Every Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich, Ranked Worst To Best

What's your go-to Starbucks order? Some are only in it for the drinks, be it iced shaken espresso, iced lattes, or budget-friendly Starbucks drinks that fall under $5. Others are interested in Starbucks' impressive food lineup, like the vast selection of hot breakfast items, or more specifically, the chain's ever-popular breakfast sandwiches.

While some breakfast sandwiches have come and gone from Starbucks menus over the years (I'll never forget you, Spicy Chorizo Sandwich), others have remained steadfast in the game. Starbucks currently features six breakfast sandwiches in its lineup, and I've purchased every one of them in hopes of determining which one is worthy of being your morning go-to.

Now, as someone who used to work at Starbucks and has eaten many sandwiches on this list countless times, I definitely went into this ranking with some pre-existing opinions. That said, I tasted each one with an open mind and paid close attention to which had the best ingredient ratios (we're talking egg-to-meat-to-bread) and those which overall struck me as the tastiest ones. I ultimately based my ranking not on of my pre-existing opinions, but rather the impression that each sandwich left as I tried them specifically for this article.

Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich used to be my absolute go-to in college when I wanted a boost in the morning but didn't have a huge appetite. It's notorious for being a lighter option on the Starbucks menu, and it is the lowest-calorie option of all the sandwiches, coming in at 260 calories. While that lighter portion size used to be appealing to me back in the day, I wasn't quite as impressed with it this time around.

My biggest grievance with the Turkey Bacon, Cheddar & Egg White Sandwich is that the turkey bacon portion was diabolically small — that tiny strip you see in the picture was truly all I got. So, this handheld ended up tasting more like an egg white sandwich more than anything else, and as you can guess, it was pretty bland as a result. I also wasn't detecting any notes of cheddar, which combined with the lackluster amount of turkey bacon led to this one being much more of a dud than anything else. Maybe I caught Starbucks on a bad day, or I lost the lottery when it came to the inventory of Turkey Bacons in the back, but I simply cannot forgive a sammie with hardly any of the namesake meat and an overall bland flavor profile.

It pains me to rank Starbucks Bacon, Gouda & Egg Sandwich this low, as this one has been an absolute staple throughout several periods of my life. Perhaps I once again got unlucky with the specific one I was given, or perhaps the quality of these sandwiches has gone downhill over the years, but this one just missed the mark through and through.

To start, the fillings-to-bread ratio was all off here. One of the (typically) great things about the Bacon Gouda is that it comes on a ciabatta roll, but the roll was absolutely overpowering all the other ingredients here. The ciabatta was incredibly doughy and pretty bland, which wouldn't have been such an issue had there been a better balance with the fillings to back it up. This particular Bacon Gouda was also sorely lacking on the bacon, but to be fair, it wasn't quite as offensive as the lack of turkey bacon on the previous one. I can't say that this breakfast sammie tasted bad, but I became quickly tired of how much bread I was chewing with every bite, and I longed for more of those savory bacon and Gouda notes to shine through. 

In my humble opinion, it's hard to beat the classic sausage, egg, and cheese formula on a breakfast sandwich. Starbucks certainly picked up the cue, with its Sausage, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich being a steadfast and beloved member of the breakfast food lineup. And, I'm not here to deny that the popular coffee chain mostly got the formula right — but I still don't think this is the best option on the list.

I know it probably comes across as a bit silly to complain about receiving too much of something from a food chain, but I genuinely believe the Sausage, Cheddar & Egg is just too big. It's downright super-stacked — between the thick sausage patty, egg, and hefty layer of cheese — and I found myself wanting to tap out after a few bites. The sausage patty is just a touch too greasy for my taste, and the English muffin a little too tough and chewy. Is Sausage, Cheddar & Egg a tasty breakfast option? Absolutely, and I do appreciate the rich, savory notes it offers. But it has some drawbacks, including the chewiness of the muffin and the greasiness of the sausage, which make it more of a middle-ground option.

