8 Frozen Breakfast Sandwiches, Ranked

Egg, cheese, sausage or bacon, and a tasty croissant or biscuit, there's not much needed for a fantastic breakfast sandwich. But the way that these simple handhelds get us fueled for the day is second to none. Many restaurants put their own spin on the classic with additions like silver dollar pancakes, gourmet sausage, and sliced avocado.

If you're a breakfast sandwich lover, you'll be happy to know that you can find plenty of options in your grocery store's freezer for a fraction of what they cost at a restaurant. This portable item is a staple among fast food and convenience stores, but you can also find upscale and elevated versions at sit-down restaurants. Fortunately, they're just as common in the grocery store freezer section, ready in just a few minutes when you make them at home, and perfect for an on-the-go breakfast.

We tried a good selection of top brands to see which breakfast sandwiches we would add to our menu. Evaluating for taste, texture, availability, and price were our top criteria but we also noted which had more nutrition than others since getting ready for the day with plenty of fuel is an important part of breakfast. We also looked at which ones were limited to just a store or two and if they were worth a special trip.

In our side-by-side taste test, the Signature Select breakfast sandwiches were indistinguishable from the Jimmy Dean version, but cost a bit less most of the time, with one major catch. When we went to pick them up, we were able to get the Jimmy Dean version for less using our store loyalty card. The two options are evenly matched when it comes to taste and texture, so just go with whichever is cheaper if you're at Safeway grabbing freezer breakfasts.

Each one has 12 grams of protein and is 420 calories, which is on the low side for protein and high on calories. They're on the salty side, but that was expected given that they have a large sausage patty and they tasted like most other sausage sandwiches that we tried.

The downside of Signature Select is that you have to travel to that store, however. They weren't worth a special trip and were very similar to other croissant, egg, sausage, and cheese sandwiches. Signature Select also has sausage sandwiches on biscuits and English muffins, as well as a bacon croissant sandwich. Overall, it's a delicious option but nothing out of the ordinary.

The flaky croissant is the star of the classic Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich. These are available at most grocery stores and come in a 4-pack or 8-pack. There are a lot of Jimmy Dean breakfast options, including these croissant, egg, cheese, and sausage sandwiches, as well as those with griddle cakes, biscuits, and English muffins. The best part of Jimmy Dean breakfasts is that you can find them at almost any store where you do your regular shopping, and there is always a decent selection.

These were a bit on the greasy side and had a hard time staying together, since the melted cheese made everything slide around. Once we reassembled the sandwich, this gooey cheese was a definite plus to the taste and texture. Each sandwich is 400 calories and has 13 grams of protein. Be ready with a few napkins on hand because this sandwich is a bit messy.

The package with four sandwiches costs around $9, but you can find a small discount of $1 by using a store loyalty card. This works out to a bit more than $2 per sandwich, which isn't a huge savings over a similar sandwich at a convenience store. If you're already at the store and want to have these as a breakfast option at home, Jimmy Dean is a good buy. But we wouldn't go out of our way to get them specifically since there are plenty of other options that taste just as good for less.

You can get the four-pack of Great Value breakfast sandwiches for around $5.80, a couple of dollars less than a similar sandwich from Jimmy Dean. They come in tasty croissants, just like the name brand version. 

The sausage is tasty and the cheese melts quickly. Even though this resulted in a bit of slipping when our sandwich heated up, it was easy to put it back together before we ate. We made a few sandwiches and this only happened once, which we attribute to us being in a hurry to enjoy them and not the actual sandwich itself. If you make sure that all of the ingredients are neatly stacked before popping it in the microwave, you'll end up with a neater sandwich. The cheese still melts quite a bit, so napkins are good to keep nearby.

Each sandwich has 13 grams of protein and 390 calories, making them almost identical in the nutrition department as the name brand version. If you like Jimmy Dean and find yourself at Walmart, you can pick up the store brand with confidence that you won't be able to tell the difference. The downside to the Great Value version is that it's only sold at Walmart. We're not sure we'd make a special trip just to save a few dollars when Jimmy Dean is carried at so many other grocery stores. But if we were already shopping at Walmart, we'd stock up on these knowing that they'd replace the pricier version in our shopping list.

The egg and cheese pitas from Sandwich Bros. were a surprise rockstar on our list. Normally, we'd shy away from a breakfast sandwich without meat like sausage or bacon, but the portability of these little snack bites more than made up for their lighter presence. While we might not turn to them with the same enthusiasm as one of the heartier options, especially when we're hungry in the morning, they were a great choice for the days that we didn't want to sit and eat a messy sandwich at the table. The tidier pita and smaller size also worked well for our young kids, who tend to make messes when they go with a standard breakfast sandwich.

The pita forms the pocket for scrambled egg and gooey cheese. If you like this upgrade to your breakfast sandwich, it'll knock your socks off when you apply the same idea to your grilled cheese.

There are six pitas in each box, which costs around $7.50. That seems like a great value, but given their smaller size, you really need two to get the same amount of fuel as a standard breakfast sammie. Each one only has 8 grams of protein but a whopping 170 calories.

