10 Ways To Elevate Your Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich

It's no secret that Starbucks is the world's largest coffee chain. Whether you frequent your local store for your morning cup of Joe or you're only in for the occasional sweet treat, chances are you've been to a Starbucks at least a few times in your life. When you've gone in, you may also have been tempted by its mouthwatering selection of breakfast sandwiches, like the yummy egg, pesto, and mozzarella sandwich or the sausage, cheddar and egg sandwich.

If you've ever had any of Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches, you may have considered it a perfectly alright breakfast. The quickly-heated sandwiches are tasty enough, but they're nothing to write home about. You know you probably could have made a better one yourself — but the option to grab one from Starbucks is just too convenient to pass up. What if I told you there's a great in-between option? Let Starbucks do most of the work for you, then take your sandwich home and work some magic to make it taste out of this world. 

As someone who's worked in the food industry for many years, I've discovered tons of simple tricks to effortlessly dress up any meal, including a Starbucks breakfast sandwich. I'm going to let you in on some of my tried-and-true secrets that will help you instantly elevate your food order from good to great. 

My first hack is simple, but trust me, it makes a world of difference. While Starbucks heats up its breakfast sandwiches for you, they all too often come out a bit soft and sometimes even soggy. Sure, your sandwich is still perfectly edible, but you may wish it had just a little bit of crunch to enhance your eating experience. If you have a panini press at home, a crisp sandwich is only a couple minutes away.

Besides being used to grill up burger patties or make a better grilled cheese, panini pressed can also be used to crisp up any of Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches. Just order a sandwich the next time you're in the store, take it home, and set your panini press to medium heat. Place the sandwich on it and lower the top. While you want the top to be touching your sandwich so you get some nice grill marks, don't press it down too hard. Otherwise, you'll risk your sandwich becoming more of a pancake. Let your sandwich sit on the press for a minute or so and check it periodically. Once there are visible grill marks on the top, turn your sandwich slightly and press down again to create a crosshatch pattern. Leave it on the press for another minute or so until it's golden brown before removing, plating, and enjoying it.

Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches are yummy, but it goes without saying that they're often devoid of anything green. Most boast some combination of egg, cheese, protein, and bread, and while that's suitable enough to start your day with, it may leave you hankering for some veggies. I wish the chain would add fresh greens to its sandwiches, but I understand why it doesn't: All of its sandwiches are premade, which isn't the best case scenario for fresh veggies. 

Luckily, there's no unspoken rule saying that you can't add some greens to the sandwich yourself. I like adding microgreens to my sandwich for several reasons. First, they're small enough that they won't overpower the rest of your sandwich or make it feel bulky. They also pack a punch of nutrients despite their size, so eating a sandwich with them is an easy way to get  some vitamins and minerals into your body early in your day. 

Microgreens also impart texture and flavor to a sandwich that may be otherwise lacking in that department. They'll add a welcomed crunch to your sandwich and, depending on the greens you use, they can add some yummy spice or sharpness as well. It's easy enough to get microgreens from the store, but if you think you'll be using them regularly, you could try growing them yourself. Just don't be surprised if you start using them for other dishes, too. 

Have you ever found yourself wishing your Starbucks breakfast sandwich had some kind of sauce, spread, or creamy element? Although the chain won't add anything to its sandwiches for you, it does also sell avocado spread on the side. Why not get a container and spread it on the sandwich yourself? Not only will you be adding a fun flavor to your sandwich, but you'll also be getting a healthy dose of fat. 

If you want to go a step further with this one, you can skip Starbucks' avocado spread altogether and make your own. If you go this route, make a big batch, spread some on your sandwich, and use the rest as guacamole for an afternoon snack. Alternatively, you could buy your favorite portioned avocado spread from your local grocer. Whether you make your own, get it from Starbucks, or buy it elsewhere, I recommend tasting the spread before you add it to your sandwich so that you can adjust its seasonings to your liking. That means you can add the necessary spices and seasonings, like salt, black pepper, lime, or cayenne, to your avocado spread before spreading it on your sandwich. However you do it, adding this popular breakfast accoutrement to your Starbucks breakfast sandwich will instantly make it just a little bit fancier.

Remember when I mentioned that you won't find fresh greens on Starbucks' sandwiches? You may already have guessed that the same goes for fresh veggies. If you go into your local Starbucks and ask for tomatoes on your sandwich, you may be met with an incredulous stare. While I agree that fresh vegetables would make any of the chain's breakfast sandwiches a bit better, I understand that sourcing, storing, and prepping veggies for sandwiches would require more labor than the company is prepared to take on. So for now, the only viable solution is to add the vegetables ourselves. 

Fortunately, the sky's the limit when it comes to adding your own vegetables to your Starbucks breakfast sandwich. I particularly love using this tip when my garden has fresh tomatoes — why on earth wouldn't I add some to my breakfast sandwich? If you're into pickling, you could also add homemade pickled red onions to your breakfast sandwich, or try any other pickled veggie you have laying around. Fresh lettuce is a simple way to add some texture to your sandwich, and arugula can help spice it up a little. Fresh herbs, like basil, could also elevate your sandwich. If you have some peppers growing in your garden, you could simply slice them up (or saute and soften them) before adding them to your sandwich.

I'm very partial to homemade sauces and spreads; they're so easy to make, you can customize them to suit your own palate, and they often have way fewer ingredients than any store-bought sauce. Whenever I get a breakfast sandwich without sauce, the first thing I do is take it home and add some to it. Any of Starbucks' sandwiches can be instantly elevated with a homemade sauce; my personal favorite is garlic aioli. 

Making an aioli involves emulsifying eggs and oil as if you were making mayonnaise — then you can flavor it with whatever combination of herbs and spices suit your fancy. I prefer the simple, classic lemon garlic aioli. If you have eggs, oil, lemon, garlic cloves, and salt, you have everything you need to whip up an easy aioli. 

