Homemade McDonalds McRib Sandwich

Perpetually on it's final tour, the Frankenfood pork sandwich, McRib, is celebrated and reviled at the same time when it's reintroduced once or twice a year by McDonald's. For the latest outre entree The 99 Cent Chef rides to the rescue for those (with Job's patience) who love them. Well, the wait is over -- here's a cheaper Homemade McRib Sandwich you can make anytime!

For my cheap work lunches $1 (or 99 cent) Banquet and other frozen dinners are on rotation. Sometimes it's Salisbury Steak, Cheese Enchiladas or Turkey Dinners (it's not every day, as I have healthier frozen dinners I also find on sale.) I've recently added their Boneless Pork Riblet Meal. It was only a matter of time until I placed the Pork Riblet with it's barbeque sauce between two slices of bread, adding chopped raw onion and a few pickle slices. It didn't take long to put two and two together -- well, those are the ingredients for the McDonald's McRib sandwich.

Yeah, I know it's a cheat, but it's a lot of trouble to ground a bunch of mystery pork scraps to form a McDonald's McRib patty, so The Slothful Chef is taking the easy but tasty route! 

A McRib is relatively inexpensive -- but not cheap enough for The Frugal Forager. A McDonald's McRib sandwich cost almost $3, but with my chintzy twist, you can make your own for less than half that price, after the initial investment for a package of steak rolls, an onion and a small jar of pickles, plus a few Banquet Boneless Pork Riblet Meals. (Another homemade fast food entree I've done is an Egg McMuffin, that's also cheaper than the original, just click here to see my recipe video post.)

I always find all these ingredients cheaply, especially onion, pickles and bread at local 99c only Stores. They don't always stock frozen Banquet meals, but my local big chain grocery stores do for around a dollar each.

A McRib patty is pale white like typical cooked pork (because of extra chemical bleaches and dyes?) while a Banquet Riblet is brown, and it's fine ground, with a little more texture than a hot dog. The Riblet patty is thin and about the same size as a McRib, but still large enough to fill a steak bread roll.

And the Banquet Riblet barbeque sauce is passable, slightly sweet with a typical smokey ketchup flavor. And as a bonus the Banquet meal comes with sides of mashed potatoes and corn -- so take that, McDonald's.

The corn is the best side with a fresh frozen kernel flavor -- much better than canned corn. I've never cared for their frozen mashed potatoes. It has the flavor and texture of  powdery dried and reconstituted boxed mashed potatoes -- mainly there to soak up the gravy or barbeque sauce that comes from the meat container part.

I guess the main question is how does the Banquet Riblet compare with a McRib pork patty? Well the porkiness of a McRib is superior. While not objectionable, the Banquet Riblet is mild in comparison (it's made from mechanically separated pork and chicken, plus soy protein.) And the advantage of making a Homemade McRib Sandwich is you can add as much barbeque sauce, chopped onion, and sliced pickle as you desire (plus anything else you like.)

Click on photo to read ingredients -- if you dare.

So, on my Deal of the Day and Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, this Homemade McRib Sandwich  gets a 6. While my Homemade McRib Sandwich is inferior to McDonald's, it will tide you over until the real thing washes ashore once again. So, keep on reading to see how I make a Homemade McRib Sandwich.

Making a Homemade McRib Sandwich
Microwave or bake the Banquet Riblet Dinner according to directions. While it's heating up, chop some onion and get out 3 pickles slices, and a steak roll.

When the TV dinner is hot, carefully remove riblet and place inside the sliced steak dinner roll. The heated barbeque sauce amount is more than what you get on a McRib, so slather on as much as you like.

Finally top with chopped onion and pickle slices. And serve with the corn and mashed potato sides.

Homemade Egg McMuffin - Sandwich VIDEO

The master of low-priced cuisine raids the corporate kitchens of the world's largest fast food purveyor (and California native,) McDonald's, and builds his own Egg McMuffin. In the final video of February Sandwich Month, this culinary sleuth takes you from the drive-thru to making your own egg frying ring -- you know that eggs don't come out of the shell in the shape of a hockey puck, right? And in a stop motion animated style, you'll see all the easy cooking steps -- entertainingly so. 

I lost my Egg McMuffin cherry at Mickey D's in the 1970's. It was love at first bite -- a crunchy English muffin with a soft, sour-doughy texture, segueing into hot melted American cheese covering a firm springy disc of egg, and finishing up with smokey-sweet Canadian Bacon. A truly international melding of flavors, the Egg McMuffin is built to satisfy.

Initially, McDonald's corporate elites threatened to close down the Santa Barbara-adjacent franchise that created this breakfast treat. But when its owner, Herb Peterson (who also invented it), served it to McDonald's big cheeses, it took hold and took off from there.

The trick to an Egg McMuffin's pleasing visual aesthetic is a metal frying ring. You saute the egg in it, and you also cut out a circle of ham and cheese. (Canadian bacon is normally used, but hard to get here, so I am substituting similar-tasting ham.) I made my own egg frying ring from a discarded can of water chestnuts that I got for 49 cents. Its diameter is about the same as an English muffin.

