With all-day breakfast at fast food chains being as commonplace as it is today, it’s hard to imagine a time when breakfast sandwiches weren’t readily available to the masses. Breakfast and fast food have always gone hand in hand, but the idea of creating a breakfast meant to be eaten on the go took some time. Nowadays, nearly every major chain has a list of breakfast sandwiches but this item didn’t exist until 1969.
Other fast food chains might have been serving breakfast platters for years prior to 1969, but Jack in the Box came up with the idea of making a to-go breakfast sandwich. The concept was simple: egg, meat, and cheese served on an English muffin. This simple idea laid the groundwork for nearly every fast food breakfast sandwich to come.
Years later, the breakfast sandwich still stands the test of time. In fact, it’s a concept that is truly thriving in the fast food world. Now, we can thank Jack in the Box for not only having some of the cheapest fast food in the country but also bringing us the breakfast sandwich.
Jack in the Box’s Breakfast Jack was the first breakfast sandwich
The breakfast sandwich came about in a bid to expand the fast food menu in unique ways. Several chains, at this point, already had breakfast options but these typically came in the form of platters. The idea was to make something convenient and inexpensive; as such, the breakfast sandwich was born in the form of the Breakfast Jack.
Many believe that McDonald’s is responsible for the breakfast sandwich, but Jack in the Box’s version of a breakfast sandwich predates McDonald’s. Jack in the Box’s Breakfast Jack was created in 1969, while McDonald’s Egg McMuffin wasn’t created until 1972.
Overall, the invention proved to be more than worth it. Not only did it change the landscape of fast food as we know it, but it was also an extremely profitable move by the company. To this day, the Breakfast Jack is one of the most popular and top-selling breakfast items at Jack in the Box.
