Fast Food Chains With The Unhealthiest Breakfast Sandwiches

In fast food chains all across the country, including in your very own town, a sad scene is unfolding: A hungry customer, desperate for an early-morning pick-me-up, is biting into what turns out to be a distinctly low-quality, low-nutrition, low-everything breakfast sandwich. They leave hungrier than they were when they walked in. Or, worse, with a nasty stomachache.

Yes, some of our favorite fast food chains also happen to produce truly unhealthy breakfast sandwiches. It doesn't help that breakfast is quickly becoming an afterthought. Nutrition isn't always on our mind first thing in the morning, which is why so many of us end up just like that aforementioned hungry customer: unhealthy and unsatisfied. 

What makes many of these sandwiches taste good is the ingredients that make them a not-so-nutritious start to the day. These particular sandwiches stand out because of their ingredients and, in many cases, their sky-high calorie, sodium, and cholesterol counts. Who knew a classic bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich could contain so much sodium? Well, a lot of you probably did. But those who didn't know are in for a rude awakening.

People expect high-quality country-style food at Bojangles, but reviews are mixed when it comes to the chain's breakfast sandwiches. While it gets credit for making the biscuits used in each breakfast sandwich from scratch, customers claim that they can be either dry and crumbly or chewy and doughy. Most notably, the sandwiches are so high in sodium that it's tough to argue that they're a healthy choice.

According to Bojangles' most recent nutritional guide, something as simple as a Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit contains approximately 1,750 milligrams of sodium, which is much more than the optimal goal (1,500 milligrams) set by the American Heart Association and more than 75% of its daily recommended limit. A diet high in sodium can increase your risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, and kidney disease. (It's worth noting that the nutritional guide differs from Bojangles' online menu, which says the biscuit has 470 calories compared to 510.) Other biscuits don't fare much better — the ham and egg biscuit contains 1,730 milligrams of sodium.

One thing we can say in Bojangles' favor is that its menu can be imaginative, something other chain restaurants struggle to do when it comes to breakfast. It's nice to know that some restaurants are willing to ask more unexpected questions like, "What if we combined blueberries with sausages?" That's what you get with Bojangles' Sausage Bo-Berry Biscuit Combo. The proprietary Bo-Berry Biscuit itself is considered to be a "sweet" on Bojangles' menu, and it's easy to see why. Even without the sausage, a Bo-Berry Biscuit has 18 grams of sugar, which makes it sound better suited to dessert than breakfast.

You'd think Subway would nail breakfast sandwiches along with its regular sandwiches, but alas, this turns out not to be the case when you start digging into what Subway's steak is actually made of. According to Subway's most recent nutritional guide, the steak used in its Steak, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich is beef, water, and then a list of additives that only a chemistry professor would recognize. That includes dextrose, sodium phosphate, hydrolyzed corn protein, and sodium hydroxide.

The eggs found in Subway's breakfast sandwiches — including the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich and the basic Egg & Cheese Sandwich — also aren't overly impressive. Rather than a freshly cracked egg consisting of, well, egg, its eggs contain additional additives such as xanthan gum, cellulose gum, and a liquid butter alternative containing hydrogenated soybean oil. These ingredients serve practical functions, but also make it much more processed than the standard eggs used at some restaurants.

In general, the Subway breakfast sandwiches contain high amounts of sodium, cholesterol, and carbohydrates. The Steak, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich contains 1,250 milligrams of sodium, which is nearly the entire optimal daily limit (1,500 milligrams) set by the American Heart Association. You can also expect a fair amount of saturated fat — the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich contains a whopping 11 grams. If any health-conscious breakfast-eaters have no choice but to order from Subway's standard breakfast sandwich menu, note that calorie counts and other nutritional data are determined using 6-inch Italian bread rather than the full footlong.

