The Egg McMuffin Celebrates 50 years

As McDonald’s celebrates 50 years of this iconic breakfast sandwich, there’s no better time for our fans to try these twists for themselves than on Thursday, Nov. 18, when we’re offering the Egg McMuffin at a throwback price of 63 cents on the McDonald’s app.

“The Egg McMuffin, the first-ever quick service restaurant breakfast sandwich, joined the McDonald’s menu in 1971 in Santa Barbara, California, and customers have been getting creative with it ever since,” said Molly McKenna, McDonald’s Senior Director of Brand Communications. “It‘s been fun to see all the ways they’ve made it their own – whether it’s adding some heat with salsa or sweetness with jam or combining it with the Sausage McMuffin, they’re always innovating. I personally love to add a little heat to my Egg McMuffin.”

It’s no secret McDonald’s fans love to hack their favorite menu items to make their meals a little – extra – and that’s especially true for the OG breakfast sandwich, the Egg McMuffin. From adding a McChicken patty and syrup for a DIY take on chicken & waffles, to swapping the English Muffins for two Hash Browns…the ways to mix it up are endless.

The Egg McMuffin wasn’t initially appreciated for the genius idea it was. “… it was a crazy idea — a breakfast sandwich,” McDonald’s President Ray Kroc wrote in his memoir, Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s.

The aforementioned “crazy idea” was dreamed up by one Herb Peterson, a McDonald’s franchise owner with three locations in Santa Barbara, California. A fan of Egg Benedicts, Peterson wanted to design an Eggs Benny-inspired sandwich that would give him an excuse to open his restaurants before lunchtime. Thus, in 1971, the pioneering restaurateur invented the Egg McMuffin: that tantalizing tower of toasted English muffin, egg, Canadian bacon, and melted American cheese.