We sing the praises of Aldi breakfast foods early and often here at Aldi Reviewer, whether it’s the simple things like eggs or the more complicated things like pancakes and sausage on a stick. For the most part, Aldi’s breakfast foods are fabulous, enough so that we think they make a pretty mean imitation on a fast food meal.
Most breakfast foods take a little time to prepare, but sometimes you don’t have that time. Cereal is fast enough, but what if you want something more substantial? Well, that’s where a frozen breakfast sandwich can come in.
Breakfast Best Eggs, Canadian Bacon, and American Cheese Muffin Sandwiches are an Aldi Regular Buy, meaning they are available year-round. They can be found in the frozen section, usually next to their Breakfast Best counterpart, the Breakfast Best Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches. We bought the sandwiches for $4.29 as part of our Instacart test, which comes out to about $1.07 a sandwich. (It would be a little less if we bought them in-store.) This is a fair bit more than it costs to make one of these by hand, but also less than buying one at a fast-food restaurant.
Each sandwich comes in a plastic wrapper, which has to be removed prior to heating up. The instructions come with only one method of preparation: the microwave. Those instructions require 1) wrapping the sandwich in a paper towel, 2) heating it at 30% power for 90 seconds, then 3) flipping the sandwich and heating it at full power for 60-65 seconds. If you don’t know how to set your heat settings on your microwave, the first time cooking these can take a little town.
The paper towel part, by the way, is crucial, because it helps to evenly cook the sandwich. If you don’t wrap the sandwich properly, some parts of it may be cold while other parts might dry out and be stone-hard.
The sandwich is okay. It did come out hot from the microwave, and it tasted decently enough, but the texture of both the muffin and the Canadian bacon were a bit on the rubbery side. It’s really easy to pull the Canadian bacon out entirely while taking a bite, and that can jostle everything else out of place, which can make for a small mess if you’re not careful. On the upside, I found that the cheese stayed in this sandwich better than it did in the sausage biscuit sandwich, so there’s that.
Nutritionally, I couldn’t help but notice that this sandwich is a lot healthier for you than the Breakfast Best sausage and biscuit sandwich. It has a lot fewer calories, less than a quarter of the fat, less cholesterol, and lower sodium. Between the two, this is the far more nutritionally sound way to start your day.
Nutrition information. (Click to enlarge.)
The Verdict:
Breakfast Best Eggs, Canadian Bacon, and American Cheese Muffin Sandwiches are a bit of a mixed bag. They’re easy to make (after you get the hang of it) and have decent taste, but the texture is a little on the rubbery side, which makes them less fun to eat then they should. The microwave preparation may be the reason for that, but there are no other cooking options, either. On the positive side, these are a lot better for you than the Breakfast Best Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches, so if you’re looking to keep things more healthy while also hot and speedy, they’re at least worth a look.
Your experience with the Breakfast Best Canadian Bacon, Egg & American Cheese Muffin Breakfast Sandwich being like rubber is easily solved, but takes an extra step.
When you take the sandwich out of the bag, disassemble it. Place the English muffins in a toaster and let it crisp up the muffins. Then, take the Canadian bacon, egg patty and cheese (the cheese facing on top) and put it on a microwave plate and nuke for about 2 minutes. When all is heated, reassemble the sandwich. It’s 1000 percent better when made this way.