I’m all about the “sensible splurge” or letting yourself have a little fun once in a while to help prevent a deprivation induced breakdown. It’s like cheat day on your diet, but with your spending. My favorite sensible splurge is to do a big delicious breakfast on the weekend, which helps curb my desire to go out to brunch. I’ve really come to enjoy my splurgy weekend breakfasts because A) I can stay in my pajamas, B) my coffee is way better than any restaurant coffee, and C) there’s no wait time for a table. Today’s sensible splurge weekend breakfast were these awesome Brown Sugar Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches with Chipotle Mayo.
Balancing Sensible Splurges
There are two ingredients that I really splurged on this time: thick cut bacon and big beautiful Brioche buns. The tomato was pretty expensive too, but that wasn’t an intentional splurge. Despite these expensive ingredients, these sandwiches were only $2.45 each, which is a fraction of what it would have cost had we gone out to brunch. Total WIN.
If you can’t splurge as big as I did on ingredients today, you can totally use regular thickness bacon and whatever your favorite bread is instead of the brioche. Making those two swaps will probably cut the price in half. If you’re vegetarian you can try swapping the brown sugar bacon for either sliced avocado, or cheddar cheese.
This recipe is written for four sandwiches, but it would be super simple to scale up or down as needed.
That yolk, though. 🤤
Brown Sugar Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches with Chipotle Mayo
Servings 4Ingredients
BROWN SUGAR BACON
- 4 slices bacon ($2.33)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
CHIPOTLE MAYO
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise ($0.66)
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
SANDWICHES
- 4 brioche buns ($3.49)
- 4 eggs ($1.06)
- 1 large tomato ($1.12)
- 1 head lettuce* ( $0.99)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil, then place two wire cooling racks over the foil. Lay the bacon across the wire racks. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the bacon and pat it into the surface lightly. Bake the bacon in the preheated oven until brown and crispy. (About 10 minutes for regular bacon or 20 minutes for thick cut bacon. Watch the bacon closely as every oven is different.)
- While bacon is cooking, prepare the chipotle mayo and sandwich toppings. In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, chipotle powder, and garlic powder. Cover the mayo and refrigerate until ready to use. Slice the tomato into thick rounds. Wash and shake dry the lettuce. Slice the buns in half.
- Fry or scramble four eggs to your liking.
- When the bacon is finished, let it cool until it’s no longer too hot to handle. Break each slice in half so that it better fits the sandwich. Spread a tablespoon of the chipotle mayo on each side of the bun, add a lettuce leaf or two, a slice of tomato, an egg, and one slice of bacon (broken into two short strips). Enjoy!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil, then place two wire racks on top. Lay four slices of bacon over the top of the racks, then sprinkle about 2 Tbsp brown sugar over the bacon.
Lightly at the brown sugar into the surface of the bacon. (I cooked six strips because we had six strips saved in the freezer, so I just decided to cook them all. I only used one slice per sandwich, though. The other two were just eaten like candy!).
Cook the bacon in the preheated oven until brown and crispy. We had super thick cut bacon, so it took about 20 minutes. Regular bacon will probably take half that amount of time. Regardless of which type of bacon you have, watch it closely as every oven is a little bit different.
While the bacon is cooking, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients. To make the chipotle mayo, stir together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder, and 1/8 tsp garlic powder. Cover the mayo and refrigerate it until you’re ready to build the sandwiches.
This is the chipotle chili powder I used, BTW. It gives a nice smoky, spicy flavor to all sorts of dishes, like tacos, chili, fajitas, and mayonnaise!
Wash and shake dry a few lettuce leaves. Slice a large tomato into thick rounds.
Cook four eggs using your favorite method. I just do a little non-stick spray in a skillet and fry until the whites are done and the yolk is still runny.
Slice four brioche buns in half and spread about 1 Tbsp of chipotle mayo on each side.
Add a little lettuce, a slice of tomato, an egg, and a slice of bacon (broken in half to fit) to each bun.
And then you’re ready to eat your amazing Brown Sugar Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches!
Oh that yolk… those are the things weekend dreams are made of. ;)
Definitely want to try this, but what’s the best way to do this with veggie bacon? I’ve never tried baking veggie bacon before.
Unfortunately I haven’t used that either. I’m not sure it will work the same as it doesn’t have the same type of fat that pork bacon has.
I make chipotle mayo and chipotle ranch all the time, mixing a bit of puréed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in with regular ranch/mayo. I buy the big can (or lots of small ones) of the peppers and purée them with my immersion blender, then freeze them on plastic wrap in dollops that I transfer to a plastic bag. Super great for mix ins to condiments or as last minute additions to crockpot smushed pintos (my retried beans), soups, or mashed sweet potatoes.
Beth, I made this last night. I followed the recipe exactly, except I added a little sriracha to the mayo . Definitely a crowd pleaser and so easy!
PIG CANDY!! That’s what we call bacon dredged in brown sugar. It is an occasional splurge and it is sometimes fought over at our house. Next time mix a little chili powder in with the brown sugar, either that or cracked pepper…I will await your thank you comment.lol oh and as far as expensive, I find the cheaper thinner bacon actually makes better pig candy than the more expensive thicker cut. From one Louisiana gal to another..thank you for making this site. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t either make a recipe from it, or share the site with someone.
