91 fast food breakfast sandwiches ranked by nutritional value

Eating a filling, healthy breakfast can set the tone for your entire day. In fact, eating a morning meal has been linked to improving physical activity levels all day long. 

But when you forget to soak your overnight oats or don't have time to blend up a green smoothie, you may decide to cruise up to a fast food drive-thru in order to fuel your body for the day ahead. 

Going to a fast food restaurant in the morning doesn't have to derail your health goals. Understanding what factors impact breakfast sandwich nutrition can go a long way in helping you feel your best throughout the day. That's why Hers analyzed over 91 breakfast sandwich, wrap, and burrito options from the biggest fast food chains in the U.S. to discover what makes a menu item healthier than the available alternatives. 

Hers looked at four nutritional categories to rank each item:

• Calories: Whether you're trying to maintain or lose weight, understanding your calorie intake is important. Paying attention to menu calorie labeling has been shown to reduce excess calorie intake and diseases related to weight gain, like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Protein: Adding more protein into your diet can help build muscle, burn fat, and strengthen bones, especially when paired with exercise. 
• Trans fat: Trans fatty acids contribute to cardiovascular disease and should be avoided when possible. There are plenty of fast food options without any trans fat on the menu label. 
• Net carbs: Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the amount of fiber from the total carbs. A lower net carb number can stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent energy spikes and crashes.

Key Findings

• Chick-fil-A®, Subway®, and Jack in the Box® dominate healthier breakfast choices, thanks to zero trans fat and a good balance between calories and protein content. 
• Most of the unhealthier breakfast sandwiches include a croissant or biscuit, showing that bread choice matters when making your order. Croissants and biscuits both tend to use more butter than other bread types, which increases the calorie count. 

Top 10 Healthiest and Unhealthiest Breakfast Sandwiches

Now check out the best and worst fast food breakfast sandwiches, followed by our full list of 91 morning menu items.

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches Ranked by Nutritional Value

Hers

1. Egg White Grill (Chick-fil-A®)

2. Steak, Egg & Cheese (Subway®)

3. Meat Lovers Burrito (Jack in the Box®) and Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich (Jack in the Box®) (tied)

5. Chicken, Egg & Cheese Muffin (Chick-fil-A®)

6. Black Forest Ham, Egg & Cheese (Subway®) and Sausage Croissant (Jack in the Box®) (tied)

8. Loaded Breakfast Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)

9. Sausage, Egg & Cheese Muffin (Chick-fil-A®)

10. Bacon, Egg & Cheese (Subway®)

11. Breakfast Quesadilla Steak (Taco Bell®)

12. Egg, Pesto & Mozzarella Sandwich (Starbucks®)

13. Impossible™ Breakfast Sandwich (Starbucks®)

14. Spinach, Feta & Egg White Wrap (Starbucks®)

15. Breakfast Quesadilla Bacon (Taco Bell®)

16. Turkey Sausage, Egg & Cheese English Muffin (Dunkin'®)

17. Breakfast Quesadilla Sausage (Taco Bell®)

18. Chicken, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Chick-fil-A®)

19. Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich (Starbucks®)

20. Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich (Dunkin'®)

21. Egg McMuffin® (McDonald's®)

22. Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito Steak (Taco Bell®)

23. Bacon, Sausage & Egg Wrap (Starbucks®)

24. Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Chick-fil-A®)

25. Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito Bacon (Taco Bell®)

26. Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich (Starbucks®) Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis® (Chick-fil-A®) (tied)

28. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Muffin (Chick-fil-A®)

29. Bacon Breakfast Jack® (Jack in the Box®), Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel (Dunkin'®), and Bacon, Egg & Cheese English Muffin (Wendy's®) (tied)

32. Bacon, Gouda & Egg Sandwich (Starbucks®)

33. Egg & Cheese (Subway®) and Sausage, Egg & Cheese English Muffin (Wendy's®) (tied)

35. Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Wendy's®)

36. Breakfast Jack® (Jack in the Box®)

37. Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissant (Dunkin'®)

38. Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito Sausage (Taco Bell®)

39. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Wendy's®), Sausage Breakfast Jack® (Jack in the Box®), and Sausage Burrito (McDonald's®) (tied)

42. Bacon, Egg & Swiss Croissant (Wendy's®)

43. Breakfast California Crunchwrap (Taco Bell®)

44. Sausage, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich (Starbucks®)

45. Breakfast Crunchwrap Bacon (Taco Bell®)

46. Spicy Chicken Biscuit (Chick-fil-A®)

47. Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Wendy's®)

48. Chick-fil-A® Chicken Biscuit (Chick-fil-A®)

49. Wake-Up Wrap® (Dunkin'®)

50. Breakfast Crunchwrap Sausage (Taco Bell®)

51. Extreme Sausage® Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)

52. Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles® (McDonald's®)

53. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (McDonald's®)

54. Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles® (McDonald's®)

55. Sausage Biscuit (Wendy's®)

56. Breakfast Baconator® (Wendy's®)

57. Sausage Biscuit with Egg (McDonald's®) and Egg & Cheese English Muffin (Dunkin'®) 

59. Supreme Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)

60. Sausage Biscuit (Burger King®)

61. Supreme Croissant (Jack in the Box®)

62. Fully Loaded Biscuit (Burger King®)

63. Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito Bacon (Taco Bell®)

64. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Chick-fil-A®)

65. Bacon, Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)

66. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)

67. Fully Loaded Croissan'wich® (Burger King®) and Hash Brown Scramble Burrito (Chick-fil-A®) (tied)

69. Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito Sausage (Taco Bell®)

70. Bacon, Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)

71. Sausage Biscuit (McDonald's®)

72. Breakfast Burrito, Bacon (Wendy's®)

73. Ham, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®) and Sausage McMuffin® with Egg (McDonald's®) (tied)

75. Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)

76. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)

77. Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito Potato (Taco Bell®)

78. Sausage McGriddles® (McDonald's®)

79. Breakfast Burrito, Sausage (Wendy's®)

80. Ham, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®) and Honey Buddy Chicken Biscuit (Wendy's®) (tied)

82. Sausage, Egg & Swiss Croissant (Wendy's®)

83. Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)

84. Egg-Normous Burrito™ (Burger King®)

85. Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)

86. Sausage McMuffin® (McDonald's®)

87. Breakfast Burrito Jr. (Burger King®)

88. Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant (Wendy's®)

89. Egg & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)

90. Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)

91. Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)

Get the data.

Fast Food Breakfast Trends Revealed

Find out which breakfast sandwiches support specific nutrition goals (and which ones don't).

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Most Protein   

1. Supreme Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)
2. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)
3. Supreme Croissant (Jack in the Box®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Least Protein   

1. Extreme Sausage® Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)
2. Wake-Up Wrap® (Dunkin'®)
3. Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito Potato (Taco Bell®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Most Calories

1. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)
2. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)
3. Breakfast Burrito, Sausage (Wendy's®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Least Calories

1. Wake-Up Wrap® (Dunkin'®)
2. Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich (Starbucks®)
3. Extreme Sausage® Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Most Trans Fat

1. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Croissan'wich® (Burger King®)
2. Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit (Burger King®)
3. Egg-Normous Burrito™ (Burger King®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Most Net Carbs

1. Egg-Normous Burrito™ (Burger King®)
2. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel and Sausage and Egg & Cheese Croissant (Dunkin'®)
3. Bacon, Sausage & Egg Wrap (Starbucks®) and Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich (Dunkin'®)

Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches With the Least Net Carbs

1. Wake-Up Wrap® (Dunkin'®)
2. Extreme Sausage® Sandwich (Jack in the Box®)
3. Breakfast Jack® (Jack in the Box®) and Sausage Burrito (McDonald's®)

Methodology: How Scores Were Calculated

To gather and evaluate our list of fast food breakfast sandwiches, Hers looked at seven restaurant chains with the largest revenue in the U.S that serve breakfast items on their menu. This included Burger King®, Chick-fil-A®, Dunkin'®, Jack in the Box®, McDonald's®, Starbucks®, Subway®, Taco Bell®, and Wendy's®. 

Next Hers analyzed each sandwich, wrap, or burrito item based on the following categories:

• Protein
• Calories
• Trans fat
• Net carbs

Hers considered healthier items to have higher protein levels and lower amounts of calories, trans fat, and net carbs. They added a 3x multiplier to protein content and a 2x multiplier for trans fat, then averaged each menu item to create the final ranked list. 

Tips for Healthy Breakfasts On the Go

Here are three hacks to help you stay on schedule in the morning without sacrificing a quality breakfast.

• Choose your bread wisely: English muffins and wraps tend to be lower calorie choices compared to biscuits or croissants. While you typically want to focus on complex carbs to help you meet your health goals, choose a lighter simple carb option when available. 
• Customize your order: Get the flavors you want without extra calories or carbs you could do without. Request changes to your order to stay within your health goals, like skipping the cheese or opting for hot sauce instead of mayo. This is even easier if you go inside to a self-service kiosk or use a mobile app where you can see every ingredient option on your order and quickly adjust with the tap of the screen.
• Keep fast and healthy breakfasts on hand at home: Skip the fast food chain altogether by including healthy and convenient breakfast items on your grocery list each week. Protein bars, individual Greek yogurt cups, and frozen egg bites are all easy, high-protein options that require less prep time than stopping at the drive-thru. Bonus points? You could save money as well.

This story was produced by Hers and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.