When anthropologists of the future look back at the last half of the 20th century, they may give credit to McDonald’s for one thing above all else: inventing the breakfast sandwich.
Searching for a way to get customers through the doors in the morning hours, someone at the fast-food giant came up with the perfect solution. They took an English muffin, placed a muffin-shaped egg on top of it along with a slice of Canadian bacon and American cheese, and in a stroke of marketing genius called it an Egg McMuffin.
Not only did McDonald’s profits skyrocket with the new product, but that also forced its competitors to come up with breakfast items of their own.
And thus the breakfast sandwich became a uniquely American tradition.
But you don’t have to go through the drive-thru to get a breakfast sandwich. They are easy to make at home and relatively fast.