Which fast food chain created the Egg McMuffin?

McDonald's created the Egg McMuffin. The sandwich was developed by McDonald's franchisee Herb Peterson in 1972 at a restaurant in Goleta, California, near Santa Barbara.

Peterson was inspired by eggs Benedict and adapted its familiar components for fast-food service. His version used a toasted English muffin, Canadian bacon, a round griddle-cooked egg, and melted American cheese. Hollandaise sauce was left out to make the sandwich faster and easier to prepare consistently.

The Egg McMuffin helped establish McDonald's breakfast menu and became one of the chain's signature products. A common mix-up is crediting Ray Kroc personally with inventing it; Kroc helped approve and expand the product, but Peterson created the sandwich. The name also refers specifically to the original egg-and-Canadian-bacon version, not every McMuffin variation.