The McDonald's Breakfast Order That's The Best Value For Your Money

It's often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but many of us are running out the door first thing and don't have time to put together the homemade spread of our dreams. Fortunately, the fast food gods caught on, and we're now served morning meals that save so many from distractingly empty stomachs. Today, the chain offers a sizable selection of breakfast sandwiches, wraps, platters, and sides to suit just about any craving. But if you're too bleary-eyed before your first sip of its signature McCafé to decide what to have, we've got you covered.

Instead of a handheld or a bowl of fruit and maple oatmeal, go all in for the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes. It'll set you back a few dollars more, but it manages to scratch both the sweet and savory itch if you can't make a judgment call. And it's significantly more substantial than some other items, so you get more morning oomph and energy for your dollar and your day ahead.

The Big Breakfast with Hotcakes comes with just about everything a breakfast lover could dream of. A fluffy biscuit with a hot sausage patty, savory scrambled eggs, crisp hash browns, and even a stack of those golden hotcakes — plus fixings in the form of salted butter and syrup.  Price-wise, you're looking at $9.29 for the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes, which is on the higher end for breakfast selections. That said, if you were to price out each item individually (sausage egg biscuit at $6.39, hash browns for $3.29, and Hotcakes for $5.49), you're saving well over five bucks that can be put toward tomorrow's breakfast (or a Big Mac later in the day). And when you consider that the sausage burrito on its own is more than half the price (at $5.19), the superior value of this combination is clear.

This platter is a jubilee of flavors and textures, but on the functional front, you can count on 36 grams of protein and 19% of your daily fiber. This combination provides energy and helps you to stay full while also managing your blood sugar levels so you don't spike and crash like you might with a bag of doughnuts or a quick bowl of sweet cereal.

If you've read this and wondered what time McDonald's breakfast menu ends, only to realize you missed the cutoff for today, it is possible to create a copycat McDonald's sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit at home in the meantime. Simply knowing that this fortifying, flavorful, and budget-friendly breakfast is waiting for you tomorrow might just be the best reason to get out of bed in the morning.