We associate Tim Hortons with delicious Canadian fare, but that praise might not extend to the quality and nutritional value of its breakfast options. For example, while the chain's Sausage, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich uses a wholesome, unprocessed Grade A egg, other elements of the item are less impressive.

Tim Hortons' sausage patties, like those found in many fast food breakfast sandwiches, are considered processed meat, which is considered a carcinogen by the American Cancer Society. Pork is the first ingredient, but it's accompanied by the likes of sugar, corn syrup, and flavorings. The muffin encasing each patty is also heavily formulated, with a long ingredient list that features multiple dough conditioners. Overall, the sandwich contains just over 300 calories, which isn't particularly high. However, it also contains 6.2 grams of saturated fat. That means more than 18% of its calories come from saturated fat — nearly double the proportion of the caloric intake recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The same muffin and sausage are used in the Double Stacked Breakfast Sandwich. This includes bacon, which brings smoke flavoring and other additives into the mix. Most sandwiches also include American cheese, which is inherently processed. The silver lining is that Tim Hortons' breakfast sandwiches don't pack as much sodium as many competitors. For example, its the Double Stacked sandwich contains 845 milligrams. That doesn't exactly mean it's light on salt, but it is still far from the sky-high amounts found in other fast food breakfast sandwiches.

The people of Reddit aren't crazy about Sonic's Sausage Breakfast Toaster. Customers call out the use of liquid egg instead of the real thing. These "liquid eggs", which contain additives like xanthan gum and citric acid, may not sound as healthy as regular whole eggs. While it does mean the eggs are more processed, liquid eggs aren't that different nutritionally from a whole egg. But that doesn't mean customers are clamoring for liquid eggs; the fact that liquid eggs usually contain additives and preservatives just turns some people off. 

Sonic's Sausage Breakfast Toaster and other Toaster offerings are served on Texas Toast, which makes for a more interesting flavor profile. But what the buttery, savory bread gains in flavor, it loses in nutrition. At 570 calories, the Sausage Breakfast Toaster, which also contains a sausage patty, cheese, and eggs, has one of the highest calorie counts on the breakfast menu. The Ham Breakfast Toaster — which is only available at certain locations — has 100 fewer calories, but it's much higher in sodium: the sausage iteration has 1,960 milligrams of sodium, while the ham version has 2,390 milligrams.

Whether you order the Bacon, Ham, or Sausage version of the Breakfast Toaster, expect sky-high cholesterol levels. Although the ol' guideline of consuming no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day is now officially antiquated, that doesn't mean a breakfast sandwich containing between 250 and 265 milligrams of cholesterol on a regular basis is the healthiest choice.

Dunkin' customers have criticized multiple aspects of the chain's breakfast sandwiches, including soft bacon, unpleasant cheese, and unbalanced flavors. Sadly, the ingredients and nutritional values don't do much to bolster the breakfast menu's reputation.

Nutritionally speaking, Dunkin's Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich is nothing to write home about. The breakfast sandwich is 630 calories and has a whopping 1,300 milligrams of sodium, according to Dunkin's nutrition guide. That's more than half the daily recommended limit. Its bacon is heavily processed, cured with the likes of sodium phosphate, smoke flavoring, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite. Both the cheddar and sourdough bread — which are also used in other sandwiches — are relatively simple in terms of ingredients, but the eggs rely on extra fat from soybean oil plus a handful of additives. That doesn't make it inherently unhealthy, but it does make the eggs more processed than, well, eggs.

Meat-free favorites are also extremely processed. Dunkin's Double Veggie Sausage Sandwich may sound wholesome, but the veggie patty is packed with a long list of ingredients (more than 40, to be precise) and barely any recognizable vegetables. The closest you'll find is onion powder, which sits deep in the list beneath the likes of caramel color and disodium inosinate. In other words, not a particularly wholesome veggie sandwich.

