Homemade McDonald’s Sausage and Egg McMuffin recipe with sausage patties made from scratch! You will be amazed how similar this tastes to the real thing – but so much better because it tastes like REAL FOOD!!!
This is a great grab-and-go make-ahead breakfast. Plus, sharing a cheeky way to cook round eggs even if you don’t have egg rings! 😉
Copycat Sausage and Egg McMuffin recipe!
I have a secret list of Dirty Foods I Love.
KFC Popcorn chicken is on it. Pizza Hut is on it (double pepperoni thin and crispy with anchovies!). Crispy Kreme classic glazed doughnuts.
And yes, McDonald’s is on the list too. It doesn’t happen often, maybe 3 times a year. And when it does, I do the Drive-Through-of-Shame. I would never risk being seen inside McDonald’s!!!
I really wish I was the kind of person who never craved junk food. I’m sure if I really put my mind to it, I could live a whole-food life. But it would be an EFFORT!!!
So my compromise? Takeout copycats. Junk food made at home, a whole lot healthier.
Say HI to my McDonald’s Sausage and Egg McMuffins copycat!
Sausage Patties
This copycat is all about the copycat McDonald’s sausage patties. Tasty, juicy, well seasoned breakfast patties that we love!
You will be astonished how similar it tastes to the real thing. There’s not even that many spices in the seasoning – but the secret spice is sage. This is what gives these breakfast patties that extra little flavour edge that really makes it taste like the Maccers!
How to make Sausage and Egg McMuffins in your PJ’s
It’s terrifically easy – so you can manage this half asleep or even if you’re feeling sketchy after a few too many wines the night before (let’s all just admit that Maccers is excellent hangover food).
Though if the thought of handling raw meat first thin in the morning is too much for you, just make the patties the ahead – they will keep for days in the fridge and months in the freezer!
I do like to melt the cheese ON the pattie. This is not how Maccers does it….. but who can resist molten cheese draped over a breakfast sausage pattie? Not I!
Also, my sausage patties are thicker. Because this is the beauty of homemade – we can make things just the way we want!
Don’t have egg rings?
Don’t worry! Either just pan fry eggs and push the edges in as they cook, or cut both sides out of a tuna can then use that as an egg ring! This was a genius idea from a reader, the lovely Dorothy from Tennessee.
Great make ahead breakfast – on the go!
Sausage and Egg McMuffins are a terrific make ahead breakfast. They will last for 4 days in the fridge the just need a quick microwave to reheat.
If you want to freeze them – instead of of cooking eggs sunny side up, either scramble them or make a folded omelette (of sorts). Egg whites tend to go a bit rubbery when frozen (in my opinion), but if mixed up with the yolks then cooked, they freeze fine.
And in true McDonald’s form, these Sausage and Egg McMuffins are fab for food on the go. Wrap it up, shove it in a paper bag, grab a cup of coffee and scoff these down with one hand while driving.
Because if I do the actual McDonald’s drive through, that is exactly how I eat it. 😉
All jokes aside though, no matter what your position on McDonald’s is – and I’ve been very honest with mine (i.e. Love / Hate) – these are really tasty. Really, really scrumptious.
They’re also a terrific breakfast for large groups because it’s easy to make big batches, especially if you cook on the BBQ so you can cook loads of sausage patties at the same time.
And instead of individual eggs, just make a giant batch of scrambled eggs.
Happy weekend everyone!! – Nagi x
More Grab-and-Run Breakfasts!
-
Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies – it’s like a bowl of porridge, in cookie form!
And more eggs for breakfast
-
Frittata – the classic done right!
-
Shakshouka – baked eggs made exotic
Watch how to make it
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Homemade Sausage and Egg McMuffin
Ingredients
Sausage Patties
- 1 lb / 500g ground pork (juicier) OR beef (mince) (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp dried ground sage
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion powder (or garlic powder)
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar (any)
Muffins
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 eggs
- 4 English muffins , cut in half
- 4 slices cheese (Note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 130C/275F.
- Place muffins on a baking tray, cut side up, and top with cheese. (Alternative - melt cheese on sausage patties, see video)
Sausage Patties
- Mix Sausage Patty ingredients in a bowl - use your hands to mix it real good!
- Shape into 4 patties (thick ones, or 5 Maccers size patties). Make them slightly larger than the muffins because they will shrink when cooking.
