12 Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwiches, Ranked

Everyone knows that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Stimulating your metabolism and fueling you with mental and physical energy, a balanced, healthy meal first thing in the morning can completely transform your day. The only problem? It isn't always easy to get up early and enjoy a cup of coffee, much less a filling breakfast. We're all guilty of the grab-and-go, reaching for breakfast bars, fast food sandwiches, or worse — a cardboard cup of coffee — instead of fueling up on real food. That's where Jimmy Dean comes in.

Jimmy Dean frozen breakfast sandwiches are easy to heat, warm sandwiches stacked with ingredients like egg, bacon, sausage, and cheese. The bread offerings go well beyond the standard English muffin, including fluffy croissants, buttery biscuits, sweet griddle cakes, and even ciabatta bread. The brand even has a line of high-protein, lower calorie options called Delights that make a healthy breakfast even more accessible — and in only 3 minutes or less. Out of the many options, it can be hard to choose which one to reach for, especially on busy mornings. I took the guesswork away, trying every standard sandwich option (and a few Delights) and ranking them from worst to best. Don't get me wrong — each sandwich is good, but some are seriously worth having in the freezer year-round.

There are no bad sandwiches in this lineup, but some have to be lower-rankedthan others. Most of Jimmy Dean's breakfast lineup includes sausage, egg, and cheese on various types of bread, and within the sausage category, the English muffin falls to the bottom of the list. Chewy and a little sweet, it doesn't taste as fresh, flaky, or buttery as the other bread options, leaving a little to be desired. In a close competition with many similar options, every detail matters — and the dense, chewy texture loses this build valuable points.

Like many sandwiches, I tried heating this one a few different ways. The refrigerator-thawed, then microwaved method proved the best — this way, the ingredients are given a chance to soften before being heated. The only problem, then, is that a microwaved English muffin can become overly soft. To avoid this, you can toast the sandwich for a minute, but the toasted result doesn't prove to be worth all the effort.

I wasn't sure what to expect of Delights, Jimmy Dean's healthier sandwich line, which is meant to be lower calorie and higher protein than the regular options. To achieve this, the sausage patties are made with turkey instead of pork, the egg yolks are removed from the whites, and the carb option is whole grain. This sounds — pun intended — delightful, but the question is, does it taste good? The answer depends on the type of sandwich.

Truthfully, each of the Delights were better than expected, the combination of healthy ingredients equally as flavorful as their higher-calorie counterparts. The turkey is neither dry nor bland, the cheese is still melty, and the egg is indistinguishable from those with yolks included. That just leaves the bread to be determined, which is multi grain in this version of the original English muffin. Like the sandwich ranked below it, the English muffin is fine, but not better than the other carb options. This led to its lower ranking among its competitors. The reason the Delights version edges ahead: It's healthier, and at no cost to the flavor or quality.

I was happy to learn that it isn't just me that likes chicken for breakfast — in fact, Jimmy Dean recently introduced three new full-size sandwiches featuring chicken, all tucked neatly into the brand's deliciously buttery biscuit. The sandwich is an ode to Southern comfort, invoking the deeply cozy flavor of biscuits and gravy or of waffles topped in crispy fried chicken. The spicy version makes the chicken a tongue-tingling hot, a unique twist that makes breakfast a little more interesting.

I'm not one to shy away from spicy breakfasts: I like salsa-drenched breakfast burritos, hot sauce laden tacos, and even some chorizo in my quiche. The spicy chicken honey biscuit had the potential to be a buzzy new breakfast option. The flavor is similar to a Buffalo chicken wing with a cayenne-flavored heat that lingers on the palate. For some, this might work, but for me, the sharp heat was a little overwhelming for a breakfast sandwich. Additionally, the chicken was a bit drier than the regular spice-less version. Paired with it being one of the smaller sandwiches in the bunch, I had to rank the spicy version of the chicken lower on the list.

The croissant proved to be an interesting experiment in reheating. The texture transformed when thawed slowly in the refrigerator, versus by low power in the microwave, where it remained dense and eventually soggy. Heated from thawed, the croissant is flaky and buttery, though still noticeably small and dense compared to a freshly-baked pastry. How it interacts with the other ingredients is what led to its lower ranking, though, more than the quality of the croissant itself.

