, egg and American cheese.

Heaven toasted. Our hash browns are lightly seasoned and golden brown for maximum goodness. Delicious on their own or paired with a sandwich.

McDonald’s

Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles® feature soft, warm griddle cakes—with the sweet taste of maple—that hold a fluffy folded egg, savory sausage, and melty American cheese. McGriddles® cakes have no artificial preservatives or flavors and no colors from artificial sources.

Our Hash Browns are deliciously tasty and perfectly crispy. These shredded potato hash brown patties are prepared so they’re fluffy on the inside and crispy and toasty on the outside. There are 140 calories in McDonald’s Hash Browns. Pair our Hash Browns with your favorites McDonald’s Breakfast Menu Items.

Price

Breakfast sandwich: $4.19
Hash browns: $1.19

Breakfast sandwich: $4.19
Hash browns: $1.89

Calories

Breakfast sandwich: 460 calories
Hash browns: 130 calories

Breakfast sandwich: 550 calories
Hash browns: 140 calories

Taste

Breakfast sandwich: The English muffin was more of a doughy burger bun than an English muffin. There was very little cheese, not much egg, and the sausage had a specific herb that neither of us cared for.

Hash browns: They come in a pack of 6 mini circles of hash browns. They were definitely spiced – we tasted garlic salt as well as something else that we couldn’t put our finger on. Something almost cajun-y?

Breakfast sandwich: The initial taste is a very intense fake maple flavor, but that soon gives way to a very meaty, hearty sausage flavor (with no weird herbs). The overall experience was very satisfying.

Hash browns: McDonald’s hash brown comes as one big, full patty. It was amazingly crispy with no weird spices, just straight potato and grease – but not overly greasy as we feared it might be.

The Verdict

Right off the bat, this probably wasn’t exactly a fair comparison. The nature of the McGriddles bun is so different from that of the Dunkin’ English muffin bun. The pork sausage that McDonald’s uses isn’t exactly the same as the turkey sausage that Dunkin’ uses. And clearly McDonald’s puts way more effort into trying to sell their products – those descriptions are not even close to being equally engaging. As such, it probably comes as no surprise that McDonald’s takes the cake (pun intended) when it comes to both the breakfast sandwich and the hash browns. Despite the extra calories, we believe you will be much more satisfied going to McDonald’s for a quick breakfast instead of Dunkin’ Donuts, especially given they are equally priced.

What other breakfast sandwiches should we put head-to-head? Leave your suggestions in the comments below! And if you do your own taste test, post pictures to Instagram using hashtag #economicaleats!

7 thoughts on “Breakfast Sandwiches and Hash Browns: Dunkin’ Donuts vs. McDonald’s

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