The only Starbucks menu item on this list that I hadn't previously tried was the Egg, Pesto & Mozzarella Sandwich. Admittedly, I didn't have incredibly high hopes for it. As someone who generally only likes fresh, homemade pesto and gravitates more toward breakfast sandwiches with meat on them, this vegetarian, frittata-based handheld left me pleasantly surprised in more than one way.

To start, I'd argue that the pesto on this sammie is one of the better non-homemade ones I've tried. I could actually pick up on the basil notes, and it generally tasted fresh (or at least as fresh as possible on a fast food-adjacent food item). I was worried that the lack of meat would lead to an imbalanced ratio, but the frittata base pulled some hefty weight on this one, and it felt nicely balanced against the pesto, mozzarella cheese, and ciabatta bun. Unlike the ciabatta bread on the Bacon Gouda, in this version it boasted a cheddar and onion crust, and it was much tastier and far less raw bread-like than the lower-performing option. Overall, I can't say the Egg, Pesto & Mozzarella Sandwich made me a convert for life, but it is a tasty option and a great addition to Starbucks' breakfast and vegetarian lineups alike.

Although I'm not a vegetarian, I've dabbled quite a bit in plant-based meat alternative brands, and it's safe to say that some are better than others. One such alternative that has proven to be quite a success is the Impossible brand. Though the company is perhaps best known for its burgers, it also makes the delicious plant-based sausage that goes in a beloved Starbucks sandwich.

Not only is Impossible Breakfast Sandwich a great option for vegetarians, but it's also generally a great option that anyone can enjoy. There's something so satisfying about the balance that this handheld has to offer, starting with the sausage-like patty that does taste a whole lot like actual sausage (sans the grease that comes with the real sausage sandwich Starbucks offers). But the well-spiced Impossible sausage patty doesn't stand alone. Fried egg and cheddar cheese offer plenty of flavor and buttery notes, while the ciabatta bun once again proves that Starbucks is capable of delivering a decent version of this bread. Overall, the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich is cohesive, rich, savory, and delicious, and yes, it is better than the actual sausage version.

Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich stands out for a few key reasons. The most obvious one is that croissant bun, which none of the other handhelds in Starbucks' breakfast repertoire can lie claim to. Next is the hefty amount of bacon that comes on a given sammie — far more than what I got with the Bacon Gouda sandwich. Finally, the thing that stands out most about the Double-Smoked Bacon, to me at least, is how sheerly delicious it is.

While I mostly enjoyed nearly all of the players in this lineup, none of them could really compete with this absolute behemoth (complementary) of a breakfast sandwich. Double-Smoked Bacon has it going on in all the right ways, from the hearty fried egg to the smoky bacon and the buttery croissant bun. The bun is my favorite part of the entire thing; while I've seen some arguments that it's too sweet, I simply don't think it is. To me, the croissant bun offers the perfectly flaky, buttery bite with just the right hint of sweetness to contrast the otherwise very savory fillings. Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Egg Sandwich gives me something to look forward to in the morning, and I sincerely hope it's an offering that the chain never alters or (gasp!) dares to discontinue.

Starbucks has some tight competition in its breakfast sandwich lineup, so my main goal here was to differentiate those that were good from those that were great, as opposed to necessarily pinpointing any that were bad. All of the handhelds in this lineup have something to offer, but for me, the best ones were those with nicely balanced ingredients (and a good ratio between bread, egg, meat, and so forth), those with standout flavors, and those that simply managed to impress me for whatever given reason. The bread ended up being a bigger component than I'd initially assumed — certain bready bases brought the overall handheld down, while others lifted theirs up. 

As for how I went about tasting each sandwich, considering that Starbucks heated them all up before I brought them home, I thought it's only fair to try them all relatively fresh and warm. So, I first went through and gave each one a bite to get an initial impression, then I noted which ones I was more inclined to return to. Ultimately, each sandwich got an equal amount of attention as I determined the ranking, though it did become quickly apparent which I liked right off the bat and those I wasn't quite as excited to return to.