I tried breakfast value meals from 5 fast-food chains. Dunkin' reigns supreme.

dunkin value meal — Dunkin', the only breakfast chain, reigned supreme.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Meal deals and value meals are more important to fast-food chains than ever.
I tried Dunkin's $6 meal when it debuted earlier in the fall.
I decided to try four other fast-food chains' breakfast meals to see how they compared.

The fast-food wars are going strong, and brands are adding deals and value meals to their menus to attract customers who are feeling the pinch.

In August, Dunkin' became the latest chain to add a meal deal when it launched its $6 breakfast. I tried it after its release and was so impressed by its 50% discount that I wanted to try other fast-food breakfast meals to see how they stacked up.

I visited Taco Bell, McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King to see which chain had the best food for the best price. My meals ranged from $4 to $8, and each included a sandwich, a drink, and a side.

Here's what I thought of each breakfast.

The first breakfast meal I tried was from Dunkin'. It cost $6.53.

Breakfast is served at Dunkin' all day.

This meal comes with a sandwich, a drink, and a side of hash browns.

It comes with a medium iced coffee. I added pumpkin and hazelnut swirls.

medium iced coffee from dunkin — I put some flavors into my coffee to add a little bit extra.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

You can choose an iced or hot coffee, but since it's still unseasonably warm in New York, I went for an iced coffee. I added hazelnut and pumpkin syrups to make a DIY version of the Nutty Pumpkin coffee, which was added to the fall menu in 2022.

There are options for the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. I opted for a croissant.

bacon egg cheese sandwich from dunkin — Dunkin' offers different options for the bread of the sandwich.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

I chose a croissant, but there are multiple options for the bread. The default is a plain bagel, while the other options are a different type of bagel (multigrain, sesame seed, cinnamon raisin, or everything), sourdough bread, or an English muffin.

The sandwich was flavorful and the croissant was perfectly flaky.

bacon egg cheese sandwich from dunkin with a bite taken out of it — The sandwich was delicious.
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Full disclosure: I've eaten this before, so I knew what to expect, and I was not let down. The croissant's texture was perfect, the cheese was melted, and the bacon was just crispy enough.

It's not the best egg sandwich I've ever eaten, but at less than $3, I can't complain.

It also comes with an order of hash browns, which I was slightly underwhelmed by, in terms of size.

hash browns from dunkin — Dunkin's hash browns come in a little paper bag.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

As I previously wrote, these hash browns are "salty, crispy, and subtly seasoned." I just wish there were more.

Dunkin' didn't respond to a request for comment regarding portion size.

After being pleased with Dunkin's meal, I tried fast-food breakfast deals from Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

breakfast meals — The meals and their respective drinks. From left: Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

These four chains are located on the same road in my hometown on Long Island, New York, so it was easy to stop by each one.

First up was Taco Bell. It cost $7.92 for a coffee, a Breakfast Crunch Wrap, and two Cinnabon Delights.

taco bell breakfast meal — The Taco Bell meal was the most different from the other options.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Breakfast is served at Taco Bell every day through 10:45 a.m.

I got the Breakfast Crunchwrap Combo, though there are other combos, including a quesadilla or a breakfast burrito.

The chain has partnered with Cinnabon for its breakfast offerings, including the coffee.

taco bell coffee — The Taco Bell coffee was the largest.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

This was the largest cup of coffee I was served by the chains — I also thought it was the best (besides Dunkin').

The Cinnabon Delights-flavored roast comes with vanilla creamer so it was very sweet, but I liked that it wasn't watery at all.

The main item was a Breakfast Crunchwrap. It comes with egg, bacon bits, a hash brown, cheese, and a "creamy japapeño sauce."

taco bell breakfast crunchwrap supreme — The Crunchwrap was large.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

I'm not a huge Taco Bell connoisseur, so I had no idea what to expect from this wrap.

But I loved it. The bacon bits were a great way to add bacon without the concern that it was too chewy or tasted too burned. I also loved that the hash brown came inside the wrap, which meant I still got potatoes even though it wasn't included as a side.

The sauce added a nice kick, too.

Instead of potatoes, Taco Bell’s side was an order of Cinnabon Delights.

taco bell munchkins — A Cinnabon Delight is basically a doughnut hole or a munchkin.
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Taco Bell teamed up with Cinnabon in 2013 to create this dessert.

These were genuinely delicious.

interior of taco bell munchkins — The interior of a Cinnabon Delight.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

A Cinnabon Delight is a spherical bite of cinnamon fried dough filled with vanilla icing. I could've eaten so many more, but it's probably for the best that it only came with two.

I reached out to Taco Bell with my thoughts on their breakfast meal, but they didn't respond to a request for comment.

After being so pleased with Taco Bell, I was excited to move on to Wendy's, which cost $4.55 for a coffee, sandwich, and potatoes.

Wendy's stops serving breakfast in the morning, though the exact time depends on location. According to the chain, the latest time is 10:30 a.m.

Wendy's breakfast meal deal is called the 2 for $3. You can choose any two items from a sausage-and-cheese English muffin, an egg-and-cheese English muffin, an egg-and-cheese biscuit, small seasoned potatoes, and a medium hot coffee.

I ordered on the app, and specified I wanted half and half with my coffee. I received black coffee with little packets.

wendys coffee — This coffee was not great.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

I wanted to get two food items but still wanted to try the chain's coffee to compare it to the other chains, so I added coffee to my meal for an extra $1.19. Even with the coffee, the Wendy's deal was still the cheapest.