- Heat oil in a large non stick skillet over high heat. Add patties (in batches if needed). Cook the first side for 2 - 3 minutes or until browned. Flip then cook the other side until browned. (Optional: After flipping, top with cheese, cover with lid to melt).
Egg
- Meanwhile, heat another pan over medium high heat with 1 tbsp oil. Spray egg rings with oil and place in the skillet. (Note 4 for other cook methods).
- Crack egg into the rings. Add around 2 tbsp water into the skillet then cover with a lid. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until egg is cooked to your liking (I like runny yolks).
Assemble
- Remove warm muffins from the oven. Top with sausage, then egg, the lid of muffin.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
- tuna can: take both ends off, wash (well!) and use as the ring. GENIUS idea from Dorothy in Tennessee, a RecipeTin Eats regular reader!
- in a well sprayed muffin tin(baked); or
- in onion rings (just cut a 1/3" slice and use the outer ring). Otherwise, just crack the eggs into the skillet then as it starts to cook, fold the edges in to make a (albeit rough!) round shape. OR just scramble them, or make a large omelette and cut to fit onto each. 3. Cheese - I used processed cheese to mimic McDonald's. 4. MAKE AHEAD:
- Refrigerate up to 4 days, reheat on low in the microwave for a couple of minutes, or cover with foil and reheat in oven.
- Freezer - scramble eggs or make omelette and cut up into 4. Do not freeze sunny side up eggs - I find the whites can go rubbery.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2016, updated with brand new video, fresh new photos and a new Life of Dozer!
Life of Dozer
Just having a sniff……
Driving past MacDonalds this morning at 5:30am I was CRAVING a sausage mcmuffin. I resisted, knowing I could make these. So good! Made a double batch so I’ll always have some in the freezer for those “maccas moments” 🙂
YES! I should totally do that this week too! 🙂 N x
I tried the pattie recipe today and OMG it tastes just like mcd’s! This has the simplest ingredients I saw, so I headed to the supermarket and grabbed all those plus I added red pepper flakes. My son loves it! Thank you!
YES YES YES!!!!!
Hi Krist
You can buy burger cheese from coles or woolies in Australia. It tastes the same as mcdonalds
Woah! Seriously???
If you look at the mcdonalds ingredients you will see it does not contain pork
the sausage and egg mcmuffin does contain pork lol, at least in the uk. 97% pork in the sausage patty. see website.
I know! But pork has more flavour and adds juiciness to this patty that makes it more like Maccers! 🙂 N x
Great tasty recipe. I go through mcdonalds and i order 6 slices of cheese and thats it. I cant seem to find any cheese here in aus wa that tastes as good as McDonald cheese. I got funny looks coz i dont order anything else.
You can buy butger cheese from coles or woolies. It tastes the same as mcdonalds
NO WAY!!!! Are you serious?? I have to go check immediately!!! N xx
THAT IS GENIUS!
Oh my, I’ve died & gone to heaven! These taste exactly like the real thing, only better because you know what’s in them! I’m on slimming world & am thrilled that I can make these patties syn free. Thanks so much x
LOVE hearing that Natalie!!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
This recipe doesn’t say to put the muffins in the oven before adding the patties. The first mention of the oven is to preheat it, then you say to “return the tray to the oven” without ever having said to put it in there in the first place. Some of us don’t like to handle raw meat carelessly enough to quickly throw the sausage patties together. If I put my tray of muffins in the oven as soon as the oven preheats, the muffins would be all dried up and burnt by the time I got done making the patties. You should say to leave the muffins in the oven between XX to YY minutes before adding the patties to them.
Updated! Thanks for picking that up Minerva! N x
What type of egg rings do you have?
Those looks great. I don’t want to buy something cheap / that doesn’t work.
Hi Alex! I use black non stick ones I just got from the supermarket!
Love the idea of making the sausage yourself. I usually make my Sausage McMuffins by squeezing store bought sausages out of their casings and shaping them into patties. Planning on making a big batch of the sausages and freezing them. Would you recommend freezing them raw then thawing and cooking, or cooking them then freezing and reheating when I wanna make the McMuffin?
