The Store-Bought Sausage You Need For A Copycat McDonald's Breakfast Sandwich

If you're a fan of McDonald's breakfast sausage sandwiches and you consider yourself a crafty recipe hacker, you won't want to miss this copycat trick. When you're hankering for a savory Sausage McMuffin with a fresh-cracked egg or a Sausage Biscuit with egg, don't head to McDonald's. Head to Walmart, pick up a package of Great Value Fully Cooked Original Sausage Patties, and whip up your own McMuffin, instead. 

The Great Value brand sausage works well in copycat recipes because its ingredient make-up is nearly identical to the ingredients in McDonald's sausage patties. The Walmart and the Mickey D's sausage brands contain an assortment of spices and seasonings, including sugar, rosemary extract, and salt — and in nearly the same proportion. The only major difference between the two sausage recipes seems to be the fat content.  Otherwise, from a flavor perspective, they're pretty much the same, which means you're good to go come sandwich time. All you need to do is pop a Great Value sausage on your stove-top griddle and you'll be on your way to your own sausage McMuffin.

The McDonald's breakfast menu features several different sausage sandwiches with three possible bread options: English muffin, a biscuit, and pancakes. The breakfast sausage combos mix and match ingredients like sausage — naturally — as well as scrambled eggs and cheese. McDonald's sausage patties come pre-seasoned, but the sandwiches usually come without condiments, though the pancake varieties have the taste of maple syrup built into them. 

This approach to sandwich-making has a certain logic to it. The point of franchise food is to ensure that the sausage sandwich you have in Albuquerque tastes the same as the one you'll get in Boise, which, incidentally, also tastes the same as the one you'll get in New Orleans. In other words, the flavor is consistent no matter where you are. This is why people love to eat at chains like McDonald's (aside from the nostalgia factor that gets drummed up when you let your kids go wild at the McDonald's PlayPlace). 

However, you have more flexibility at home. So if you really can't do your sausage patties without some black pepper, oregano, or other spices of your choice, you can break with protocol here and add them. Same goes for condiments. Just ladle out big scoops of mayo or tablespoons of your homemade coffee barbecue sauce to decorate that puppy before you serve it. It'll be just like the one you get at the McDonald's drive-thru, only better.