Gourmet Cooking on a College Budget
Homemade Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McMuffin
By Author Jonathan David
Watch the full cooking show
This is my homemade take on the bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin. I toast and butter an English muffin, fry an egg in a little of the bacon drippings, and set the hot egg right on a slice of aged cheddar. I cook the bacon in one batch so the next morning all I have to do is reheat a portion, toast a muffin, and cook a fresh egg.
Ingredients
Makes 1 sandwich. For six breakfasts, start with a six-pack of English muffins, six eggs, a package of bacon, and enough cheddar for six slices.
- 1 English muffin, split
- Bacon, enough to fit across the muffin
- 1 egg
- 1 slice aged sharp cheddar, cut from a block
- Butter, enough to lightly spread on the toasted muffin
- Finely ground salt and black pepper, to taste
How I made it on the show
- Cook the bacon. Cut the strips crosswise into thirds so the pieces fit the muffin. Start them over low heat in a cast-iron skillet and let the fat render. Turn the pieces as they cook. When the bacon is cooked through and as crisp as you like, lift it out and leave a little of the drippings in the skillet for the egg.
- Toast and butter the muffin. Toast both halves, spread a little butter on the cut sides, and press them together briefly while warm so the butter melts into the bread.
- Season the egg before frying. Crack the egg into a small bowl and leave it whole. I used a mortar and pestle to grind the salt and black pepper finely, then sprinkled a little directly over the egg.
- Let the egg set before you flip it. Slide it into the warm bacon drippings. Leave it alone until the white sets underneath and a spatula can slide under it cleanly. Flip it gently. I made mine over easy so the yolk ran into the muffin and bacon when I took a bite.
- Build the sandwich while everything is warm. Put the cheddar on the bottom half of the muffin and slide the hot egg directly onto the cheese to soften it. Layer on the bacon, close the sandwich, and serve.
For a runny yolk, use a pasteurized shell egg. With regular shell eggs, cook until both the white and yolk are firm. FDA egg safety guidance ↗
Watch the Shorts
Short 1
Short 2
The review and what I’d try next time
The first bite tasted remarkably close to the McDonald’s breakfast sandwich I had in mind. The aged cheddar gave it a sharper flavor, and when I bit into the muffin, the yolk broke and ran over the bacon. That was my favorite part.
- Try thinner bacon for an easier bite. The thick-cut bacon tasted good, but it cooked up a little hard and crunchy. Thinner slices would be easier to bite through without pulling the whole strip out of the sandwich.
- Use an egg ring if you want a perfect circle. My egg came out nearly round on its own. A lightly greased metal egg ring would give it a shape closer to the one at McDonald’s.
- Switch up the meat. I made another sandwich with ham the next morning. For a sausage version, press a breakfast sausage patty thinner and wider before cooking so it fits the muffin.
“And that’s the flavor.”