Wendy’s adds new breakfast item to menu — and it’s taking on the McMuffin

Joseph Lamour
Updated ·3 min read
2

Everyone’s favorite fast-food redhead is expanding her breakfast offerings into golden arches territory.

TODAY.com can exclusively report that Wendy’s will be offering English Muffin Sandwiches in two varieties, taking on McDonald’s signature breakfast sandwich: the McMuffin.

“Light, fluffy and perfectly pillowy, the new morning additions are topped with a fresh-cracked egg, your choice of oven-baked Applewood Smoked bacon cooked daily (unlike the other guys...) or a savory grilled sausage patty and finished off with melted American cheese,” Wendy’s writes in a press release, shading the competition. The sandwiches also have a “one-of-a-kind savory buttery spread that marries a hint of brown butter sweetness with fresh black pepper.”

Wendy’s English Muffin Sandwiches will join the chain’s growing roster of breakfast offerings. These include, in part, popular sandwiches like the Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant, Breakfast Baconator, Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Homestyle French Toast Sticks and the new-as-of-last-month Frosty Cream Cold Brew.

Wendy’s English Muffin Sandwich with Sausage, Seasoned Potatoes and a drink. (Wendy’s)
Wendy’s English Muffin Sandwich with Sausage, Seasoned Potatoes and a drink. (Wendy’s)

How to get Wendy’s new English Muffin Sandwiches

The new English Muffin Sandwiches will be available at Wendy’s restaurants nationwide beginning Aug. 22 during breakfast hours, which typically end at 10:30 a.m., depending on the location.

Customers can get $2 off the new menu item by redeeming the “$2 off any Breakfast Combo” offer in the app from Aug. 22 through Sept. 3. As a bonus, you can enjoy the item for just 450 Wendy’s Rewards points if you order through the app.

For the $2 deal, simply navigate to the “Offers” section in the Rewards Store on the Wendy’s app or website. You can either apply the deal to your order in-app or use the offer inside a Wendy’s restaurant by adding it to your digital rewards card before scanning at the counter or drive-thru.

Wendy’s is clearly stepping into McDonald’s breakfast territory

We’re all thinking it: This pair of sandwiches take direct aim at the most popular English muffin sandwich out there: McDonald’s McMuffin. To understand why Wendy’s is going from square-shaped beef patties to square-shaped sausage patties, we asked the source.

“Overall, we know that English muffins are a big part of everybody’s breakfast, and we knew that we could create an English muffin sandwich that was better than anybody else’s,” Carl Loredo, global chief marketing officer at Wendy’s, tells TODAY.com. “That’s the inspiration for the entire breakfast menu — the breakfast offerings that’ve been out there for the last 30 years are tired and boring and, candidly, we just knew at Wendy’s, we could do better.”

John Li, global vice president of culinary innovation for Wendy’s also said in a press release that these new breakfast sandwiches took a year and a half to develop.

“We tested 60 variations of our English Muffin Sandwiches before we landed on these light and fluffy English Muffins made with a touch of honey and topped with a savory buttery spread, fresh cracked eggs and delicious bacon or sausage for the perfect harmony of breakfast flavors,” said Li.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com