The general Reddit consensus seems to be that Hardee's, Carl's Jr.'s sister store, is superior, at least when it comes to breakfast sandwiches. Carl's Jr. may be diminutive in name, but its breakfast offerings are anything but — with charbroiled beef, American cheese, egg, bacon, and Hash Rounds, its Breakfast Burger provides 1,350 milligrams of sodium and 780 calories. That's a lot of grease first thing in the morning.

Another heavy breakfast sandwich, the Monster Biscuit, probably won't make your doctor happy — the sausage patty, bacon, eggs, cheeses (American and Swiss), and buttermilk biscuits make sure of that. This breakfast sandwich may look quaint next to the Breakfast Burger, but it's called a "monster" for a reason. With 2,250 milligrams of sodium (yes, nearly the entire recommended daily limit), 820 calories, and 25 grams of saturated fat, it's one of the unhealthiest breakfast sandwiches on the menu.

Since Arby's famously "has the meat," it's not really surprising that its breakfast sandwiches are just as packed with sodium-rich meats as the rest of its menu. After all, you go to Arby's to fulfill a carnivorous craving for meat, not because you want to nosh on a light salad. Now, Arby's already has a strike against it for only serving breakfast at a select few locations. The fact that these rare sandwiches don't deliver in terms of quality and nutritional value doesn't help matters. The kicker? Arby's claim to fame — roast beef — is missing from the breakfast menu.

Arby's breakfast options aren't particularly healthy, especially considering they're intended to be the first of multiple meals throughout the day. The Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, for example, contains 630 calories and a whopping 1,910 milligrams of sodium. It also contains 20 grams of saturated fat, meaning nearly 30% of its calories come from saturated fat. Other options, like the Sausage Biscuit and even the Sausage, Egg & Cheese on Sourdough, are not much better in the sodium department, with the latter containing 1,450 milligrams.

Potbelly is a sandwich shop. So why is its breakfast menu noticeably scant and devoid of any truly imaginative breakfast sandwiches? Breakfast options can't even be found on each location's online menu. And what the chain does offer is nothing special: there's a Bacon, Egg & Cheddar; a Ham, Mushroom, Egg & Swiss; and a Sausage, Egg & Cheddar. These sandwiches are low-quality because they pale in comparison to the sandwich shop's dynamic lunch offerings. If you were to blind taste test a McMuffin, you'd know exactly which chain it came from. The same can't be said for Potbelly's offerings.

The fact that the nutritional value, or lack thereof, leaves much to be desired — particularly in terms of salt — doesn't help matters. Each sandwich is made with white bread, which contains approximately 310 calories and 440 milligrams of sodium alone. Swapping white bread out for a multigrain option doesn't help, as it has the same amount of calories and contains even more sodium (460 milligrams), according to the chain. The Bacon, Egg & Cheddar is heavy on sodium with an eye-watering 1,640 milligrams, while also packing a heavy punch of cholesterol (330 milligrams, to be precise) and saturated fat (22 grams).

While the Ham, Mushroom, Egg & Swiss may sound like it should be a slightly more nutritious option, that's not necessarily the case. It contains even more sodium at 1,730 milligrams, mostly thanks to the ham. As an added negative here, Potbelly also doesn't offer gluten-free bread, which means customers with gluten sensitivity can't enjoy the few breakfast sandwiches that the sandwich chain has to offer.

The sandwiches on this list aren't only considered unhealthy because a few people were unhappy with their taste. My definition goes deeper than that. These sandwiches are considered unhealthy because they're generally low in nutritional value and, in many cases, contain some not-so-healthy ingredients. 

I wanted to know exactly what customers are putting into their bodies when they order their first meal of the day. After all, this is breakfast we're talking about; it sets the tone for the day to come. If your breakfast has enough sodium to fulfill the average daily limit, what kind of tone are you setting?

This is why I searched for the ingredient lists and nutritional guides for each fast food chain on this list. We don't expect a perfectly healthy meal — this is fast food, after all — but with people more health-conscious than ever, we do expect these chains to do better than highly processed meat products and other sodium-packed ingredients.