I highly recommend tasting your aioli as you make it, and letting your taste buds guide you through the process. For example, I prefer mine to have lots of lemony zing to it, but you may find you prefer more garlic and black pepper. If you want to add some spice to it, I recommend using a pinch of cayenne and some Dijon mustard. You can also capitalize on rosemary and thyme for an herby spread. To go the extra mile, make a simple aioli ingredient swap and trade standard garlic for black garlic cloves.

Fortunately, all of Starbucks' sandwiches come with some type of protein, but maybe they're still not hearty enough for you. You may need something a bit more substantial to carry you through to lunch time. Try adding Starbucks' egg bites to your sandwich for an extra burst of protein. It's a perfect hack that won't require you to take your sandwich home and spruce it up yourself, which makes it ideal when you need to make a pit stop at Starbucks on a road trip. 

This hack may make your sandwich a little monstrous, but it's sure to tide you over until your next meal. The next time you're at Starbucks, order your favorite sandwich and egg bites (which come in packs of two). Take one of the egg bites (or both if you're feeling particularly bold) and add them to your sandwich. Then, either mash them down with a fork or press it down with your sandwich bread. 

When selecting the egg bites, try to look for complementary flavors in your sandwich. For example, if your go-to sandwich is the egg, pesto, and mozzarella, I'd suggest pairing it with the bacon Gruyère egg bites. Meanwhile, the sausage, cheddar, and egg sandwich would be well complemented by the subtle spice of the egg white and roasted red pepper bites. 

It's okay if you're not a fan of the bread Starbucks uses on its breakfast sandwiches. While I would question why anyone would want to swap out the delicious toasted cheddar and onion bun the chain uses for its egg, pesto, and mozzarella sandwich, I still won't judge you for it. And I certainly won't bat an eye if you don't love the wheat English muffins it uses for some of its other sandwiches. If you're particularly picky about your bread choices, nobody's going to know if you take your Starbucks sandwich home and swap out the bread for something more appealing to your taste buds. 

I do recommend asking for your sandwich cold if you're going to use this hack, as ordering it warm will likely make it harder to disassemble. Other than that, you can really deconstruct and reconstruct the sandwich however you want. I sometimes enjoy getting two breakfast sandwiches, taking the bread off both, and turning them into one large pita breakfast sandwich along with whatever veggies I have on hand. I'll also take my sandwich home and add it to a homemade everything bagel or reassemble it in between two slices of toasted sourdough bread. Make it a little lighter by putting your Starbucks breakfast sandwich on a tortilla or into a lettuce wrap. Or for something a little more decadent, add the filling between a couple thick slices of brioche and slap it on the panini press. 

If you don't have a panini press (or simply don't want to pull it out, clean it afterwards, or keep an eye on it while you're cooking), there's another easy way to add some crunch to your sandwich without altering it too much. All you'll need is an air fryer. I'm fully convinced that air fryers are one of the best modern kitchen inventions; I cook everything from toast to chicken thighs in mine. As it turns out, putting a Starbucks breakfast sandwich in the air fryer is an incredibly easy way to kick its taste up a notch. 

If you've ever baked frozen pastries in an air fryer, you already know that it's the perfect way to give them a crisp outer shell. The same goes for Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches; all it takes to give them a bit of pizazz is a quick dip in the air fryer. Set your air fryer to 350 F and start out with a five minute bake if your sandwich is already warm. Then, open your air fryer and see if it's done or not. The outer bread should have a light crunch, and if your sandwich has bacon or sausage, you will probably hear a light sizzle. If you prefer, you can air fry the individual components of your sandwich separately to ensure they all get a little crispy, but putting your sandwich in the air fryer as is will also yield delicious results. 

If you've never had a hash brown patty on a breakfast sandwich, I implore you to give it a try. It's one of the easiest and most delicious ways to upgrade any breakfast sandwich. The Trader Joe's frozen hash browns are my favorite to use. Put one or two patties in a toaster oven or air fryer to cook them, then add them onto any Starbucks breakfast sandwich to instantly elevate it.

You could even combine this tip with one of my other suggestions; heat up two hash brown patties and use them as the bread for your sandwich. This is an indulgent breakfast that would be a nice treat on a Saturday morning after a long week of work. If you add a hash brown to your sandwich and it isn't crunchy enough for you, flatten it slightly by pressing it down with a spatula, and put it back in the toaster or air fryer for a few more minutes to crisp up. And if you're worried about the hash brown patties being too greasy for your liking, simply lay them out on a paper towel for a few minutes after they're finished cooking to absorb some of the oil. You also don't have to add the patties to your sandwich; they make a wonderful side to any breakfast sandwich. 

You may have noticed that Starbucks has a variety of fresh-baked pastries for sale. While the chain's bagels and croissants are sold solo, there's no rule against getting one alongside a sandwich and performing a culinary surgery to bring the two together. The secret to getting a breakfast sandwich on a bagel or croissant, rather than the standard bread, at Starbucks is simply to make it yourself.

All you have to do is order your preferred sandwich (cold, if you can) and whichever pastry or bread you'd like to eat it on (like a butter croissant or one of the chain's bagels). Then, cut your bread in half, transfer the sandwich to its new carb-y home, and reassemble it. Take it home and use one of my other hacks to heat it up; you could either microwave the sandwich until it's warm and then put it on the panini press to make it crispy, or stick it in the air fryer to cook. If you opted for a bagel, you may want to add some cream cheese, avocado spread, or veggies as well. Ultimately, my biggest suggestion when trying to elevate Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches is to have fun, experiment by combining a variety of my tips and tricks, and let your taste buds lead the way.