I taste-tested 7 frozen breakfast sandwiches, and there's only one I'd buy again

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The best frozen breakfast sandwiches are just the thing for hectic weekday mornings. Toasty, delicious and — most importantly — something that you can easily make at home, they heat up in a matter of minutes. In the time it takes to brew your coffee, you could have a fully cooked BEC (that's a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich). A bowl of cereal, yogurt or even oatmeal doesn't come close. As a culinary school grad who has worked in restaurants and written about food and cooking, I can tell a good frozen meal from a bad one. For this test, my two teen kids and I tried seven of the most popular frozen breakfast sandwiches at home, cooking them in my microwave or air fryer , as directed. The results were ... mostly not worth the (minimal) effort. But I did taste one sandwich I'd buy again — and I was truly surprised to find that the classic brand (you know, the one that immediately comes to mind when you think of breakfast sausage) was not the winner.

Best frozen breakfast sandwiches of 2026

Bread type: Croissant | Protein type: Applewood-smoked bacon | Calories per sandwich: 390

Behold, the Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwich. It was the first option we tried and also the best. It shouldn't be surprising that Costco has come up with a breakfast sandwich that bears a striking resemblance to the popular Starbucks Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich , at a fraction of the cost. This baddie is a shoo-in for the title of best croissant frozen breakfast sandwich in addition to best overall.

After heating this sandwich according to the air fryer instructions on the box, I was immediately impressed with its appearance. The croissant looked golden brown, the bacon was crisp, and the cheese was melty.

I sliced it in half to check out the inside and was pleased to see that each component of the sandwich was discernible and that the croissant was crisp on top, airy in the middle and flaky when sliced. My kids and I all liked this sandwich, which rarely happens. It was super flavorful and did not taste fake. The salty, crispy bacon and the flaky croissant were remarkable, and the egg didn't taste "industrial," as my family likes to call eggs that are not freshly cooked.

The whole experience was highly enjoyable! Knowing that one could easily pay $7 or more for one of these at a café made the sandwich taste even better. While you could use a microwave to prepare it in about 2 minutes, I'm convinced that the air fryer method is best for preserving texture and taste. It takes about 7 minutes, but it is well worth it.

Bread type: English muffin | Protein type: Pork sausage | Calories per sandwich: 350

This classic breakfast sandwich looks about as close to homemade as you're going to get from the frozen aisle. It's an English muffin stacked with pork sausage, scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese, and the price is right at $5 for a box of two individually wrapped sandwiches.

What sets this egg sandwich apart from others I tested is its texture. The English muffin benefits tremendously from a stint in the air fryer, which toasts it to perfection and gives you all the crunchy nooks and crannies you're dreaming of. The cheese melts, the sausage sizzles (slightly) and the egg warms through.

I gave it high marks for most of its components, aside from the egg, which fell flat in both taste and texture, followed by a sausage patty that had some mild zing, but not much. Ultimately, the Kirkland sandwich outshone the Trader Joe's version, but if you're set on a frozen breakfast sandwich that comes on an English muffin, this one is pretty satisfying — just don't heat it in the microwave!

Sausage is flavorful, with a slight kick

I started by researching the most popular frozen breakfast sandwiches that are widely available in supermarkets. Then I tracked down seven of them and prepared them at home, according to the package instructions. I used either the microwave or the air fryer, depending on what the manufacturer suggested. I let them cool enough to handle, cut them all in half to see how they looked on the inside, and then tasted them with my teenage son and daughter. We scored them from 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best) on flavor, texture, appearance and overall enjoyment for a total of 20 points. I averaged the scores, added them up, and took all the comments into account to come up with this list of the two best frozen breakfast sandwiches.

Other frozen breakfast sandwiches we tested

Jimmy Dean Sausage Egg & Cheese Croissant Breakfast Sandwich : My kids and I tried three versions of the classic Jimmy Dean frozen breakfast sandwich (one on a croissant, one on a biscuit and one on an English muffin), and they all fell fairly flat. When you think of Jimmy Dean, you think of sausage experts, so we were anticipating some very tasty sandwiches. Unfortunately, neither the sausage nor the other components tasted like much of anything. I firmly believe that if Jimmy Dean offered air fryer instructions instead of microwave instructions for heating these sandwiches, they would be a heck of a lot more enjoyable. As it stands, all three sandwiches were soft with muted flavor and no texture to speak of. Plus, the eggs looked really processed and unappealing.

Odom's Tennessee Pride Sausage and Buttermilk Biscuits : These mini biscuit sandwiches come two to a wrapper. They're cute when you first look at them, but again, microwaving them does nothing to help their cause. They make for a rich, fatty breakfast, but ultimately disappoint due to the biscuit's lack of texture and the sausage's flat flavor. I was hoping they might take the honor of best biscuit frozen breakfast sandwich, but alas, it was not to be.

Mason Dixie Cheddar Biscuit Sandwich: This sandwich is a bit of an outlier as it comes just one per box with a roughly $5 price tag, which made me think it might win the title of best premium frozen breakfast sandwich. Mason Dixie is a brand known for all-natural frozen biscuits and more, so I was looking forward to this version of the frozen breakfast sandwich. I knew the ingredients would be high-quality and hoped that the biscuit itself would be authentic. Despite the air fryer instructions, the flavors here do not stand out much, and the biscuit is fairly thin, with none of the fluffy flakiness I was hoping for. While the sandwich definitely tastes less processed than others, it doesn't have the texture and flavor of a winner.

Other frozen breakfast sandwiches we plan to test

Swaggerty's Farm Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit and Bob Evans Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit were unavailable in my area at the time of this tasting. But we hope to test them in the future.

Eating on the go? An electric lunch box can help keep your breakfast sandwich (or any hot meal) toasty. You can also put a frozen sandwich directly in the container and warm it up later — it'll take about 20 minutes to reach temperature.

An air fryer speeds up many cooking tasks and often delivers better results than a regular toaster oven. With frozen breakfast sandwiches, this was certainly the case. This partially stainless-steel air fryer from Cuisinart boasts substantial cooking room, minimal maintenance and an easy-to-master learning curve, earning it the top spot on our best air fryers list.

Everything we cooked in this gadget came out juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside for total air fryer perfection. The handle remained cool to the touch, and the basket is dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning. We also appreciated the clear panel and interior light for monitoring food.

If microwaving is still your cooking method of choice (despite our recommendations!), we've got something for you too. This griddle plate helps crisp up foods, for a pan-fried effect without the effort. Use it for sandwiches, leftovers and even burgers.

Granted, this nifty gizmo is designed for homemade breakfast sandwiches, but it's so beloved, we couldn't leave it out. With layers of hot plates stacked on top of each other, it's designed to perfectly cook each component of a breakfast sandwich — two at a time, so no one's waiting. It's a snap to use, says our tester , who admits, "I was used to spending a lot of time crafting breakfast sandwiches. But after using this device once, I was hooked."

Update, Sept. 9, 2026: We checked prices and availability for all products. Our No. 1 pick for best frozen breakfast sandwich remains unchanged.