Consumer Reports Tried Breakfast Foods From 6 Popular Chains. This McDonald's Item Was The Lowest-Rated

McDonald's changed America's breakfast landscape with the Egg McMuffin in the 1970s, and today, customers clamor for its crisp hash browns and sweet McGriddles. However, the Golden Arches' menu has also featured some duds: In Consumer Reports' ranking of fast food breakfast items, the McDonald's sausage burrito came in dead last.

For the uninitiated, the burrito consists of scrambled egg, pork sausage, American cheese, green chiles, and onion wrapped in a flour tortilla. Consumer Reports evaluated the item based on nutrition, flavor, texture, and serving size. Testers reported a soft, small tortilla, but the main con was the filling. They said the eggs didn't taste fresh (the burrito is filled with pre-cooked liquid eggs already mixed with the produce, meat, and seasonings; it's flash-frozen and microwaved to serve), while the sausage was hot and slightly greasy.

The burrito may have placed last, but there were other McDonald's breakfast items that fared better in the ranking. The highest-rated was the discontinued Egg White Delight. Further down the list were the Egg McMuffin, fruit and maple oatmeal, and fruit and yogurt parfait (also discontinued). It's also important to note that McDonald's was the only fast food burger joint on the list. It faced off with brands like Starbucks, Panera Bread, and Au Bon Pain rather than Burger King and Wendy's.

The McDonald's sausage burrito contains 310 calories, 17 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein. As one of the cheaper options on the morning menu, it is in the Under $3 lineup. It's made with cage-free eggs, like all breakfast items in U.S. stores.

Diners have conveyed mixed feelings about the burrito. One Redditor explained, "It looks gross when I unroll it to add my Picante salsa (and sometimes hash brown) ... but I can't get enough ... There's something about ... the cheese, sausage, and salsa that is just perfect, with the egg and peppers serving mostly as filler ... They also reheat well." Some users have felt the burritos are inconsistently made or overpriced.

While Consumer Reports deemed the item worse than other breakfasts, it held the opposite view of a few Panera Bread items. The chain's avocado, egg white, and spinach on a sprouted grain bagel flat was the top pick, followed by two Panera oatmeals. Next were oatmeal from Jamba Juice, egg whites and cheddar on a wheat bagel from Au Bon Pain, and more oatmeals from Panera and Starbucks.