If you want something a little heftier, you can get an egg white and turkey sausage pita or a sausage and cheese option. However, both are harder to track down, and we only saw the sausage and cheese version in one other store. The egg and cheese was the most widely available of the three breakfast flavors.

If you're doing without bread, try the Eggwich from Trader Joe's. Scrambled egg forms the "bun" for the sandwich, which is a little pricey but delicious. It's packed with 16 grams of protein and only 190 calories, so this is our go-to choice if we want the flavors, fuel, and convenience of a breakfast sandwich without the higher calorie count. It's made with turkey sausage that isn't greasy, which is important since the egg doesn't protect your hands from as much mess as a croissant or biscuit would.

There are only two sandwiches in the box and it's $5.50, so don't go for this option if you want the most economical choice. Trader Joe's doesn't offer a store loyalty card, sales, or coupons so you can expect the price to remain pretty consistent. It's still a good value, especially considering the high cost of the raw ingredients if you were to make this from scratch yourself. We're just not sure we'll be stocking up on this one for our regular breakfasts. However, it's perfect to keep in the freezer when you need something handy with plenty of protein and delicious flavor.

Aldi has one of the best value breakfast sandwiches out there from the store brand Breakfast Best. This is one of the many in-house brands from Aldi, which offer great pricing on staples like baking supplies, freezer essentials, and pantry items. The box of four sandwiches costs around $5.50, which comes out to a little more than $1 per sandwich. Compared to what you'd get at a restaurant or even a convenience store, this is a fantastic value.

Each sandwich has 410 calories and 14 grams of protein, which isn't the worst but still not the best out of the options that we tried. These are also a bit smaller with a thinner sausage patty and a smaller amount of eggs. They're very similar to the name brand and other store brand options, so unless you're tasting them side-by-side, you probably won't notice the slightly smaller size. Of all of the Jimmy Dean-style breakfast sandwiches, this is the best value, making it our go-to choice for that style of sammie.

They're only sold in small packages of 4 and sometimes not on the shelves, but if you can find them, they're worth stocking up on. Aldi also carries biscuit sandwiches with all the same fixin's, plus an English muffin sandwich with Canadian bacon. It's hard to find frozen breakfast sandwiches with Canadian bacon, so if this is your preferred breakfast meat, it's definitely worth a trip to Aldi. 

The Red's all-natural maple sausage Egg'Wich was the second of the gluten-free varieties that we tried, so we were expecting more of the same. The egg was comparable to the Trader Joe's version but the chicken maple sausage made it something extra special.

Two sandwiches are $5.29, making them a little bit cheaper than the Trader Joe's version as well. They're still more expensive than other breakfast sandwiches but worth the higher cost in our opinion. They were full of flavor from the cheese and sausage, plus protein from two egg patties. Overall, they have 16 grams of protein and 200 calories, which is in the same ballpark as other egg-wiches.

These can be a little bit harder to track down, so be prepared to make a special trip. However, these were one of the sandwiches that we'd go out of our way to pick up. Red's also makes a turkey sausage and cheese Egg'Wich, but since it's the chicken maple sausage that makes these stand out, we'll stick with that flavor for now.

If you're a Costco member, the Kirkland Signature breakfast sandwiches should absolutely be on your shopping list, just like they were on our top frozen breakfast items from Costco. The croissant is especially light and buttery, with seasoned egg whites and a generous amount of bacon and cheese. These have 19 grams of protein and are only 390 calories, which works for those who want a breakfast sandwich with some extra protein.

These sandwiches are giant-sized and come in a large box, not surprising given that they're from Costco. You'll need a good amount of freezer space for them, but each one is individually wrapped so you can take them out of the large box and store them a bit easier.

The only downside to these sandwiches is that you have to be a Costco member (or get a friend with an active membership to pick them up for you). We wouldn't pay the annual fee just to pick up breakfast sandwiches, even though they were our favorite for taste and texture. But if you'll stock up on other items like baking essentials, premade foods, or freezer favorites, the breakfast sandwiches are a great addition. They are one of the only breakfast sandwiches that we would make a special trip to get, which is ultimately what earned them the top spot on our list.

To figure out which breakfast sandwiches were the best of the best, we tried sausage, egg, and cheese versions from a variety of brands to compare the taste and quality. Whenever possible, we stuck with croissants for the best comparison. It was easier to see which was lighter and fluffier, as well as which sandwiches held up without falling apart. Most had traditional breakfast sausage, but there were also a few brands that came with other breakfast meat, such as turkey sausage, bacon, or meat-free. We also added a few gluten-free options that used eggs in place of bread to see how these protein-rich options measured up.

In addition to taste and texture, we looked at availability since the best breakfast items are as convenient as they are delicious. Some of the best-priced options that would normally beat out the name brands were harder to track down or required a special trip, bumping them down on our list. But overall, it was taste and quality that won out, and our top picks earned top marks for both.