Unfortunately, this coffee was just OK. It was weak and watery, and I could only take a few sips.

Wendy's didn't respond to a request for comment regarding its coffee.

I got an egg-and-cheese sandwich on a flaky biscuit.

For my sandwich, I opted for the egg-and-cheese biscuit. It was great; the biscuit was flaky and not too dense, the cheese was melted well, and the egg was slightly seasoned.

The homestyle potatoes, though, were perfect.

wendys breakfast potatoes — I wish they served these all day.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

If I could get these instead of fries during my next Wendy's visit, I would. They were crunchy, seasoned well, and not too thick.

Next was Burger King's $8.03 meal for a coffee, breakfast sandwich, and order of potatoes.

burger king breakfast meal — The Burger King meal was the second-most expensive.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Burger King usually stops selling breakfast at 10:30 a.m., though on Sundays, it can run until 11 a.m.

Burger King's breakfast meals include either a Fully Loaded Croissan'wich with Egg, a Chicken Strips Croissan'wich with Egg, a Beefacon Croissan'wich with Egg, a Chick'N Crisp Croissan'wich with Egg, or a Beef Croissan'wich with Egg paired with potato bites and a choice of drink.

A "Croissan'wich" is exactly what it sounds like: a breakfast sandwich on a croissant.

This coffee was sickly sweet and tasted the most artificial.

burger king coffee — This had an off after-taste.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

I didn't love this coffee, either. It tasted so sweet, even though I specified no sugar.

Burger King didn't respond to a request for comment.

I ordered bacon, egg, and cheese on a croissant, but I wish I had skipped the bacon.

burger king breakfast sandwich — This didn't need the bacon.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Technically, I got a Beefacon Croissan'wich with Egg. This was solid, but I thought the bacon was a bit stringy and overwhelmed the rest of the sandwich. Once I took it off, I enjoyed the egg and cheese much more.

I loved the shape of these potatoes.

burger king potatoes — These were delicious.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

These are basically tater tots with a different name. They were like dime-shaped pieces of potatoes. Plus this was easily the largest side I received.

They were crunchy and quite salty, but I could've used pepper.

My final meal was from McDonald's. It cost $8.35 for a coffee, sandwich, and hash brown.

egg mcmuffin — This was the most expensive meal.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

At $8.33, this was the most expensive meal I tried.

It varies by location, but McDonald's typically stops serving breakfast between 10:30 and 11 a.m.

There are two breakfast meal options at McDonald's. First is the Big Breakfast, which comes with a biscuit, scrambled eggs, a sausage, and a hash brown. An even bigger option comes with Hotcakes (pancakes), too.

Since I had gone with sandwiches everywhere else, I opted for the Egg McMuffin Meal, which came with the sandwich, a hash brown, and a small coffee.

An Egg McMuffin is a toasted English muffin, an egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon. Other breakfast sandwich options include a Sausage McMuffin, sausage biscuits, a McGriddle, or a sausage burrito.

McCafé is well-known and beloved by some, but I thought this coffee was watery.

mcdonalds coffee — McCafé is famous, but I couldn't tell why.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Before this, I'd say that after Dunkin', McDonald's is the best-known for its coffee.

Maybe it was an off day, but I didn't like this at all. I found it watery with a sour aftertaste.

The Egg McMuffin is also iconic, but I was unimpressed.

egg mcmuffin from mcdonalds — It could be a case of good branding.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Egg McMuffins are well-known, but I would order a different sandwich in the future. The Canadian bacon in the sandwich I received was rubbery, and I thought the English muffin was dry.

The egg was a perfect circle, which made it look artificial, which was more of an aesthetic problem than anything else.

McDonald's didn't respond to a request for comment.

I was obsessed with the hash brown, though.

mcdonalds hash brown — This was an A+.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

I give this a 10 out of 10, no notes. It was crispy, salty, and just plain delicious.

My favorite overall meal, though, was still from Dunkin'.

Dunkin' had the best coffee, a really good sandwich, and tasty potatoes. It wasn't the cheapest, but it was the second most affordable, and I think I got the most bang for my buck.

The coffee and the sandwich were larger than those I received from some of the other chains, and while I felt a bit skimped on the potatoes, I still got more than I did from Taco Bell or McDonald's.

Second-best was Taco Bell, which surprised me.

The Breakfast Crunchwrap was the most different from the other sandwiches I tried, and I really liked it. The coffee was also the best after Dunkin', and I loved having a sweet treat in addition to my savory breakfast.

Then came Wendy's.

wendys breakfast sandwich — I'd get this again in a heartbeat.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

Wendy's was the cheapest by far, putting it high on this list. Plus, the potatoes were awesome, and the biscuit sandwich was very tasty. I'll skip the additional coffee in the future, though, which makes the meal cheaper anyway.

In second-to-last was Burger King.

burger king sandwich — Burger King was underwhelming.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

What kept Burger King from the bottom was that everything was almost perfect. The sandwich was better once I removed the bacon, the potatoes, while good, could've used a bit more seasoning, and the coffee was just too sweet.

It was also the second most expensive, and I didn't feel it was worth it.

My least favorite of all the meals I tried was McDonald's.

mcdonalds egg mcmuffin — You can see my English muffin was a bit burned.
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider

McDonald's was the most expensive, and it was, overall, my least favorite. The Egg McMuffin let me down, and I didn't like my coffee at all. The saving grace was that perfect hash brown.

However, I'd be willing to try a different sandwich to see if it was an off day … or if I just don't rate McDonald's breakfast.

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