I’ve done the chili powder before! It’s SO good! :D
If you have Aldi, check there for Brioche buns. Our store has them for $1.99/4 pk.
Can’t wait to make these with some farm fresh Indiana tomatoes!
I used slices from your Honey Sunflower Bread recipe instead of the brioche buns, and I changed a few other things apart from that but I really like this recipe for inspiration. I always forget to incorporate greens into breakfast. To save on dirty dishes I baked the brown sugar bacon directly on parchment and it worked great that way too.
I found everything to be first class, including the various videos. I’m looking forward to more ideas from you. Thank you.
Kind regards.
Bacon doesn’t have to be a splurge if you buy in bulk. Costco had some lovely thick cut bacon for a good price a while back. I tend to use bacon as a flavoring agent because I’m not fond of eating slabs of meat in meals so my “meal allotment” budget goes into that. I think for this recipe because it’s so simple that I’d splurge on higher quality eggs than normal, and of course the brioche because I can’t find that for a reasonable price anywhere.
Oh, yum, yum. Your photos of food always make me hungry, Beth! If only I could satisfy my appetite by just looking at them!
Once again I have to say that your blog is topnotch! Your photos are gorgeous and so clear and your directions are too.
While we no longer eat bacon, (even of our own making, you know, raising pigs, curing, etc.) or any other meat, I just might try this recipe for a special occasion, such as Christmas breakfast. I think I would substitute turkey bacon for the pork kind. We are eating only “plant based” foods now because of heart disease. It has helped cut my husband’s cholesterol and blood pressure in HALF! Nevertheless, you have so many excellent recipes here on your blog that my newly “meatless” three ring binder is filling up with recipes from you! Thanks so much.
By the way, I “cheat” sometimes and have an egg for dinner. As my hubby says, “It’s NOT a religion, one can have a treat from time to time.” This sandwich would be just that, a treat.
There are some great plant-based bacon options:
Mushroom Bacon: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/02/crispy-smoked-mushroom-bacon-bits-vegan-recipe.html
Tempeh Bacon: http://simpleveganblog.com/tempeh-bacon/
Eggplant Bacon: http://ohmyveggies.com/the-best-vegan-blt-with-eggplant-bacon/
And you can buy pre-made veggie bacon at most grocery stores.
As we have ten laying hens, we used two eggs on each sandwich! Beautiful pictures!
All I can think of is – SO EXPENSIVE!
Not that it’s a problem – I don’t currently get to eat grains so this recipe isn’t relevant to me, but man! It feels like I’d eat two or three or these before I’d feel satisfied.
I feel like the star rating should be based only on the quality of the recipe. It says right in the first sentence that it’s a splurge. Don’t give it two stars just because it’s too expensive for your tastes.
Agree with you, Sean. And the reviewer FEELS she needs to eat 2 or 3 of these to be satisfied.
Not OK, and not a honest review.
A review which says that I’m not even going to be trying this recipe is a very honest one, IMO. If the stars were being averaged in some way, I wouldn’t have rated it, but they’re pretty irrelevant and this is how I feel about the recipe. I usually eat 3 eggs + 3 slices of bacon + 2 tomatoes + a side dish in one sitting, so this feels like a snack to me.
I disagree. I come here for budget recipes, so I rate them according to how they meet my expectations, s well as according to how good they are. The ratings aren’t averaged and assigned to the recipes in any way, so I have no idea why my rating bothers you. It doesn’t belittle the recipe in any way.
This is the best website. Sometimes I wish she would do more expensive recipes because she is just that amazing, I wonder what she could create with an unlimited budget. When I see comments like yours it makes my skin crawl because you are being negative just to be negative.
I’m glad my super negative comment triggered yours (well, except the crawling skin part ;) ). I think that any feedback, if polite, is good, and at least Beth now knows that there are people interested in more expensive recipes, doesn’t she?
You feel the need to leave a comment on a recipe that you yourself admit is not relevant to you?
Clearly, yes. You feel the need to post a question with an obvious answer?
Mmmmmmm. My kind of brunch. :-)
I am a 77 year old with a husband somewhat older who prefers the food of his Wisconsin youth and has no interest in ” healthy eating” …I am more adventurous although gluten intolerant BUT like the way you have set up your blog. Although i feel limited in my options and with serious arthritis must avoid standing for a long time while cooking ( I find a stool a little help but a long cooking session leaves me with swollen and sore joints anyway ) I’d like to try your blog for a while anyway.
I love sandwiches like these.
Do yourself a favour and add a sprinkling of cinnamon to the bacon when assembling the sandwiches, it’s a lovely combination. (Though I don’t know how well it mixes with the chipotle, it’s uncommon in the Netherlands)
I’ll have to try that.
I always forget that Mexican ingredients/condiments aren’t universal, they’re just common in the US because of the ubiquity of Mexican food. My cooking is forever indebted to our southern neighbors =) Perhaps you could substitute with another dried chile powder and smoked paprika? Chipotle’s signature taste is its heat and smokiness, so that’d be a way to get both flavors in there.
I’ve made this, but I decided to get slightly fancier with the mayo – I used canned chipotles in adobo sauce instead of chipotle powder, added a splash of lime, and threw it all in a food processor (the things I do when I wake up early and hungry on a Saturday morning…) So. Good. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while, glad I finally tried it!