Why McDonald's Pioneer Ray Kroc Almost Rejected The Egg McMuffin

In a world of burgers and chicken nuggets, some fast food menu items actually changed the fast food game. Take Popeye's chicken sandwich, which started a feud between several chains in 2019 or Burger King's Impossible Whopper that signaled a pivot toward plant-based dining. But McDonald's egg McMuffin was arguably the pioneer of breakfast sandwich culture. You'd never guess that brand mastermind Ray Kroc almost kept it off the menu.

The egg McMuffin — a toasted, buttered English muffin with fresh egg, Canadian bacon, and American cheese — was initially a portable alternative to eggs Benedict. Herb Peterson, a Santa Barbara McDonald's owner and the sammy's inventor, substituted cheese for hollandaise to maintain richness without additional mess and then added bacon. It was initially tested as an open-faced sandwich with honey and jam but was released nationwide in 1975 as the McMuffin we now know.

Before the rollout, it needed Kroc's approval. Peterson kept details to a minimum until Kroc saw his invention. He was initially turned off by its unconventional appearance and concept, as breakfast sandwiches were rarer then (and it wasn't exactly Benedict-like). "It consisted of an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle, with the yolk broken, and was dressed with a slice of cheese and a slice of grilled Canadian bacon. This was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin. I boggled a bit at the presentation. But then I tasted it, and I was sold," Kroc wrote in his book, "Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's."

For more than 50 years, the egg McMuffin has been the signature sandwich on the McDonald's breakfast menu. Not only did it require recipe development, but creator Herb Peterson also developed a special Teflon ring to crack the fresh eggs into, so every patty came out round and perfectly sized for an English muffin. Its success led to the eventual full breakfast lineup two years later, which included hotcakes, English muffins, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, and Danishes.

As controversial as it was at its inception, the egg McMuffin may have actually saved McDonald's. After failed attempts at ushering sales with artisanal offerings in the face of fast-casual successes like Chipotle, the brand started serving all-day breakfast in 2015. The move boosted sales by 5.7% after about a year (via Quartz). In 2016, the chain released the sweet-and-savory McGriddle line, plus made biscuit sandwiches and McMuffins available at every store. All-day breakfast was eventually nixed in 2020, but the sandwich undeniably did the brand a lot of good.

As flawless as the handheld is, we have several ordering tips to get the best McDonald's egg McMuffin. You can substitute with the folded egg that comes on other sandwiches or fresh scrambled eggs. Zhuzh it up with condiments like ketchup, Buffalo sauce, or jam (as Peterson intended). Finally, swap Canadian bacon with sausage or regular bacon, or bulk it up by adding a hash brown.