Croissants are flaky, light, and delicate. When paired with a dense breakfast meat like sausage, a thick layer of egg, and a generous helping of cheese, the frozen croissant loses some of its buttery impact. While pork sausage lovers may enjoy the combination — the pork particularly forward between the small croissant halves — croissant lovers may be left disappointed. For a more flaky, croissant-forward sandwich, the simpler ham version pulls ahead, leaving this one closer to the bottom of the pack.

As already discussed, the Delights disguise their healthy qualities well, the turkey sausage nearly indistinguishable from the pork in regular versions. With that in mind, the Delights version of the sausage, egg, and cheese croissant is very similar to the original — so much so that, side-by-side, you may not even know the difference. What, then, gives the Delights Turkey Sausage, Egg White, and Cheese Croissant a significant edge over the original? It really comes down to the value.

The Delights Turkey Sausage, Egg White, and Cheese Croissant is 290 calories compared to the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Croissant at 400, making it a healthier option by just over 100 calories. The Delights version also contains 15 grams of protein compared to the regular's 13, meaning it packs a bigger punch for a smaller calorie count. This small difference can add up over time, especially if your dieting goals involve strict calories or high protein. A similar enough sandwich that is just a little healthier, the Delights Turkey Sausage, Egg White, and Cheese Croissant is the one worth getting.

McGriddle fans, this one is for you. In this sandwich, maple-infused miniature pancakes are stuffed with savory pork sausage, fluffy egg, and melty cheese in such a similar way to the famous fast food chain's version that it may as well be a dupe — a good one. Though the griddle cakes are less uniform than the ones on the McDonald's McGriddles, the flavor and texture are similar, the maple sweet and strong while the flapjack warm and fluffy. The ingredients inside are similar, too, though they aren't the same (that isn't necessarily a bad thing).

This sandwich is a delicious way to have a miniature pancake-layered breakfast without needing to wait in the line of a drive-through or replicate it yourself with various items from the store. The only reason the sandwich falls behind others is because the remaining five are stronger flavors, sturdier builds, and better value than the maple griddle cakes, which are straightforward and soft — almost too soft for containing the dense sausage, egg, and melty cheese.

If you've never tried blueberry with sausage, this is your sign to try it now. Blueberry gets a bad reputation as a sort of bland, sort of tart, generally uninteresting berry. However, that very same subtlety that earns its disdain among other fruits helps it stand out in bread and pastries. It adds a pleasant, tart sweetness to bagels and griddle cakes that compliments rich, salty pork and bacon. The subtle brightness is a perfect balance to the breakfast meat's savory quality. That's why, then, that the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Blueberry Griddle Cake works so well, and earns itself a seat nearer the top of the list of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.

The Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Blueberry Griddle Cake is better than the maple version by a hair, the brightness of the blueberry making the overall sandwich more balanced in flavor. The sausage, which can be dense and overwhelming on some sandwiches, is subdued by the blueberry's tart flavor — an interesting contrast of flavors in every bite. The only reason the blueberry griddle cake sandwich falls short of the top five is because of the griddle cake's soft, fall-apart texture, which makes it hard to eat. 

By looks alone, this sandwich is the gold standard of what breakfast sandwiches should be. Tall and stacked with perfectly round egg, browned sausage, melty cheese, and a fluffy biscuit, the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit is a perfected classic — and one that most breakfast sandwich-enjoyers would be perfectly satisfied with. The flavor is nothing unexpected, but rather, a straightforward option that tastes as you'd imagine it would. Why, then, doesn't the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit take the number one spot in the ranking?

If you love sausage and biscuits, this sandwich could easily be your first pick — especially knowing that you'd consistently have a good breakfast sandwich every time, with the easiest method of heating (no air fryer or extra toasting required). For this reason, I ranked it squarely in the middle of the rankings as neither a bad option, nor a particularly tasty or exciting one. The bacon more tasty and the chicken more interesting, I'd choose this one only if the other options were out of stock.

