Who Offers The Better Breakfast Sandwich: Starbucks Or Costco? We Tried Both To Find Out.

While the humble breakfast sandwich may have been the original "fast food" for British laborers during the Industrial Revolution, it has experienced something of a renaissance in modern-day America. Not only does virtually every fast food establishment serve one, but many brands of frozen sandwiches are now available for a quick and easy breakfast in a snap.

Starbucks has really upped the ante on its breakfast sandwich offerings, and among its most popular is the delectable Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Sandwich. If you want one of these sandwiches without even leaving the house, Costco has the perfect solution for you. Its Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwich is eerily reminiscent of the Starbucks favorite, down to the bun enveloping the eggs, bacon, and cheese. But can it compare in taste?

I decided to find out, purchasing both a sandwich from Starbucks and a pack of the frozen ones from Costco. To conduct a fair comparison, I brought them both home, reheating the Starbucks one and preparing the Costco one according to packaging directions, using the air fryer (which is arguably the best way to make a breakfast sandwich). I laid them out side-by-side looking at the visual appeal, construction, aroma, texture, and, ultimately, flavor of both sandwiches. Read on to find out which of these sandwiches is the best value and the most flavorful to get you fueled in the morning on a busy day.

The Starbucks Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Sandwich is available at most Starbucks locations, both free-standing and those located within grocery stores or specialty retailers. That said, these sandwiches may be subject to availability, so it's advisable to check at the precise location before making the trip to the store. Though the sandwich is a breakfast item, you may be able to obtain it later in the day, as I did, if they have not yet sold out. This sandwich may come with a hefty dose of sticker shock to some. I purchased it for a total of $7.24, with tax included. As with other Starbucks items, prices vary by location.

To obtain the Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwich, you'll need a membership at your local Costco. These sandwiches are sold in-store only, and availability may vary by location. They come in the freezer section in a box containing eight sandwiches. Though prices vary by location, I was able to buy a box for $15.99, tax included. That works out to $2.00 a sandwich, which is a notable difference in cost compared with Starbucks.

One Starbucks Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Sandwich weighs 148 grams. Each sandwich contains 500 calories, 27 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 960 milligrams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates (including 8 grams of sugar), and 21 grams of protein. Allergens listed include eggs, milk, and wheat, though there is a disclaimer that these sandwiches are prepared in-store using shared equipment and therefore cross-contamination may occur. These sandwiches are made using cage-free eggs and sharp cheddar cheese.

By comparison, each Kirkland's Signature Breakfast Sandwich weighs in at 137 grams, though when you look at them, they look about the same size. These sandwiches contain 390 calories, 23 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 760 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates (including 5 grams of sugar), and 17 grams of protein. Allergens listed include eggs, milk, soy, and wheat. Cage-free eggs are also used to make these sandwiches. This product uses pasteurized blended cheddar cheese, which includes soy lecithin as an anti-caking agent.

I used the air fryer to reheat this sandwich for two minutes at 350 F, which was more than enough to make it hot and crisp up the bacon. When I first pulled the sandwich out of the air fryer, I was immediately struck by the intense aroma emanating from the hickory-smoked bacon. This got my mouth watering. I will say I was underwhelmed by the appearance of the signature croissant bun, which was rather pale in color and seemed somewhat dense. I did note, though, that the egg was a delightful bright yellow hue.

The texture of this sandwich is fairly toothsome. Though the bacon is crisp and the cheese is melted, the eggs are slightly rubbery and the bread is quite firm — not flaky and buttery, which is the hallmark of a good quality croissant. Additionally, the flavor was slightly doughy, rather than rich and yeasty. Despite this, the overall taste of the sandwich was good. The eggs had a well-balanced salinity and savoriness, and the bacon was dynamite, perfectly cooked, with a deep, umami punch. The cheese, though present, felt almost like an afterthought, lending little flavor to the whole sandwich, but perhaps gave a hint of moistness.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Breakfast Sandwich offers instructions for reheating, using either a microwave or an air fryer. I opted for the air fryer, which took four minutes at 350 F to go from frozen to hot. My first impression of this sandwich, from a visual perspective, was that the bun was a nice golden hue and looked crisp. I did notice that the cheese wasn't melted so much as it was softened, and the bacon was rather floppy and less crisp. The aroma, while smoky, was less fragrant than the Starbucks sandwich, but still pleasant. That said, I was less enthusiastic to dig into the sandwich at first glance and sniff.

The texture of this sandwich was quite lovely. The bread had a delightful crunch, and was fluffy and tender. The egg was slightly bland and a bit rubbery, but was fine. The bacon, though not super appetizing to look at, had a nice smoky flavor and was crisp, even though it appeared a little underdone. Yet again, the cheese was underwhelming. More of a barrier between the bread and the other layers than an ingredient that added much by way of flavor to the sandwich. Overall, however, I found this sandwich to be quite tasty, and it had a very satisfying mouthfeel.

While there are many different types of bread you can use for a breakfast sandwich, the best options are light and flaky enough to bite through, yet absorbent enough to soak up the juices released from the eggs and other ingredients, like a croissant. The spiral croissant buns used for these two sandwiches couldn't have been more different. The one from Starbucks was pale, dense, and chewy, while the Costco one was a nice golden color, crisp, and with a fluffiness that made it more pleasant to bite through.

Also, the order of assembly was different between the two sandwiches. The Costco sandwich started with the egg on top, followed by the bacon, then the cheese. The Starbucks sandwich was exactly the opposite. Though some experts suggest the cheese belongs on the top for a hot sandwich and on the bottom for a cold sandwich, in this case I preferred the one with the cheese at the bottom of the stack. 

Lastly, I'd be remiss in not mentioning the egg itself. Though both sandwiches use an egg patty made from egg whites, whole eggs, and binders, the Costco patty had the appearance of a fried egg with the yolk in the middle, while the Starbucks sandwich was more like a scrambled egg. This gave the Starbucks egg patty a more even flavor and texture that was definitely better than the Costco patty.

While each of these sandwiches had pros and cons, there was a clear winner. Before announcing my pick for the best breakfast sandwich, though, I want to mention one flaw that both sandwiches shared that really annoyed me. The bacon was concentrated on one half of the sandwich. This means you don't get bacon in each bite. This is easily remedied by opening the sandwich up and unfolding the bacon, but to me that's a sign of careless assembly, which is a big pet peeve of mine.

Where Starbucks shone most obviously was in its egg patty, which was both more flavorful and had a better texture. It also had superior bacon, which was crisper, more flavorful, and slightly more abundant, likely accounting for some of the difference in the weight between the two sandwiches. While this sandwich may have been slightly different if I had eaten it as soon as I bought it (rather than bringing it home), I don't believe it would have been notable enough to make a difference in my final assessment.

So who offers the better breakfast sandwich? Costco. Despite the things Starbucks does right, the bread is a huge deal breaker. No amount of bacon or eggs could make up for the texture and flavor of the bread. Additionally, I'd argue that the cost of the Starbucks sandwich makes it really poor value. If you're looking for a quality sandwich at an affordable cost, Costco wins hands down.