Honestly, I wish McDonald's would skip the bread and simply make their famous breakfast sandwiches with those delightfully crispy hash browns. As it turns out, that menu item was almost a reality.
According to a former manager of McDonald's culinary innovations, he tried to include the hash brown sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich on the breakfast menu during his time with the company. However, the idea never came to fruition due to several reasons, one of them being that too many people would order it.
From Eat This, Not That:
TikTok user @diegos_eats posted a Keto breakfast sandwich hack from the Golden Arches. "We asked for a sausage egg McMuffin…sub the muffin for hash browns," the content creator explains while unwrapping the finished product in his car.
@diegos_eats Keto sausage egg mcmuffin with hash brown bun from @McDonald’s #mcdonalds #keto #foodie #fyp #foodtiktok #foodreview ♬ original sound - Diegos_eats
"They were very hesitant to do this for me at my McDonald's," he adds before taking the first bite. He also explained that he skipped the drive-thru and ordered the off-menu sandwich at the counter, which he felt "made it a lot easier," and that if they still didn't want to do it, he'd order the items separately to make it himself.
Soon, Chef Mike Haracz, the former manager of culinary innovations at McDonald's, chimed in with a video of his own. He claims that he tried to get the hash brown sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich onto the McDonald's breakfast menu during his time with the company, but the idea never came to furition for several reasons.
@chefmikeharacz Replying to @Johnathan Katz Some things might be too good for a #McDonalds restaurant. #mcdonaldssecrets #mcdonaldsdrivethru #mcdonaldsworker #mcdonaldslife #McMuffin #EggMcMuffin #sausageandeggmcmuffin #McDonaldsBreakfast #eggmcmuffins #fastfoodbreakfast #fastfoodlife ♬ original sound - Chef Mike Haracz
"I was told that it's too many calories, it's too operationally complex, and too many people would order it," Haracz explained. The caption on the video says, "They [McDonald's] didn't let me have any fun."
A second video posted by Haracz dove deeper into a question related to the potential kitchen chaos that a hash brown breakfast sandwich could introduce.
"You can only cook so many items at a time," he elaborates, and that timing is a huge factor in how things are cooked and what gets made. Time limits for cooking, and keeping the items warm, are two examples he listed, but one of the biggest reasons the hash brown sandwich is operationally complex is because of the kitchen layout itself.
The hashbrowns are "cooked in a different section, not by the make table which is where all of the sandwiches are assembled." It would be difficult to get individual orders out quickly enough, not to mention having "goofy people" ordering "six, eight, or ten of those at a time," he adds.
The former corporate chef also notes that packaging the sandwich would be tricky as employees try to cross between sections in the kitchen.
"The packing of the hashbrown is to keep it crispier longer, so if you made a sandwich and wrapped it, the hashbrown would become soggier faster as well," he tells Eat This, Not That!
"The cost of all the components may also affect the success of the item," he additionally revealed, "as two hash browns cost more than one of the muffins or buns."
What a bummer!
I believe McDonald's should organize a major meeting to brainstorm ways to turn this hash brown sandwich into a reality.
This item would sell like hotcakes!