Love from all the way in the UK xoxo
Hi Mavis! I would freeze raw then cook fresh, things are always better cooked fresh!! Hope you’re staying warm over there. 🙂 N x
Me and my son absolutely love these 100% better than MacDonalds and you know what is in them cause you’ve made them yourself we have them once sometimes twice a week there yummy thank you for posting the recipe 👌👍
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Jo!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Thank-you sooooo much Nagi!
Not sure about elsewhere, but here in the UK McD’s stop serving breakfast at 10.30. This is terrible timing for the shift I work. Sausage McMuffins are one of my few crave-foods, but I so rarely manage to get one. Just made your version, totally blown away. Identical! Will batch cook the patties and freeze – Thanks once again. X
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this Matthew!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. N x ❤️
Would using ground turkey instead of ground pork work?
This is soooo good. Hd the muffins this morning. YUM
Thanks for the great review Nicole! I’m SO pleased to hear you enjoyed it! N xx
How long do you leave the sausage on the cheese on the muffin and return the tray to the oven
Hi! It’s a low oven so you can keep it in there while you cook the egg 🙂
This recipe is the best! I’ve been buying mcmuffins 3x a week for breakfast, they are so addictive (and expensive) with this recipe I can have them everyday – and the sausage patty is as good or better than the McDonald’s one!
That’s great to hear Kim! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback! N xx
Hell Yeah!! thank you thank you!! I’m so going to try this and I’ll report back 😉 Also trying to avoid junk food but these are def on the list of what I crave! Homemade here we come!
Try it try it! 🙂 Really think you will love it! N xx
Very good. One pound I made 4 patties as instructed but IMHO I could have made 5 or 6 they were a bit too big. I ended up using a metal biscuit cutter for the egg. I used kraft singles for the cheese. I don’t like that kind and prefer Sargento sharp cheddar. I used the fake kraft cheese for this, came out great. Only thing I like from McDonald’s is the sausage Mcmuffin with egg. I also used walmart brand english muffins to get the full effect. Thanks for the recipe
I’m so pleased to hear that Evilkitty, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Does it have to be Ground Pork can I use Lean Pork
You can use lean pork if you want (ground though!)
If you can find Bays English Muffins, you’ll be even closer to the McDo McMuffin experience. It was the brand of muffin used in the original McMuffin in the 1970’s.
No way! Thanks for the tip EB!
WOW….there are not words on this earth to describe just how GOOD this sausage and egg muffin looks to me right now. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease almost 10 years ago and about 5 or 6 years ago I finally made the effort to seriously eat gluten free. It’s been, without question, one of the biggest nightmares and pains in my life. I just CANNOT adapt to it. But I’ve been SO good for the most part. I can’t tell you how long its been since I hate an Egg McMuffin or a Big Mac or a Crispy Chicken Sandwich. I write to McDonald’s and a few other of my favorite places a couple times a year BEGGING (I’m not proud) them to have at least their biggest sellers in a gluten free choice. Honestly, I should have NEVER opened the page that had this sandwich on because now I’m starving for one. I’ve been wanting to try making my own gf bread items, such as English muffins, sandwich bread, and so many others. After seeing this picture I guess I’m going to have to get myself in gear and just do it. I don’t know who does your photography but boy they do a fantastic job. I felt as though I could just reach in and grab that thing and dig in.
What a great thing to hear your inspiring a lot of people, thank you Nagi. Good luck on the bread I hope it turns out. If not keep trying !!!
Thanks Paul!!! N xx
ohhhhh Pamela! I feel so bad for you and I feel terrible that I had to giggle at you describing the annoyance of being Celiac! Can you make this with GF bread??? It is SO worth it!
Ok, don’t judge me – but that fake plastic cheese looks amazing! Where do you get slices that are that lovely fake Maccas yellow colour? I’m making this next week and I want the ‘real fake cheese’ experience! Thanks!
As if I would judge!!! ? I got it at Woolies or Coles, there is one that comes in plastic wrappers (you know the individual cheese slices) that is slightly more orange than the others like the Maccas colour, that’s what I used!
The only orangey one i could find is smoked flavor.. Is yours smoked?
Yup, same here 🙂 Thought I wrote that in the recipe! It adds a great flavour to it, I love it!
Thanks Nagi – I found the really fake orange one I wanted! And it made for a totally delicious breakfast muffin, Mr Beck and I loved them. Plus we have enough in the freezer for next weekend too, even better! Yum!
Yesssss!!! So happy to hear that Beck! N x