McDonald's Sausage McGriddle Vs Walmart's Maple Griddle Sandwich: Did The Grocery Chain Nail The Knockoff?

Sam Zwick/Mashed

Breakfast on the go can mean a pretty wide range of options. For some folks, it's whatever pops out of the toaster as they run out the door. Others snag a granola bar or banana if they're feeling particularly healthy. But then there's the king of quick breakfast: McDonald's. The Golden Arches have been serving up the day's first meal since the Egg McMuffin hit menus nationwide in 1975. New menu items came and went, but it wasn't until 2003 that McDonald's landed on another cornerstone with the McGriddle. The sweet take on a breakfast sandwich became so popular that others, including us here at Mashed, have tried to replicate it, but few can hold a candle to the original.

One such imitation comes from Walmart and its Great Value brand Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Maple Griddle Sandwich. Right off the bat, McDonald's has the edge in the name department, but what about where it really counts? I snagged a McGridde and a package of Great Value's Maple Griddle Sandwiches and pitted them head-to-head to find out if the frozen copycat is a worthy challenger to the fresh original. Read on to find out if you should stock your freezer with these new breakfast sandwiches or if they're better left in the box.

Sam Zwick/Mashed

The major difference between a standard English muffin breakfast sandwich and a McGriddle — or, in this case, a Maple Griddle Sandwich — is the maple-flavored pancakes that are used to house the sandwich's contents. Walmart's version is made of a maple pancake, a chicken and pork sausage patty, a scrambled egg patty, and a slice of yellow cheese. (Yes, the ingredient deck lists it as "yellow" cheese, which is hardly appetizing, but admittedly accurate.)

The original McGriddle featured bacon, a fluffy folded egg, and a piece of American cheese between two maple hotcakes featuring the iconic M logo. Of course, I tried the sausage version for a true one-to-one comparison.

While the McGriddle comes hot and ready to eat, you'll have to do a little work to get the Walmart version ready for consumption. The directions call to remove the frozen sandwich from its plastic, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave on high for 70 seconds or until hot.

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As the brand name suggests, the Great Value Maple Griddle Sandwich is cheaper than the McGriddle. Coming in at $5.78 for a four-pack, each sandwich costs roughly $1.45. Meanwhile, a McGriddle from McDonald's is $4.99 per sandwich, a major difference in price point.

Great Value also gets the edge in the calorie department, clocking in at 370 per sandwich compared to 550 for the McDonald's original. The trend continues with fat, where the McGriddle contains 33 grams, more than double the 15 grams in the Maple Griddle Sandwich. Sodium is the same, with McDonald's packing a whopping 1290 milligrams into a single sandwich while Great Value has a far lower, but still hefty, 640 milligrams per serving. The one spot where McDonald's has the edge is in the protein department, where a McGriddle packs 19 grams per sandwich while Great Value sits at 14 grams. All this is to say, if you're looking for a truly healthy breakfast, you won't find one in either of these sandwiches, but if you had to choose one, it wouldn't be from McDonald's ... but you probably already knew that.

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There's a reason the McGriddle has become a Mickey D's staple. The sandwich just works. The star of the show is unquestionably the maple-flavored griddle cakes. Sporting the chain's iconic logo, the griddle cakes are light, fluffy, and just a little sweet. Contrast is the key to this sandwich as the maple looks to offset some of the savory elements of the egg, sausage, and cheese. The hotcakes carry the flavor of maple syrup without being too strong.

For their part, the other ingredients are rock solid. The folded, fluffy egg is appropriately named, keeping the sandwich from feeling overly dense. The pork sausage is tasty without being overly salty, with the American cheese perfectly melted between the bottom hotcake and the sausage patty.

I also taste-tested the bacon and egg McGriddle, and while I love bacon, I can confidently say that the sausage version is better. The flavors blend well together, the denser sausage is offset by the airy griddle cakes, making it feel like a more complete breakfast.

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Before I could dig into the Great Value version, I needed to cook it. I'm generally skeptical about microwave instructions for frozen food because we've all been burned — quite literally — by more than a few lava-on-the-outside-but-frozen-solid-inside burritos. That said, these instructions were simple and effective. I wrapped the sandwich in a dry paper towel, cooked it for 70 seconds, and was greeted with a steaming hot and thoroughly cooked meal.

Unlike the McGriddle, which features perfectly shaped griddle cakes, the outer layer of the Maple Griddle Sandwich is two standard pancakes. They're good, but a bit dense. I found myself reaching for water more with this sandwich because the pancakes were gumming up my mouth a bit. The scrambled egg patty is nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. The same can be said for the yellow cheese, which is cut into a circle, meaning there are no loose corners to get lost in the cooking process.

The standout for this sandwich is the sausage. A mix of pork and chicken, it's more heavily spiced than some and adds a light peppery kick to each bite. It's also on the saltier side but these savory notes are countered fairly well by the maple of the pancake. Great Value has upped its frozen breakfast sandwich game with this effort. 

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I really thought this would be a runaway for the McGriddle, but in the end, Walmart's Great Value brand has created a worthy competitor, but only if you take price into account. Given the massive nutritional disparity between the two sandwiches, I decided to weigh them to find out if the McGriddle was larger, and by how much. Ultimately, the McGriddle came in at 197 grams, while the Maple Griddle Sandwhich was a bit smaller at 138 grams. Is it enough for a more than $4 price difference? Probably not, but the McGriddle is still the superior option in terms of taste.

The McGriddle's hotcakes are simply better than the Great Value pancakes. Small advantages in the other ingredients are present, but that one element is the difference-maker. That said, I would buy the Great Value option again. For far less in terms of price and calories, you can get a very tasty and filling breakfast sandwich that's easy to prep straight from the freezer. If you're driving past a McDonald's on your morning commute, snag a McGriddle and enjoy, but if you're craving a savory, sweet sandwich in the comfort of your own home, Great Value's Maple Griddle Sandwich is a satisfying option.

Sam Zwick/Mashed

I purchased a package of Great Value Egg, Sausage and Cheese Maple Griddle Sandwiches from Walmart and kept them in my freezer. For the McGriddles, I ordered ahead on the McDonald's app and picked them up so I could bring the sandwiches home for photos before a taste test. I evaluated the sandwiches based on taste, texture, and overall value. Neither Walmart nor McDonald's was aware of this review as it was being written, nor were Mashed or I compensated by the brands for this piece.