Ultimate Egg Sandwich Recipe

One of the most popular fast food breakfast items is the oh-so-portable sandwich. The breakfast sandwich as we know it is typically made with an egg, some breakfast meat, and quite often some cheese, as well. Recipe developer Eric Ngo is using such a sandwich as his inspiration here, noting that this ultimate egg sandwich recipe is pretty much "a copycat McDonald's bacon egg McMuffin recipe." He calls it a "quick and easy fast food breakfast" that's ideal for those on the go, and describes the flavor as "savory ... [with] just the right amount of fluffy, crispy, and spicy all at the same time."

This particular sandwich does have one significant upgrade over the Mickey D's version, however, and that is the special condiment used here: sriracha butter. Ngo says this ingredient "give[s] this recipe extra spice" and "brings a lot more character to the sandwich," although he does say that you can just use regular butter if you prefer. If you are a sriracha fan, though, he suggests you could also use this special butter on burgers, steaks, and even pancakes.

To make the spread for the sandwich, you'll need sriracha and butter. The sandwich itself is built on an English muffin base and is made with a few strips of bacon, an egg, and a slice of cheddar. Don't care for pre-sliced cheese? Ngo says a slice of the plastic-wrapped stuff weighs about ¾ ounce, but you can just add as much cheese as seems right to you.

Mix the sriracha together with the softened butter, stirring until the two ingredients are smooth and well-blended.

Toast the English muffin — or, if you prefer, Ngo suggests you can also air fry it at 180 C for 2 minutes. If your air fryer is set to Fahrenheit instead, the exact translation is 356 F, but 350 F should be close enough if you have a non-digital dial.

Once the muffin is cooked, spread the sriracha butter on each half. You may not need to use all of the butter — Ngo says he just uses about 1 tablespoon in all, although you will have double that amount at your disposal if you want an extra-buttery egg sandwich.

Fry the bacon over medium-low heat until it's nice and crispy, then drain it on paper towels.

Cook the egg how you prefer it, either scrambled or fried. Ngo uses a cake ring the same diameter as the English muffin to provide what he calls "that professional fast food look," but he does note that "the cake ring is optional" if you're not so concerned about your egg fitting perfectly inside the sandwich. (If you are but have no cake ring, you could always try using the ring from a canning jar lid for that perfect Egg McMuffin egg appearance.) Ngo does offer an additional tip for cooking a neat egg, saying, "Make sure to use fresh eggs as they will not spread as much when frying."

At last, it's time to make the sandwich! Put the egg, bacon, and cheese in between the muffin halves, which are already spread with the sriracha butter, and now you're ready to dive right in. Ngo feels the sandwich is best eaten right away, but he does say you could make it ahead of time and reheat it in the microwave for 2 minutes if you're in too much of a time crunch to cook. Should you do so, though, he cautions, "You will lose the crispness of the bacon."