As a kid, I wished my drunken mother would get out of bed for McDonalds breakfast! It just so happened that it was a rare occurrence. But on a random Saturday, she would arise from her slumber, and my brother and I would sometimes be treated. There has always been something about the Sausage and Egg muffin that has been nostalgic to me. Over the years, I have tried almost every menu item. I have also noticed subtle changes in the quality of the food and the ambiance of the branches.
The McDonalds Breakfast Menu: The Working Mans’ Brekkie
I had to consider the title for this menu many times over. There was a time when I genuinely thought that McDonald’s was for rich kids. Without boring you with the scars from my childhood, let me assure you that there was a time when it was too expensive for me. Perhaps therein lies a blueprint for McDonald’s comprehensive generational marketing plan. Nostalgia is forced into many a child’s hearts, and it reverberates into adolescence and young adulthood. For me, the menu has been crafted to reflect a multi-generational endearment. Here are some of the top items on the menu.
Sausage & Egg McMuffin: £2.79
The Sausage and Egg McMuffin is my all-time favourite. Without a shadow of a doubt, it leans toward another one of my favourites in (just about any) burger. There is something about the sausage patty that I love. And, for anyone who has been following my McDonalds series, you will be happy to know it is 97% pork. It is nice to know that, at least, in my breakfast I am eating mostly real food. The only issue with this menu item is the fact that I need to order two. My typical order is a meal with a single on the side. This is one of those moments when I should be embarrassed but I am over that. I am a fatty at heart. For the 846 calories consumed in two of these babies its worth the 8k run!
The Hash Brown: £1.19
If you are like me, then you know about stuffing the hash browns into your Sausage & Egg McMuffin. This absolute mega stack could rival the Big Mac any day of the week. There is not much flavour but quite a bit of salt.
The Breakfast Wrap: £4.39
I know there has been a lot of hype around the breakfast wrap. I have a ton of friends in the trades who get this before they jump on the tools every morning. The 665 calories equates to almost a third of my daily recommended intake. I have to mention it as it is so popular, but as with most McDonalds breakfast items, I still need something else. For two of these, I would have to walk 20,000 steps to balance myself against the rest of my daily intake.
I could write about every item on the menu if I wanted. I have tried everything through the years. However, one thing is consistent with McDonald’s breakfast: you need a few items to be full. The menu in the United States differs somewhat from the UK’s. Most McDonald’s fans would have seen the portion sizes in America trumping everywhere else in the world. Singled out as one of the main factors in the United States obesity issues, McDonald’s is unrelenting in its servings nonetheless. Even the Sausage & Egg McMuffin has an additional 60 calories compared to the UK version.
The Sausage Biscuit with Egg: $3.49
This little gem screams out to me from across the pond. When I perused the menu items on the American McDonalds website, my mouth watered a little. Interestingly, the calories are up to 530, and based on my Reddit research, these biscuits are widely considered snack-size. If they did these in the UK, most youngsters would likely need larger jeans by year 7.
How Much is McDonalds Breakfast
At one time, adults regarded the franchise as a cheap option. For parents, feeding their young kids at a McDonald’s at lunchtime is affordable for most. But, from first-hand experience, I have rarely seen kids buying breakfast. In my local area, McDonald’s is almost exclusive to commuters into London and trades workers. Navigating the sea of suits and high-vis’s at Waterloo train station in the morning is like trying to ride a bike in rush hour in Tokyo. It’s still packed even with viral content from various YouTubers & Instagram Maccies haters; it’s still packed.
I would love to see some figures produced by McDonalds about the average spend on breakfast. With the McDonalds breakfast meal typically coming in under a fiver, I can imagine it being near there somewhere. That is until you get me in there with my typical £8-£10 spend!
How much should you spend?
Your answer is there if you look at why I would spend almost double what the average person would. Most people know that Maccies have a ton of additives in their food to increase flavor. The sugar additions make you want more, so you buy again or overspend.
