What was McDonald’s first nationally advertised breakfast sandwich called?

McDonald’s first nationally advertised breakfast sandwich was the Egg McMuffin.

Herb Peterson created the Egg McMuffin in 1971 at a McDonald’s restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. The sandwich used an English muffin, a cooked egg, Canadian bacon, and cheese. Its format gave McDonald’s a portable breakfast item that could be prepared consistently in restaurants.

McDonald’s tested the sandwich before introducing it nationwide in 1975. The product helped establish breakfast as a major part of the McDonald’s brand and influenced the company’s later breakfast advertising and menu identity.

The Egg McMuffin is sometimes confused with the wider McDonald’s breakfast menu or with the later McGriddle. The Egg McMuffin was the original signature breakfast sandwich; the McGriddle, with griddle cakes, was introduced decades later.