The Single Ingredient McDonald's Swapped To Improve The Egg McMuffin

If you stop in a McDonald's drive-thru in the morning, the fast food chain has a few different breakfast sandwich options. The Egg McMuffin features an egg patty, Canadian bacon, melted American cheese, and real butter on an English muffin. However, one of those ingredients hasn't been a staple in the dish since the sandwich's beginning. 

Back in 2015, McDonald's switched to using real butter on its Egg McMuffins. Previously, the fast food chain had used liquid margarine. After the change was announced and stores ran out of their margarine stocks, real butter became the standard for the fast food chain. Since butter is made from heavy cream, its addition to the breakfast sandwiches added an extra smooth flavor, which made for a little extra richness in every bite.

The butter isn't just limited to the Egg McMuffins. If you order any breakfast sandwich — either on a biscuit, muffin, or a bagel – McDonald's will add that rich, real butter to your order.

The concept for the Egg McMuffin came about in 1971. Some American McDonald's locations had begun testing out breakfast menu ideas the previous year, but the iconic breakfast sandwich made its debut in a Santa Barbara, California location after being invented by Herb Peterson. He had originally been inspired by eggs benedict but found that packaged Hollandaise sauce didn't exactly meet his standards. He swapped in some cheese for the sauce and added the Canadian bacon, instead.

Test markets sampled the Egg McMuffin for only 63 cents per sandwich back in 1972, when it was also served with a side of fruit jam or honey. After finding success, the breakfast sandwich was added to McDonald's menus nationwide. The sandwich even served as the catalyst for the full breakfast menu being added later in 1977.

Though the sandwich hasn't seen too many changes throughout the years, the swap from margarine to real butter certainly made a change in the feel of the dish.

Though the taste may be favorable, the choice to use butter over margarine could raise some concerns regarding making health-conscious dining choices. WebMD reports that using margarine in place of butter is beneficial because it contains unsaturated fats that can improve cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and lower the risk of heart disease. Butter, meanwhile, includes saturated and trans fats, which increase cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.

Still, some people(including the Pioneer Woman herself, Ree Drummond) champion the taste of butter over margarine. Butter also melts at a lower temperature than margarine, according to Anchor Food Professionals, which can make for a better flavor. Additionally, the flavors of butter can't really be replicated in margarine due to the exclusion of cream.

Although the switch from liquid margarine to real butter may not have been the most health-conscious decision, McDonald's seems to have chosen to promote its food's quality and flavor above all else.