McDonald's Workers Don't Cook The Folded Eggs

For a quick, cheap, and convenient breakfast, look no further than McDonald's. You'll find plenty of egg-based offerings on its breakfast menu, with dishes like the iconic Egg McMuffin, the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit, and the Big Breakfast being particular standouts. But the eggs aren't all prepared in the same way. In fact, McDonald's offers four different styles: round eggs, scrambled eggs, folded eggs, and sausage burrito eggs. Some are cooked in-store, while others arrive premade. Folded eggs fall into the latter category, arriving at McDonald's locations flash-frozen.

You'll find folded eggs on McDonald's breakfast biscuits, bagels, and McGriddles. Surprisingly, only one McDonald's breakfast sandwich uses freshly cracked eggs. Before they're shipped out, liquid eggs are poured into rectangular molds on top of a buttered flat-top griddle. After the eggs have cooked and set, the molds are removed and the eggs are folded into thirds. This gives them their signature square shape before they're flash-frozen, packed into plastic bags, and shipped to McDonald's locations.

Preparing the eggs off-site saves McDonald's restaurants valuable time while also keeping each portion consistent. After all, quick service and consistency are two of the cornerstones of the fast food industry. Once they arrive at the restaurant, the folded eggs are reheated on a flat-top grill with spray-on butter, covered with a lid, and lightly steamed with water. They're then moved into heated holding cabinets, where they stay warm until they're ready to be added to a breakfast sandwich.

On McDonald's breakfast menu, the two types of eggs you'll most often see paired with sandwiches are the folded eggs and round ones. Scrambled eggs are reserved for the Big Breakfast, while sausage burrito eggs are used exclusively in the Sausage Burrito, the only wrap-based offering on the breakfast menu. They're essentially folded eggs with pork sausage, tomatoes, and green chiles mixed in.

The round egg is distinct because it's the only sandwich egg made with freshly cracked eggs prepared in-store. The scrambled eggs are also made to order, but they use a liquid egg product. As the name suggests, the round eggs are cracked into circular molds, which McDonald's commissioned specifically to give them the perfect shape for an Egg McMuffin. Contrary to popular belief, these eggs aren't fried. Instead, they're cracked into ring molds on the flat-top grill, then surrounded with steam until they're set. Like the folded eggs, they're then kept warm until they're ready to be placed on a sandwich. Pro tip: If you're making a copycat version at home, break up the egg yolks before steaming for the closest possible results.

The different preparation methods make folded eggs an interesting substitute for round eggs, and vice versa. Since folded eggs start out as a liquid egg product but aren't scrambled, they're closer in texture to an omelet than a steamed egg, giving them a slightly fluffier bite. If you're after even more flavor and substance, you can swap in sausage burrito eggs yourself — just order a Sausage Burrito on the side and transfer the filling. The added ingredients mixed in make them the more exciting option.