The prices in the UK have hit phenomenal new heights regarding food. If you wanted to pick up a healthy wrap at one of the London food stands, it would set you back £8-£10. If you wanted to go to one of the old-school cafes with tile walls, you would pay £8-£10 for a fry-up. Stop and grab something from Joe & The Juice daily, and you would have to remortgage your house once a year. McDonalds is priced to reflect a cheaper and swifter option for most regular people. Even the position of branches is smartly researched and reflective of lesser socio-economic environments and high-footfall commuter zones. Should you be spending your money on food that you know is full of bad shit? Not really. But convenience, speed, and taste combine to genius marketing that Maccies has perfected through decades. The college kids, school kids, and trades feel right at home under the Golden Arches, as much as executives do at Joe & The Juice.
What time does McDonalds Breakfast Finish
The number of times I woke up with a hangover at university and yearned for a McDonalds breakfast is insane. If I am not mistaken, there was a time when it finished at 10 am. I think that was then moved to 10.30 but now, it seems universal that McDonalds breakfast finishes at 11 am. So, if you are a weary-eyed student waking up with a sick patch of snake-bite next to you – you have until 11 am. If you don’t make it, you will grab a Chicken Big Mac and some fries.
McDonalds Breakfast: Calories in & Calories Out
We are living in a generation of consideration, especially when it comes to food. The McDonalds copycats that try to make healthier versions of specific menu items are admirable. But, nothing quite tastes like a good ol’ Maccies breakfast, that is for certain.
With so much discussion about calories, reading and watching the lack of knowledge can be frustrating. Most people know by now that a certain amount of calories levied against your basal metabolic rate can increase or decrease weight. McDonalds breakfast, for the most part, fits into most daily intakes. Compared to an average bowl of porridge, the Sausage & Egg McMuffin has a similar caloric intake. The problem is not the calories but the nutritional value of the food. If you ate 2000 calories a day from Maccies, and I ate 2000 calories from chicken, we have the same caloric intake. But, the problem will be in the body composition. The nutritional value of my consumption would have more usable components to body composition.
McDonalds is not healthy. I think the campaigns over the past fifteen years have elucidated enough that health is not on the agenda of the franchise. Maccies can throw as many apple and carrot bags onto the menu as they want! The token of good faith, albeit an effort, will never counterbalance the crap that goes into the actual food. But, goddamn, the Maccies breakfast tastes good!
Conclusive Results Explained
Opinion and consensus speak for a lot these days. Despite being full of stuff you shouldn’t put in a human body, breakfast at McDonald’s tastes good. For most, this is undeniable. The guilty pleasure that is McDonald’s breakfast will forever have a home, especially in the US and UK. Education is beautiful, and most are waking up to the nutritional intake from Maccies food being sub-optimal. Is that enough to stop people from eating it? I doubt it. Most people know that by gambling, you lose money or sleep with everyone, you get STDs, and smoking causes cancer. Yet all of these vices are still some of the most monetized niches in the world.
Perhaps Maccies have monetized a niche in humans that we wish they had not found. The incongruous sight of high-vis’s in Joe & The Juice (sorry to keep picking on you, but your prices are horrible) is rare. Yet, before 8 am, most customers buying breakfast at McDonalds are within the minimum wage bracket. Speculation, you say? Statistically sound, I would argue. Maccies branches are positioned well on the sides of motorways, at tube stations, and on the fringes of subprime socio-economic environments.
Regardless of the situational factors. The Sausage & Egg McMuffin is one of my favourite morning munchies. Do I feed it to my children? No. I know I can make a difference to them. And as an adult, I know I should indulge once a month. I hear you for all the influencers screaming at the top of their lungs about a trending topic, Maccies nutrition. But adults have the power to change future generations; exercise it. But, for those parents that can only afford a Maccies as a takeaway for their children – should they be excluded from treating their child with what they can afford? No.