The thinner, more delicate texture and flavor of the ham and the absence of egg make the croissant shine in this version of the croissant sandwich. What I thought would be a low-value item turned out to be one of the better overall flavors because of its simplicity, which allows each ingredient to stand out. What would be underwhelming in the other versions I thought was perfect in this one, all because the ingredients within the sandwich better suit the flaky croissant.

The only drawback to the Croissant Ham and Cheese sandwiches is that it is not as filling as the sandwiches with egg. The small size becomes increasingly apparent as hunger grows throughout the morning, and though it is one of the sandwiches I'd reach for first, I was admittedly finding myself wanting two in order to feel fully satiated. I would keep these around for mornings when I am feeling particularly French, but I'd likely plan to eat them alongside other small breakfast sides.

Though there is no discernible visual difference between the regular chicken patty and the hot, the regular is far more moist and juicy with a crispier exterior. I tested the sandwiches with many heating methods, settling on the air fryer for the best chicken quality and the microwave for the best biscuit, and with both sandwiches heated the same way, the Chicken Honey Biscuit was still noticeably more tender. Because both sandwiches are fairly small in size with no toppings or sauces, the chicken quality makes a big difference to how good the sandwiches are.

The Chicken Honey Biscuit is more than just tender — it also has a good flavor from the honey in the biscuit, which is more prominent without the distraction of the spice. The sandwich still loses a few points for the lack of toppings and the long heat time (the air fryer takes 10 minutes, compared to the microwave's 3 minutes). Because it still works as a simple, straightforward sandwich, though, it lands solidly in the top three. With the addition of a simple, spicy sauce, this sandwich could easily become a breakfast favorite for me. 

In a sea of sausage patties, bacon is a welcome reprieve. One of only two bacon offerings in the entire Jimmy Dean sandwich lineup, the Biscuit, Bacon, Egg, and Cheese is a unique offering that relies on its meat differentiation, which could make or break the sandwich. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was glad to find that the bacon has a great flavor: rich and salty and slightly smoked without being overwhelming. It works well on the buttery biscuit, and though I can't be sure that the bacon is the cause of it, it seems to make the cheese more gooey as well.

I found that the best way to heat this one, like many others, is to thaw in the refrigerator first. Perhaps because this preserves the buttery quality of the biscuit before subjecting it to the high heat of the microwave, the sandwich was perfectly fluffy and buttery instead of flat and dense. This means, though, that the bacon remains limp instead of crisping, like it might in an air fryer. Instead of crispy bacon (as is shown on the box), the bacon is more similar to Canadian bacon in texture, with a taste still similar to typical smoked strips. Because the bacon flavor is so good, the biscuit is perfectly buttery, and the cheese is more gooey than other sandwiches, this sandwich ranks high in the list, sitting comfortably in second place.

Before testing nearly the entire lineup of Jimmy Dean sandwiches, I never would have expected one of the Delights to rank at the top of the list. Low calorie, high protein options have never been the more flavorful or better-value items, but Jimmy Dean has figured out how to make healthy taste good — in fact, the brand has managed to make healthy taste even better than the originals. In the case of the ciabatta, the Delights is the best sandwich of them all.

Ciabatta for breakfast is an artisanal option offered by restaurants like Panera Bread. The bread, when toasted, is crispy, crunchy, and airy on the inside, making it a great base for heftier toppings like sausage, egg, and cheese. For many Jimmy Dean sandwiches, the sausage overwhelms the delicate bread options — but on the ciabatta, it fits right in. This sandwich is visibly larger than the others and has the flair of being artisanal, as though it never came from the freezer section at all. Better yet, it is one of the lowest calorie options at just 260 calories per sandwich, making it a healthy option with great value. This is the sandwich I'd keep on hand, knowing I'd always have a great breakfast to look forward to.

Like any ranking, I first judged the sandwiches on taste alone, reviewing each for the best quality and flavor. Because many of the sandwiches use similar elements, I also evaluated how the ingredients interacted with each other, noting which combinations best used each ingredient. To give a fair advantage to each sandwich, I tested each with several heating methods, taking note of which heating method worked best for each ingredient and evaluating the sandwich's best version. From there, I ranked on best value, noting which sandwiches were bigger, more filling, healthier, and easiest to heat.