McDonald's
McDonald's Hash Brown Copycat Recipe
Grated potato, parboiled, squeezed brutally dry, formed into ovals and shallow fried. The squeezing is the recipe.
How to Make McDonald's Sausage and Egg McMuffin at Home
The McMuffin: Sage in the Sausage, and an Egg Cooked in a Ring
The one item on the McDonald's menu that is genuinely better made at home, and it is not close.
AI-generated illustration created for food.fast. It is not photographic evidence of a prepared batch.
This is the recipe on this site with the largest gap between the home version and the original, in the home version's favour. A McMuffin made properly, eaten ninety seconds after the egg comes out of the ring, is a very good breakfast sandwich. The one in the paper bag has been sitting in a warming cabinet.
Two components carry it. The sausage patty is sage-heavy - noticeably more than a British breakfast sausage - with black and white pepper underneath. That sage is the flavour people identify as "McMuffin sausage" without being able to name it.
And the egg is cooked in a ring, in a covered pan with a splash of water, so it steams into a perfect round with a set white and a just-set yolk. That is the technique, and an egg ring costs about three pounds.
How this page shows its working
The method gives quantities, timings and observable cues rather than asking you to guess. The 5 cases in If it goes wrong explain likely causes and corrective action.
See the recipe verification standard · See how the cost is calculated
The sausage: sage, two peppers, and nothing else
American breakfast sausage is a specific thing and it is not a British banger. No rusk, no breadcrumb, no casing - just seasoned pork shaped into a patty.
The seasoning is short:
- Sage, generously. This is the defining note. Rubbed dried sage rather than ground, which has more flavour and less dust.
- Black pepper and white pepper together. Black for its brightness, white for its musty depth.
- A little brown sugar, which is unexpected and is in most American breakfast sausage. It helps the patty brown and balances the sage.
- Salt, and enough of it.
Use pork mince with about 20 per cent fat. Lean pork gives a dry, crumbly patty. If your butcher only has lean, ask for some fat added, or use half pork shoulder mince and half belly.
Mix it gently and briefly. Working the mince hard develops the proteins and gives a springy, bouncy patty rather than a tender crumbly one - which is the opposite of what you want here, and the opposite of a nugget.
The egg ring, and how to cook the egg so it is not rubbery
The egg is cooked in a metal ring in a lightly oiled pan with a tablespoon of water added and a lid on. The water turns to steam, the steam cooks the top of the egg, and you get a set white and a just-set yolk without flipping and without a browned, rubbery base.
Three minutes covered, on a medium-low heat, is the number for a yolk that is soft but not runny. Two and a half leaves it properly runny, which makes a messier sandwich and a better one.
If you have no ring, the alternatives that work:
- A metal cookie cutter, greased.
- A well-oiled tuna tin with both ends removed.
- A Mason jar lid ring.
- Nothing at all - cook it free-form and cut it round with a cutter afterwards. Slightly wasteful and completely fine.
Grease the ring properly or the white welds itself to it.
How to make it, step by step
The sausage
-
Mix the seasonings through the pork gently
All the dry seasonings scattered over the mince, then mixed with a fork rather than kneaded. Stop as soon as it is even - over-worked mince goes springy.
About 4 min -
Form four patties wider than the muffin
About 100 g each, 1 cm thick, and a good centimetre wider than the muffin - they shrink noticeably. A shallow dimple in the middle stops them doming.
About 4 min -
Fry three minutes a side in a dry pan
Medium-high heat, no oil - the pork renders plenty. Properly browned on both faces, cooked through to 71 °C.
About 7 min
The eggs and the build
-
Toast the muffins and butter them
Split with a fork rather than a knife - the ragged surface toasts better. Toast until properly golden, then butter while hot.
About 3 min -
Eggs in greased rings, water in, lid on, three minutes
Lightly oiled pan on a medium-low heat, greased rings, one egg in each. Add a tablespoon of water to the pan beside the rings, put the lid on, three minutes.
TipThe water and the lid are the technique. Without them you get a browned base and a raw top.About 4 min -
Build while everything is hot
Bottom muffin, sausage patty, cheese slice directly on the hot patty so it melts, then the egg, then the top. Eat it now.
About 2 min
Batch cooking these for the week, which genuinely works
Make eight. Cook the patties and the eggs, assemble completely, wrap each one individually in foil, and freeze. Three months.
To reheat from frozen: unwrap, wrap in a piece of kitchen paper, and microwave for 90 seconds, turning halfway. Or in a 180 °C oven in the foil for 20 minutes, which is better and slower.
The kitchen paper matters in a microwave - it absorbs the steam that would otherwise turn the muffin to foam.
This is genuinely as good as a shop one and costs about seventy pence. It is the single most practical batch-cook on this site for anybody who currently buys breakfast on the way to work.
The rest of the McMuffin range, from the same parts
| Version | What changes |
|---|---|
| Sausage and egg | As written |
| Bacon and egg | Two rashers of back bacon instead of the patty |
| Egg and cheese | No meat - add a second cheese slice |
| Double sausage | Two patties, no egg |
| Sausage only | No egg, and toast the muffin a little darker |
What four cost against buying four
| Component | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Pork mince | 400 g | £1.60 |
| English muffins | 4 | £0.55 |
| Eggs | 4 | £0.52 |
| Cheese and butter | - | £0.13 |
| Four at home | £2.80 | |
| Four Sausage and Egg McMuffins, UK price | £15.96 |
Ways to change it once you have made it once
Bacon and egg
Two rashers of back bacon, grilled crisp, in place of the sausage.
Vegetarian
A thick slice of halloumi, griddled, in place of the patty. Skip the cheese slice.
Folded egg
The other McMuffin egg style - beaten egg cooked flat like a thin omelette and folded into a square. Faster and less good.
What went wrong, and how to fix it
Each entry names a likely cause as well as a correction, so the advice remains useful when equipment, ingredients or batch size differ.
The patty shrank to half the muffin
- Why it happened
- Not made wide enough.
- What to do
- A centimetre wider than the muffin before cooking. They always shrink.
Springy, bouncy sausage
- Why it happened
- The mince was worked too hard.
- What to do
- Mix with a fork, briefly, and stop as soon as the seasoning is even.
The egg white stuck to the ring
- Why it happened
- The ring was not greased.
- What to do
- Oil or butter the inside of the ring every time.
Browned egg base, raw top
- Why it happened
- No lid and no water.
- What to do
- A tablespoon of water in the pan and the lid on. It steams the top.
Dry sausage
- Why it happened
- Lean pork mince.
- What to do
- 20% fat. Lean pork mince makes a dry crumbly patty whatever you do to it.
Questions people actually ask about this recipe
What makes McMuffin sausage taste like that?
Sage, generously, with black and white pepper and a little brown sugar. It is American breakfast sausage rather than a British banger.
How do I get the egg perfectly round?
A greased metal ring in a covered pan with a tablespoon of water. Three minutes on a medium-low heat.
Can I freeze assembled McMuffins?
Yes - fully assembled, wrapped in foil, for three months. Reheat in a microwave wrapped in kitchen paper for 90 seconds.
Why is my sausage patty bouncy?
The mince was worked too hard. Mix it gently with a fork and stop as soon as the seasoning is distributed.
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