Any can with a similar diameter is fine to use, just make sure you can remove both ends with a can opener -- a tuna is the right size, but it has a rounded bottom that is too hard to cut through, so stick with cans where the bottom is the same as the top lip. I originally used a 16-ounce tomato sauce can but changed to a shorter water chestnut can so I could better photograph the frying egg. You can also use the metal lid of a canning jar. I've cooked up half a dozen Egg McMuffins so far and the ring is holding up fine.

Eggs Rings can be found and they are made especially for round-shaped eggs.

McDonalds Egg McMuffins cost $2.59 plus tax. Except for the thick ham slice (I could've bought a package of thinly sliced ham for 99.99 cents,) all the ingredients I picked up were cheap. For about $4 worth of supplies, I can make six Egg McMuffins easily -- that's way less than a dollar apiece, and I still have eggs left over. And I don't have to eat breakfast in the parking lot!

So if you don't want to waste gas in the drive-thru or wait in line, be sure to watch my easy-to-follow video directions and make your own Egg McMuffin while wearing your pajamas - 99 Cent Chef style.

Since I have a frying ring, now I need to figure out how they get that syrup into a McGriddle pancake breakfast sandwich -- so I can start making my own!

Homemade Egg McMuffin - VIDEO 

Play it here. Video runs 3 minutes, 15 seconds.

To view or embed from YouTube, click here.

Ingredients (one sandwich)

• 1 egg
• 1 slice of ham or Canadian bacon - I used a thick slice of ham, but you could also use cheap packaged thin-sliced ham.
• 1 slice of American cheese - or any favorite cheese.
• 1 English (style) muffin
• Oil for metal egg ring - I used cooking spray. You could also smear on regular cooking oil.
• Salt and pepper to taste - optional for seasoning the frying egg.

Directions

I made my own egg-frying metal ring. You want a can that is as wide as a muffin, so the egg is not too large or too small. I found that 16-ounce tomato sauce cans work well. You want a can that does not have a rounded bottom, as it is too hard to remove. I used a short can of chestnuts for this video -- so you could easily see the egg cooking. One can that does not work is a tuna can (although it is the right diameter) because it has a rounded bottom. Now they sell Egg Rings for round-shaped eggs.

Remove the top and bottom of the tin can with your can opener and empty it. Wash and rinse out the can so canned flavors do not contaminate the frying egg. When the can is damp it is easier to remove the label. If you do not get it all off, that's okay -- the sides of the can do not get that hot. Dry off the can.

I found it easy to use the can to stamp/cut out the American cheese and ham. My ham slice was thick, so I had to use a knife to slice it all the way through. Set aside round-cut cheese and ham.

Use your favorite omelet pan over medium heat. Lightly oil the inside of the egg metal ring with cooking spray (okay to wipe on regular veggie oil.)

Place the ring in the heating pan. Add one egg into the ring. You can scramble the egg first (any way you like it ) in a bowl, and then add it, or just break the egg directly into the ring. A little egg may leak out the bottom of the can, but not that much. Take a fork or knife to break the yolk (or not, it's up to you.) Over medium heat, it takes about 5 minutes for the egg to cook through, since it is a thick puck you are frying.

 

It's best to leave the can alone so the bottom of the egg gets a nice crusty bottom. As the top of the egg starts to get firm, it's time to add the ham and toast the English muffin.

You can heat up the ham in the same frying pan if there is room. When the top of the egg looks firm enough, take a butter knife and loosen the egg from the inside of the can. Remove the can from around the egg - and depending on how hot the pan gets, be careful when handling the egg frying ring. Use a spatula to loosen the egg from the frying pan and flip it over.

Add the cheese to the egg. Heat ham through as muffin toasts. The egg only needs to cook for barely a minute more. Remove the egg and cheese if the ham takes too long to heat through -- no need to overcook it all.

When the muffin is lightly browned, and the ham is heated though, assemble the Egg McMuffin.

Hindsight

If you don't like a crispy skin on your egg, you can add a 1/4 cup of water to the frying pan or a pot with a cover (once the egg is in the ring,) so the egg poaches, instead of frying (add more water if it cooks out before the egg is firm.) Drain out the water when it is time to remove the ring and flip the egg over (to finish cooking.) Obviously, you will heat up the ham in a different pan, or just microwave.

McDonald's sells a Sausage McMuffin, too. That's easy enough to make at home as well. Just start the sausage cooking earlier or pre-cook it. An Egg McMuffin is just as tasty without meat - egg and cheese is satisfying enough.

McDonald's brushes the muffin inside with butter, I left it off. Instead, I like mayo on my breakfast sandwiches. You can also add lettuce and tomato for fresh roughage.

If appearance is unimportant, don't cut the ham and cheese into discs, or even cook the egg in my homemade frying ring. Just cook everything the way you like it and build a breakfast muffin sandwich to suit your own taste.