McDonald's Spicy McMuffin Sandwiches Review: A Little Heat Adds New Flavor To A Classic Breakfast Order

It's been quite the busy 2025 for McDonald's. There's been a lot of noise dedicated to the mythical chicken Snack Wrap's return, and both a widespread expansion of a partnership doughnut supplier Krispy Kreme, and now, after not such a successful run, a dissolution of it. As spring gave way to summer, limited time fare has been introduced, to great delicious fanfare. The Takeout has already taken out and taken on the Hershey's S'mores McFlurry and Blueberry & Crème Pie and loved the results. Not sure what empty spaces you had left on your McDonald's menu bingo card for the year, but I'm not sure a Spicy McMuffin is what any of us knew was coming next.

Spice had long been something McDonald's didn't dabble in. For most of the 20th century, any such added heat came in the form of McNugget dipping sauces. As consumers sought to spice up their meals in the 21st century, McDonald's has followed public demand, adding a dash of fire to its McNuggets, chicken sandwiches, and of course, crafting up more peppy sauces, like the recent Minecraft-inspired Nether Flame one.

Now that McDonald's is turning the heat up on its breakfast menu with a new twist on McMuffins, is this the wake-up morning call we desperately need, or should we all hit the snooze button on this sandwich? The Takeout headed out on day one to try them, see where the truth lies, and tell all in this chew and review.

McDonald's was a burgers, fries, and shakes chain for much of its early existence. In 1970, it took baby steps to offer its lunch and dinner crowd something to wake up to in the morning hours. A year later, a Santa Barbara, California McDonald's owner and operator named Herb Peterson hatched the idea for a Mc-version of eggs Benedict, which ended up becoming the Egg McMuffin that went nationwide in 1975, and the McSandwich we all know and love today. That breakfast sandwich consists of a cracked egg, stacked with Canadian bacon, melty American cheese, and sandwiched between a buttered pair of English muffin bookends.

In 2025, McDonald's is introducing a spicy version of the Egg McMuffin, which is the same exact sandwich, but with the addition of a Spicy Pepper Sauce. This sauce is not new, and includes topping the Spicy McCrispy on its resume. This sauce is made up of such ingredients as water, distilled vinegar, egg yolk, habanero pepper, salt, sugar, and traces of mustard seed, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, spice, natural flavor, paprika, and turmeric. This new sauce will also be available on the McMuffin variants — Spicy Sausage McMuffin, and the Spicy Sausage McMuffin with Egg.

These Spicy McMuffins are limited time breakfast options that McDonald's describes as, "whether you're fueling up for a morning marathon of meetings or just need something delicious to kickstart your day, these breakfast sandwiches deliver big, bold flavors."

Starting July 8, the Spicy McMuffin will hit participating nationwide McDonald's locations' breakfast menus. They will remain on menus, while supplies last, for a limited time only. Since it's a breakfast item, it will only be available during breakfast hours, which usually ends sometime in the 10:30-11:00 am time-frame.

The Spicy McMuffin is available in three official iterations — Spicy Egg McMuffin, Spicy Sausage McMuffin, and the Spicy Sausage McMuffin with Egg. It can be ordered à la carte, or as a part of a meal, which includes a hashbrown, and coffee, or other beverage of your choosing. Sadly, the Spicy Pepper Sauce cannot be ordered directly à la carte. Ordering of these new McMuffins, like any item at McDonald's, can be placed in-store at the register, kiosk, or drive-thru where available. Advanced ordering for dine-in, pick-up or delivery is available through McDonald's app.

Price may vary by location, but at the Delaware McDonald's I walked into, the two egg-based McMuffins cost $5.19 for just the sandwich and $8.39 for the meal, and the egg-less Spicy Sausage McMuffin ran $3.19 and $6.49 for the meal. Extra spicy sauce can be added to your McMuffin, and so can additional add-ons like proteins at an extra cost. Orders placed for delivery or through third party sites may or will incur additional fees.

A Spicy Egg McMuffin consists of an English muffin made of enriched flour, malted barley yellow corn meal, sugar, salt, USDA Grade A eggs, pork Canadian bacon, pasteurized process American cheese, salted butter, clarified butter, and finished off with a spicy pepper sauce. One nets an eater 360 calories, 19 grams of total fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 255 milligrams of cholesterol, 870 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 17 grams of protein, 2 micrograms of Vitamin D, 170 milligrams of calcium, 3 milligrams of iron, and 210 milligrams of potassium.

The Spicy Sausage McMuffin with Egg had the same makeup as the Spicy Egg McMuffin, but in lieu of the Canadian bacon, a sausage patty takes its place. This sausage is also pork-based, made out of water, salt, spices, sugar, rosemary extract, and natural flavors. One nets an eater 530 calories, 37 grams of total fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 285 milligrams of cholesterol, 930 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 20 grams of protein, 4 micrograms of Vitamin D, 170 milligrams of calcium, 3.5 milligrams of iron, and 260 milligrams of potassium.

The Spicy Sausage McMuffin is the same item as above, minus the egg. One nets an eater 460 calories, 31 grams of total fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 860 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 14 grams of protein, 140 milligrams of calcium, 2.5 milligrams of iron, and 190 milligrams of potassium.

Allergens for these three McMuffins include wheat, egg, milk, and soy, and may contain sesame.

