I compared the same breakfast sandwich meal from McDonald's and Burger King, and one was better value

I compared the same breakfast sandwich meal from McDonald's and Burger King, and one was better value
  • I ordered the same breakfast from McDonald's and Burger King to compare them on taste and value.

  • Burger King's biscuit was practically leaking butter but it tasted better than the McDonald's one.

  • I also thought Burger King's hash browns were a great value.

There's nothing like a classic fast-food breakfast sandwich to start your day.

Breakfast is an area of opportunity for chains to win back customers as people return to the office in droves and need a morning pick-me-up. In August, Dunkin' launched a new $6 breakfast meal deal, joining the long list of chains offering value meals as customers become more price-conscious.

I tried the same breakfast meal, which included a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit breakfast sandwich and hash browns, at two of the biggest fast-food chains: McDonald's and Burger King.

Here's which chain had the best breakfast, based on taste and value.

I ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit breakfast sandwich and hash browns from each chain. I started by trying out Burger King's.

burger king breakfast brown paper bag
The Burger King bag.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

My meal cost $8.58, plus taxes and fees. I ordered it through the Doordash app from my local restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.

It seemed like a fair price for how much food I received.

burger king breakfast sandwich in wrapper and hash browns
Burger King breakfast sandwich and hash browns.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

I got a medium order of hash browns and thought it was more than enough.

A medium-size hash brown from Burger King cost me $3.19.

burger king hash browns
Burger King hash browns.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

It came packed to the brim with small fried hash browns.

I enjoyed the hash browns from Burger King — I thought they were fluffy on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside.

person holding up burger king hash browns
Burger King hash browns.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

They could have used a little sauce for added flavor but were just fine on their own as well.

I also got a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit breakfast sandwich from Burger King.

burger king sausage egg and cheese in paper wrapper
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

It cost $5.39 and came wrapped in wax paper to keep the heat and buttery biscuit safely tucked inside.

Right away, I noticed how buttery this sandwich was.

burger king breakfast sandwich in paper wrapper
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

Butter had completely coated the wax paper wrapping.

Once I opened the sandwich, I saw right away why the wrapping was so buttery.

burger king sausage egg and cheese
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

The biscuit was a dark yellow color and almost crispy in texture. This told me right away that a lot of butter was added to whatever batter they use to make their biscuits.

The sandwich came with a biscuit, sausage patty, egg, and a slice of American cheese.

burger king sausage egg and cheese
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

When I bit into the breakfast sandwich, it tasted heavily of butter, but I could still taste the juicy sausage patty and egg.

There were small pockets of butter or oil on the top of the biscuit.

burger king sausage egg and cheese
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

However, that didn't really turn me off. There's nothing worse than a dry biscuit ... which I would discover later on in this taste test.

The sausage patty was perfectly thick and moist, while the eggs were light and fluffy.

burger king sausage egg and cheese
Burger King breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

The biscuit was crumbly rather than flaky, but it complemented the other flavors and provided the perfect vehicle for the other ingredients.

I ordered the same items from McDonald's: a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit breakfast sandwich and one hash brown.

mcdonalds breakfast paper bag with egg mcmuffin written on it
The McDonald's bag.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

My meal cost $9.38, plus taxes and fees. I also got it delivered through the Doordash app.

It was slightly more expensive than the meal from Burger King, so I was anxious to see if the flavor would live up to the higher price tag.

mcdonalds breakfast sandwich and hash brown in paper wrapping
McDonald's breakfast sandwich and hash browns.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

When I compared the same meals from Burger King and McDonald's, the meal from the larger chain was also more expensive.

I got one hash brown, which appeared to be smaller in size than the medium order of hash browns from Burger King.

person holding mcdonalds hash brown
McDonald's hash brown.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

However, it was more expensive at $3.69.

The hash brown was perfectly crispy on the outside.

bitten into mcdonalds hash browns
McDonald's hash brown.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

It wasn't as fluffy as the Burger King hash browns. The potato inside was more shredded in texture and had a lot more moisture. I liked it but thought the serving size was a little small and expensive for getting basically the same menu item taste-wise.

I'm a big fan of McDonald's McMuffin breakfast sandwiches but haven't tried many of their biscuit options.

mcdonalds sausage egg and cheese in wrapping
McDonald's breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

The sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwich cost me $5.69, which was more expensive than the one from Burger King.

The biscuit was lighter in color than the Burger King one but looked more like a traditional biscuit.

mcdonalds sausage egg and cheese
McDonald's breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

However, when I bit in, I was surprisingly a little disappointed.

I thought the biscuit was dry and crumbly.

bitten into mcdonalds sausage egg and cheese
McDonald's breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

It stuck to the roof of my mouth. The texture made it difficult to really taste the other ingredients — all I could taste was the biscuit.

I didn't have any urge to finish this sandwich.

bitten into mcdonalds sausage egg and cheese
McDonald's breakfast sandwich.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

The eggs and sausage were both pretty moist, but not enough to overpower the dry biscuit. In my opinion, the biscuit could have used some of the butter I found the Burger King sandwich practically drenched in.

Overall, I enjoyed both meals and thought they were both good deals in terms of value.

mcdonalds and burger king breakfast laid out on blue background
My breakfast meals from Burger King and McDonald's.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

I then had to decide which meal I preferred based on each item.

Both of the breakfast sandwiches were around the same size and had the same ingredients, but I preferred the one from Burger King.

mcdonalds and burger king sausage egg and cheese side by side
Breakfast sandwiches from Burger King and McDonald's.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

Even though it bordered on too buttery, the Burger King option had more flavor and the biscuit's consistency allowed the other flavors to come through. The biscuit from McDonald's was simply too dry for my tastes and made the other ingredients fade into the background.

Taste-wise, the hash browns were equally delicious.

burger king and mcdonalds hash browns side by side
Hash browns from Burger King and McDonald's.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

However, the Burger King order came with more and they were less expensive. In my mind, that gave the smaller chain an obvious win.

Overall, I preferred the breakfast from Burger King.

burger king breakfast sandwich and hash browns
I preferred the breakfast from Burger King.Erin McDowell/Business Insider

I thought the biscuit sandwich was flavorful and moist, and the hash browns were a great value for the size of the order. In my own personal breakfast wars, this fast-food chain came out on top.

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