Review: Cracker Barrel's Newest Menu Items Feature Familiar Favorites And One Standout Burger

The three new dishes on the Cracker Barrel menu offer both a blast from the past as well as a step into the future. Hamburger steak, an item from the very first Cracker Barrel menu in 1969, joins eggs in a basket, which is making a long-awaited comeback, while a ginormous breakfast burger topped with hash brown casserole and a sunny-side-up egg has its very first appearance on the menu.

The combination of dishes feels very appropriate for the chain right now. Last year, Cracker Barrel gave its rustic logo, which had been around for decades, a controversial makeover, then quickly reversed it, insisting that it's still committed to its homestyle roots. The two returning dishes certainly support that dedication, but the new breakfast burger suggests that Cracker Barrel doesn't intend to be held back by those roots, either.

I rushed over to Cracker Barrel to try the three new menu items  — I may have even been the first in my small town to try them — and can confidently say they're all worth the fuss. While each one brings something unique to the table, one surprising dish became my instant favorite.

All three of the new menu items at Cracker Barrel are reasonably priced for what they are. The eggs in the basket meal costs $9.99 and includes one classic side and choice of breakfast meat, while the hamburger steak is $11.99 and includes two classic sides. The breakfast burger is the most expensive at $14.99 with one side, but I wouldn't hesitate to pay that for a burger and fries at a place like Red Robin, and this is definitely that caliber of burger. 

All three dishes, along with a handful of other popular plates, are also part of Cracker Barrel's new "Meals for Two" special, with an appetizer or dessert and two entrees for $19.99, available after 11 a.m. on weekdays. Just make sure to ask your server for the deal — I forgot, and it wasn't applied to my check. It likely would have only saved a dollar or two, but it's still worth mentioning. And, as always, prices vary by location and may be higher in your area.

The new menu items are available nationwide, though if you go soon, you may have to convince your server that the eggs in the basket are back on the menu. There was quite an uproar when fans of the dish realized it had been removed from the menu some time ago, so servers are probably very used to politely disappointing guests who order it — mine gently warned me that it might not be available before she checked the menu herself.

If you've never had eggs in the basket before, Cracker Barrel's version is the one to try. It's made with two slices of sourdough with the middles cut out and grilled with a whole egg in the center of each. The eggs are apparently cooked to order, and though I never specified how I wanted mine — my server was so surprised to see it on the menu that she must have forgotten to ask — they came out over-medium, with just a little bit of runny yolk, which was just right for my tastes.

The tang of the sourdough plays nicely with the buttery, slightly nutty flavor of the egg yolk, and it's cooked to a crispy golden-brown, with a teensy bit of char on the edges. I'm stunned that Cracker Barrel manages to keep the yolk soft while still getting the bread so perfectly grilled — I've certainly never managed to do it myself. Sunny-side-up eggs are also an option, though I can't fathom how the chefs manage to make that work.

My favorite part of the dish was the coin-shaped bits of grilled bread that were cut out to make the holes. They're like savory little cookies, and I stuffed the last one in my mouth on the way out the door because I couldn't bear to risk it going stale in my takeout container.

Eggs in the basket comes in at 430 calories, not including the one side and the breakfast meat that come with the meal, which is fairly light for Cracker Barrel. It also has 20 grams of protein and 380 milligrams of sodium.

The hamburger steak (not to be confused with Salisbury steak), though very tasty, was my least favorite of the three new menu items at Cracker Barrel. It's a half-pound beef patty cooked to order in a buttery garlic sauce. It comes undressed, though you can order it with onion gravy — for an upcharge of $1.09.

And therein lies my gripe — without the gravy, it's a fine burger, but nothing spectacular. It is, after all, just a buttery burger patty. But I cheated and dipped it in the brown gravy from my mashed potato side dish, and it was phenomenal! Why would you not just serve it that way across the board?

Nutritionally, the hamburger steak has just a few more calories than the eggs in the basket, at 480 calories, not including the sides. It's got 33 grams of protein and a surprisingly reasonable 230 milligrams of sodium. The smothered option adds 80 calories and nearly doubles the sodium to 430 milligrams.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best burgers I've ever tasted. The 1/2-pound patty is cooked to order, seasoned simply, then topped with American cheese and bacon. That on its own would be delightful, but it only gets better when Cracker Barrel layers on a heap of cheesy hash brown casserole and a perfectly cooked sunny-side-up egg — the best type of egg to top a burger with.

It's a monster of a burger — I didn't even touch the top bun, but it would have been a knife-and-forker either way. Every single bite is heavenly. With three tasty entrees in front of me, the breakfast burger was the one that I kept going back to for more.

And here's the thing — I don't even really like eggs and wouldn't have ordered this burger on my own. And yet, I found myself dipping bite after bite into the yellow pool of yolk on my plate. I'm reheating my leftovers this morning and grieving the runny yolk that will no longer be. The breakfast burger is that good — it converted me.

It is, of course, also the most calorie-dense dish on this list at 1,200 calories, and that's before you count the sides. It has a whopping 2,690 milligrams of sodium and one of the top contenders for Cracker Barrel dishes that are loaded with salt. In its defense, though, with 67 grams of protein, the breakfast burger could easily be two entire meals' worth of food. 

I enjoyed all three of Cracker Barrel's new menu items. The eggs in the basket dish reminds me of sitting down to breakfast at my great-grandmother's house, and the hamburger steak is simple, yet satisfying — but definitely spend the extra dollar on the onion gravy, or do what I did, and get mashed potatoes with gravy as one of your sides.

But the breakfast burger stands out to me, not just as the best dish of the three, but perhaps as one of the best dishes on the Cracker Barrel menu as a whole, and certainly my new favorite to-go option from the restaurant. The hash brown casserole — made with frozen hash browns, believe it or not — was something I didn't know I needed on a burger, yet it works so perfectly, especially with the runny egg yolk coating every bite like a glorious golden sauce. If Cracker Barrel can convert an egg-agnostic diner like me, you know it has to be good.