I had three versions of the Spicy McMuffin to try, but I began with the gold standard one that includes Canadian bacon. This stacked hockey puck featured a glistening slab of the aforementioned protein, which is divided from the squishy round, mainly white egg, by a slice of melty American cheese. It's all sandwiched between two halves of an English muffin, which is room-temperature soft on its top side, and browned and slightly crusty on its nooks and crannied interior. The Canadian bacon peeked out from beneath the top muffin, and in turn exposed a smattering of the desert-sandy orange Spicy Pepper Sauce that is supposed to be the main attraction. Popping the muffin top off, I saw more of the sauce spread out, but I wouldn't say it was an overly healthy amount of it. Perhaps less was more? I leaned in for a whiff, and this one mainly smelled like pork with a pinch of spice.

Like a regular Egg McMuffin, the contents between the bun textually tasted gelatinous, with the jiggly egg and floppy Canadian bacon achieving similar results. Yet, between those two main components, it was the cheese that led this sandwich's main taste on my first bite. The Spicy Pepper Sauce was certainly present, but it turned out to be a slow burn, lightly heating itself up before working its fiery magic on my mouth. Further bites brought about more pangs of the sauce's fieriness, but since it was drowning in it, was more restrained in its delivery.

In this taste test, the one eggless McMuffin on my menu was the Spicy Sausage one. In my mind, a McMuffin isn't really itself without an egg under its dual hoods. Alas, the option certainly exists for those who don't require, need, or can't have it, but I was happy to try it. With no whiteness between the light buns, the greasy sausage patty takes up most of the real estate, and still looks mighty big sans egg. Even though that patty was visually dominating, it didn't seem to have much of an aroma, as this sandwich mainly just smelled like a cornmeal muffin.

Taste-wise, this one was a step up over the Spicy Egg McMuffin that's topped with Canadian bacon. The sausage is excellently juicy, and had a nice full smoky flavor. It's truly a solid savory protein for this and many other McDonald's menu items. The same amount of Spicy Pepper Sauce seemed to be included here. Removing the top muffin for a closer look, the sauce stood out more atop the dark brown sausage, as if this was a Big Mac and its burgers were proudly displaying its signature sauce. One bite of the delectable sausage and the sauce instantly proved they were better partners than what the Canadian bacon version offered. The saltiness of the sausage meeting the piquant pleasures of the spiced-up sauce made for quite the lovely combination, and even without the egg, a hearty sandwich that was quite filling.

Out of the three versions of the Spicy McMuffin, the Sausage with Egg one is the thickest of the lot. Its eggless brother easily demonstrated itself to be a delicious, and filling option, so how do things play out with the addition of an egg?

Well, it was pretty much the same thing. It had a muffin-y smell, and the meaty bona fides of the sausage stood out once again with each bite. You'd think that with the same amount of sauce, but the addition of the egg, the sauce would lose some of its potency, but that didn't turn out to be the case. This was also a fabulously tasty meeting of flavors and textures, especially since the chewier sausage pairs better with the egg than the bland Canadian bacon did.

With is new line of Spicy McMuffins, McDonald's has finally created the perfect intersection in the Venn diagram for eaters who love McMuffins and hotness and seek a union of the two. These breakfast sandwiches are a no-brainer product to exist. Even if you're not a McMuffin person, you should let your curiosity lead you to at least give them a try.

Personally, I believe Canada can keep its flimsy, not so tasty Canadian bacon away from McMuffins, and they should only be ordered with sausage. The sausage, paired with an egg or free of one, is a great partner for the Spicy Pepper Sauce. There's an even better option available, but not outwardly. While the sausage is a winner, you can substitute it with strips of good old bacon. The bacon's mostly crispy and crunchy texture adds a new yum-complexity to the affair, and also tastes even better with the spicy sauce in the mix.

I think McDonald's was wise to limit the Spicy Pepper Sauce use under the muffins, as to act as a tasty wake-up alarm, and not a three-alarm fire. However, I wondered what they would be like with more Spicy Pepper Sauce in tow, and kindly asked an employee for a side of the sauce. They luckily obliged, and I happily took advantage of this additional dash of fire to add even more pep in each of these sandwiches' steps. My mouth fully came alive after dipping the sandwiches directly into the sauce, and eventually it cleared my sinuses, and let a few sweat beads escape from my forehead. It was a good morning indeed.

On the first day of their release, I headed to a McDonald's in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, during breakfast hours, to order and taste test each variant of the new Spicy McMuffin — Spicy Egg McMuffin, Spicy Sausage McMuffin, and the Spicy Sausage McMuffin with Egg. I also ordered a Spicy Egg McMuffin with bacon, and made a meal to include a small orange juice and hash brown. I placed my order on the app, in-store, and conducted my taste test right then and there in the same location.

These items were eaten solely by me, and the taste test reflects my own personal opinions and tastes, as well as past experiences with McDonald's breakfast items, spicy items there and elsewhere, and my current experience with these McMuffins.

The ultimate criteria to draw conclusions in this chew and review consist of flavor, appearance, texture, aroma, value, spiciness, overall lovability, and likelihood that I would order it again. The short answer is, why not? Variety is the spice of life, and adding spice to things only adds more variety. Who would be against that? There's no reason this sauce shouldn't be available to spice up any item on its menu. I'm sure it won't be long for a Spicy Big Mac to step up to the plate.