The Best & Worst Jack in the Box Breakfast Orders, According to a Dietitian

Founded in 1951, Jack in the Box was a traditional fast-food burger and taco joint that started in San Diego and grew throughout the West coast.  Jack in the Box was one of the first fast-food chains to offer breakfast options, with the launch of their breakfast sandwich in 1969.  Today, the chain has more than 2,000 locations across the United States and an extensive menu, and the Jack in the Box breakfast menu includes a variety of egg sandwiches, egg burritos, breakfast platters, and pancakes.

Unfortunately, none of the breakfast menu choices are located on the chain's "Lighter Fare" menu, so you need to choose wisely if you're looking for a healthier choice when ordering at Jack in the Box. What's more, the chain's breakfast foods tend to exceed what is normally recommended for appropriate calories, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium for breakfast. To help you navigate the menu, we've categorized their breakfast options into "best" and "worst" in terms of nutrition.

Here are three criteria we used to determine if a Jack in the Box breakfast item is healthy or not:

• Calories: The total calories of the best bet breakfasts do not exceed 650 calories. A typical breakfast should be around 20-25% of your total daily calories. That would be around 600 calories for those eating about a 2,400 calorie-a-day diet.
• Saturated Fat: Saturated fat from animal-based foods like bacon, eggs, sausage, and full-fat dairy foods is known to increase risk for atherosclerosis and other chronic health conditions. The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to less than 10% of total calories. For a 2,400 calorie-a-day diet, that would be up to 26 grams of saturated fat, but less is even better. For this reason, our "best breakfasts" have up to 16 grams of saturated fat.
• Sodium: All Jack in the Box menu items are sodium-rich, but the best options have no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium. The daily recommended sodium limit is 2,400 milligrams, so if you eat any fast food, it's important to limit sodium for all other meals and snacks that same day. Also, adding more potassium-rich produce choices, like fruits and vegetables, can help mitigate the harmful effects of sodium.

With these parameters in mind, read on to see which items from the Jack in the Box breakfast menu are what we consider the best and worst. Then, check out the 14 Healthiest Fast-Food Breakfasts.

The Best Breakfast Options

Best: Bacon Breakfast Jack

This is a bit of a surprise, but the Bacon Breakfast Jack has a better nutritional composition compared to the original Breakfast Jack. Of all the breakfast choices, this one is the lowest in calories. Some breakfast options weigh in at 1,070 calories, so the Bacon Breakfast Jack has about 1/3 of the calories of the Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Sausage. It also has one of the lowest saturated fat and sodium counts of all the breakfast options as well.

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Best: Breakfast Jack

The Breakfast Jack sandwich comes with egg, American cheese, and ham, and it is the second lowest in calories of all the breakfast meal options.  It provides 16 grams of protein, thanks to the egg, cheese, and ham, and it offers a small amount of fiber (2 grams). A breakfast of around 400-500 calories is an ideal amount for most moderately-active adults.

Best: Sausage Breakfast Jack

This choice is no nutritional winner, but when it comes to choosing the better options from the Jack in the Box breakfast menu, this choice is among the better options. It is lower in heart-clogging saturated fat compared to many other choices and has a more moderate sodium count, although it is higher than one would recommend for a meal. If you eat fast food for breakfast, it's important to limit sodium and eat more produce throughout the rest of the day to counterbalance the impact of such a sodium-rich meal.

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Best: Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Bacon

Even though "Jumbo" in the name of any restaurant menu item should be a cue that it will be extremely unhealthy, this choice is not nearly as sizeable as the Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Sausage. It also has 40% fewer calories than the sausage platter. If you want a breakfast with a lot of protein for the calories, the Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Bacon is a better choice than the breakfast sandwich-type choices at the chain.

Best: Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich

The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich is a better option as it's moderate in calories and is one of the lowest options in saturated fat. It also has a more manageable sodium content than many other options, but it is still high, so you'll need to balance it with lower-sodium choices for the remainder of the day.

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Best: Mini Pancakes

The Mini Pancakes order comes with eight bite-sized, fluffy pancakes and syrup.  The reason we put it on the "best" list is that this order is moderate in calories and keeps saturated fat lower than many other orders. It also provides 3 grams of fiber, which isn't that impressive but is better than most other options on the Jack in the Box breakfast menu.

Best: Meat Lovers Breakfast Burrito

The Meat Lovers Breakfast Burrito is considered one of the better options due to its calories being within reason, as well as the 12 grams of saturated fat, which is high, but not as high as other options on the menu.

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Best: Hash Browns

Hash Browns are the only side dish offered on the Jack in the Box breakfast menu. They are a better option due to their low calories, lower sodium, and sugar counts. They lack the protein that you should ideally strive to get in your first meal (20-25 grams protein), but if you have these with yogurt or another protein-rich item, it can help you get a balanced meal.

The Worst Breakfast Options

Worst: Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Sausage

The Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Sausage is the highest-calorie breakfast menu item available at Jack in the Box. The main issue with this choice is that it's too large of a portion for breakfast. The size of the meal makes the calories about twice as much as most adults need in their first meal, and it has the fat you need in an entire day, as well as a day's worth of saturated fat.

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Worst: Sausage Croissant

The Sausage Croissant being one of the worst options probably comes as no surprise because of the butter-rich croissant pastry. The egg, sausage, and American cheese are served with a flaky croissant. As a result, this choice is high in total fat, saturated fat, and sodium, and it also has a teaspoon of added sugar.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Worst: Loaded Breakfast Sandwich

Nutritionally, like the Sausage Croissant, the Loaded Breakfast Sandwich option packs in too much saturated fat and too many calories for your first meal. It also lacks beneficial fiber.

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Worst: Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich

The Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich option at the chain exceeds what you want to have for calories, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and carbohydrates for breakfast. It's an excessive amount in virtually everything, making it one of the worst choices on the entire menu.

Worst: Supreme Croissant

The Supreme Croissant option is one of our worst bets due to its high calories, total fat, and saturated fat counts. It also has more carbohydrates than many of the higher-protein options on the menu.