Wendy's New English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich Review: A Buttery And Savory Way To Start Your Day
When it comes to breakfast, Wendy's has been chasing the success of McDonald's and Burger King for almost four decades. The fast food chain first expanded into the a.m. hours in 1985 with made-to-order omelets, which were not so much runny, but running too late to remain fast food. Through the years, other items have come and gone, with the chain finally finding breakfast success in the last few years. Eaters have gobbled up the Breakfast Baconator, Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit, and Homestyle French Toast Sticks, with a side of seasoned potatoes. Now, in late summer 2023, Wendy's is ready to offer up a new bread option for breakfast sandwiches: In addition to buttermilk biscuits, croissants, breakfast rolls, and premium buns, you can now order an English Muffin.
After testing 60 iterations, Wendy's landed on two new English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches that are now available for your breakfast-eating pleasure: the Sausage, Egg & Cheese English Muffin; and the Bacon, Egg & Cheese English Muffin. Wendy's Global Vice President of Culinary Innovation John Li remarked in a press release that the new sandwiches were "the perfect harmony of breakfast flavors!"
We headed to our local Wendy's for a release day taste test to see if these English Muffins had all the required nooks and crannies, and if the sandwiches as a whole indeed perfectly harmonized on a level of The Beach Boys. Here's our chew and review...
What do Wendy's New Breakfast English Muffin Sandwiches taste like?
Open either new English Muffin Sandwich and you'll be welcomed to a light brown, shiny hockey puck swimming in a sea of its own buttery spread. The Sausage, Egg & Cheese English Muffin mainly smelled like eggs, while there was no escaping the bacon smell of the Bacon version. We opened the hood to reveal all the pieces, and even more of a buttery sheen.
Both sandwiches include a solid, oily egg. Since the muffin was overly buttery, it didn't appear to have many nooks or crannies or that much texture. Wendy's muffin is soft and squishy, but even though it was drowned in butter, it stayed firm and held up throughout each bite.
The square sausage that slightly peeks out of the round muffin edge is thick, peppery, and hearty. The smoky bacon is flat and greasy, but makes up for that in its crispness, and the fact that it tastes just like bacon. Both sandwiches are filling on their own but pair well with the seasoned potatoes and a side of coffee to wash it down.
What are Wendy's New Breakfast English Muffin Sandwiches made of?
The two new English muffin breakfast sandwiches have a lot in common in their makeup, mostly spelled out in the names. The English muffins are made up of water, enriched wheat flour, cake flour, yeast, sugar muffin, and a laundry list of ingredients including sponge extract. Wendy's uses grade-A eggs that are fried and fully cooked on its grills. The sausage patty is pork based and consists of water, spices, salt, dextrose and sugar. The bacon is Applewood smoked and cured with water, salt, sugar, and other ingredients. Between the buns is a buttery spread, which is mainly margarine, and in between the eggs and meat lies a single slice of American cheese.
If you're looking for a "healthier" option between the two new English muffin sandwiches, the bacon version is the better bet over the sausage. The bacon sandwich is lower in calories (390 vs. 550), total fat (21g vs. 37g), cholesterol (205 milligrams vs. 235 milligrams), and sodium (910 milligrams vs. 1030 milligrams). The two sandwiches both clock in at 34 grams of carbohydrates, but the sausage version can proudly lay claim to having 4 grams more of protein, with 21 grams in total. The sandwiches provide 15% of one's daily recommended amounts of iron, 8% of calcium, and in the 4 to 6% range of potassium.
How, when, and where to order Wendy's New Breakfast English Muffin Sandwiches
The new English Muffin Sandwiches are available nationwide as of August 22. This is not a limited-time-only addition to the breakfast menu, so for the time being, they are here to stay. The sandwiches are only available during breakfast hours, which for most locations on weekdays starts at 6:30 a.m. and goes until 10:30 a.m., so the early birds catch the muffins! Check your local Wendy's for complete breakfast hours.
Like all Wendy's items, they can be ordered in-store either at the counter or through a kiosk. They can also be ordered in advance, or even in person, using the Wendy's app or at Wendys.com. Delivery is also an option, where available.
The English Muffins are listed under the breakfast "Classic" line and can be customized to remove any ingredients or add extra amounts of them. Additional toppings are available but appear to be limited to maple honey butter spread or Swiss cheese sauce.
The English Muffin sandwiches can be ordered individually or as a combo with sides like seasoned potatoes, apple bites, oatmeal bars, or a honey butter biscuit. In the combos, drinks are included and range from hot to cold coffees, milk, ice tea, orange juice, or even sodas.
The final verdict
Could these two new breakfast English Muffin Sandwiches be better? There's not much to improve upon with these juicy fellers, but the muffins would probably stand out a bit more if they were a tad toasted, and everything could certainly benefit from being less buttery or oily (so be sure to ask for extra napkins). Condiment options are limited, so you'll have to ask for ketchup or a dipping sauce separately if that's your thing. One neat supplement option is the ability to add the meat from the other sandwich. That would eliminate the conundrum of picking between the two and have the best of both worlds with a Sausage, Bacon, Egg & Cheese English Muffin in one.
It's too soon to place these new English Muffin Sandwiches on the ultimate ranking of Wendy's breakfast items, but it's safe to say the Sausage, Egg & Cheese English Muffin, and Bacon, Egg & Cheese English Muffin are both solid additions to anyone's morning. Will they have McDonald's and it's Egg McMuffins losing sleep at night? Probably not, but if one is already a devoted Wendy's breakfast patron, having the option for English muffins as bookends to your sandwich is a nice new option.