Forget The Egg McMuffin, We Want To Try McDonald's Nicaraguan Breakfast Instead

In the U.S., McDonald's breakfast means egg or sausage McMuffins, hash browns, and hotcakes. But it's known that around the world, McDonald's varies its international menus to cater to local tastes. If you head to Nicaragua, that means a breakfast menu that's more in line with a typical Central American breakfast.

The traditional breakfast platter in Nicaragua, for instance, features scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, plantains, beans, crema, and chirmol, a tangy tomato salsa. That's a lot more elements than the McDonald's "Big Breakfast" in the U.S., which only includes eggs and sausage, plus a hash brown and biscuit. If you're not big on sausage, McDonald's Nicaragua also offers the McCrispy Pinto breakfast platter, featuring two pieces of fried chicken, fried cheese, tortillas, and gallo pinto, a mix of rice and beans with onion, garlic and peppers.

Many breakfast sandwiches and wraps lean on the same ingredients. The breakfast wrap mixes up eggs, fried cheese, sausage, plantain, and gallo pinto, while the McMuffin Nica includes refried beans,cheese, egg, and sausage. There's also a bean and egg McMuffin if you want to keep it simple. For homesick Americans in Nicaragua, you can still get some of those classics like the egg or sausage McMuffin and hotcakes (no biscuits or bagels, though).

If you want to get a taste of these kinds of different items, take note that McDonald's isn't nearly as ubiquitous in Nicaragua as the USA, with just nine restaurants in the country. That said, you don't have to be in Nicaragua to sample the way McDonald's does beans or plantains. McDonald's in neighboring countries serve similar breakfasts: The traditional platter in Guatemala is nearly identical, as is the version in El Salvador, while in Honduras you'll drop the salsa and crema but get a scramble with veggies mixed in.

Back in Nicaragua, if you miss breakfast hours, there are still some unique menu items to try. While the burgers and fries served at lunch and dinner seem closer to the U.S. offerings — although sometimes with naming differences, like the Quarter Pounder being called the "McNifica" – there are a few more distinctly Central American options. Fried cheese bites or a toasted sandwich with beans and cheese are options for a light snack. Apart from chicken nuggets, the menu in Nicaragua notably also includes bone-in wings, which had a brief, unsuccessful run in the American market. 

For bigger appetites, there's a cheeseburger with guacamole and pico de gallo. Those with a sweet tooth may also appreciate some interesting desserts: A strawberry-cream pie, a cheese pie, and a McFlurry with tangy Tajín seasoning and orange, one of many McFlurry flavors we wish could be added to the menu stateside.