The Oversized Egg McMuffin You Can Only Order At McDonald's In Japan

There is a certain joy in waking up early enough to order a fast food breakfast. We are talking specifically, of course, about the breakfast menu at McDonald's, the restaurant that popularized the concept and changed the landscape of fast food breakfast forever. We already know that McDonald's in other countries serves variations on the standard U.S. menu, and this extends to the breakfast offerings (rice with fried chicken at McDonald's first thing in the morning? The Golden Arches in Malaysia served it). In Japan, McDonald's outlets have a breakfast item that may look familiar to U.S. customers, but with a few enhancements. Meet: the Mega Muffin.

The Mega Muffin is a truly hefty breakfast sandwich. It consists of the usual English muffin as buns, with two sausage patties, egg, bacon, and cheese inside. Clocking in at 693 calories, it undoubtedly fills up the bellies of Japanese customers on the go, many of whom are preparing for the long day of work ahead. The Mega Muffin has been available in Japan since 2008, and is worth a try for McDonald's fans keen to sample the local menu on their travels. It is available à la carte for ¥440 (about $2.69), which is a bargain for the 30 grams of protein it provides.

Now that the internationally beloved chain no longer serves all-day breakfast, late risers are unable to build McDonald's hash brown hacks like the Quarter Hash Pounder, combining the components of the classic McDonald's burger and the quintessential breakfast side. At McDonald's in Japan, the Mega Muffin provides early morning customers with a breakfast option as substantial as an afternoon burger. A similar breakfast sandwich, known as the triple breakfast stack, was available in the U.S. market in 2018 as a limited-time offering. Since it's not on the breakfast menu these days, how can McDonald's customers in the U.S. hack an existing breakfast menu item to make it more, well, mega? 

The standard Sausage McMuffin with Egg already contains most of the components of the Mega Muffin. All you will need to do to recreate it is request an extra sausage patty and add bacon on top. If you miss the window for ordering McDonald's breakfast (yet again), fear not. Mashed has a five-ingredient recipe for a copycat Sausage McMuffin with Egg you can use as a guide to make the Mega Muffin at home. Instead of using one patty, prepare two patties per sandwich, and fry some crispy bacon for the final touch. Not only will you have a deliciously filling sandwich for breakfast, but you will also save a few bucks by cooking it yourself.