There are days when you have plenty of time in the morning to languish and luxuriate, making your favorite breakfast recipes at a slow pace, sipping your coffee at the ideal time in the morning to optimize its effects, and taking in the news while your oatmeal bubbles away on the stove. Unfortunately, though, most of us don’t have mornings like that every single day. All too often, we’re forced to get up and out the door quickly, with barely enough time to make ourselves a decent breakfast. That’s when frozen breakfast foods can come in handy. Sure, a lot of times, these foods aren’t the healthiest option available, but they can help when you’re pinched for time. Plus, utilizing frozen breakfast foods is a lot cheaper than stopping at the drive-thru on your way to work yet again.

If you’re someone who indulges in frozen breakfast foods often, then you’re probably familiar with Jimmy Dean. The brand offers a wide variety of frozen breakfast dishes, and I’ve tried several of them to help you decide which one you should check out the next time you wander down the frozen foods aisle at the grocery store. I ranked these breakfast dishes from worst to best based on both flavor and creativity, with tastier, more unusual, and more delicious offerings ranking higher on the list. By checking out these rankings, you may be better able to pick out your next weekday breakfast obsession.

If you grew up eating Toaster Strudels but generally prefer a more savory breakfast, then the Jimmy Dean Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Toaster Pop-Ups may catch your eye in the freezer section. They’re little pastries with those savory fillings inside, offering a quick bite to eat when you’re on your way out the door. Sure, they look good on the picture on the box, but this was the least delicious breakfast option I tried from the brand, largely due to the flavor and texture of the pastry. It was mostly flavorless, with an unpleasant, bitter aftertaste. Although the pastry portion of the breakfast is advertised as being “flaky,” it was anything but. Rather, it had a texture more like wet cardboard.

The filling in these pop-ups isn’t terrible, but it’s just kind of one-note. It’s quite rich, but there’s nothing fresh or acidic there to balance things out. Plus, there’s just not enough filling to distract from the pastry exterior of the product. Honestly, you’re probably better off just skipping breakfast instead of making one of these Toaster Pop-Ups first thing in the morning.

Anyone who likes to eat miniature versions of their favorite foods is probably going to be interested in trying the Jimmy Dean Snack-Size Sausage Biscuits. Instead of eating just one whole biscuit sandwich for breakfast, you can have two smaller biscuits for an arguably cuter (and possibly more satisfying) breakfast experience. But if you’re hoping that you’re going to get the same flavor as you’d get from a full-size breakfast sandwich here, you’re likely to be disappointed.

These tiny biscuits aren’t really bad, per se, there’s just not that much going on with them. It’s literally just a small sausage patty on a miniature biscuit. There’s no cheese, no egg, no sauce. Sure, the sausage itself is juicy enough to keep things slightly interesting, but without a mixture of different flavors and textures, this breakfast option just falls a bit flat. Unless you’re looking for a breakfast sandwich that’s about as plain as it can get, you’re better off choosing one of the other Jimmy Dean products on this list.

Just because you can’t go out and grab street food first thing in the morning doesn’t mean you can’t get your breakfast on a stick, which is an undeniably fun way to eat any food. That’s why Jimmy Dean’s Pancakes and Sausage on a Stick is so immediately appealing. You’ll get a juicy sausage link covered in a layer of sweet pancake, which is a timeless combo that’s hard not to love for anyone who likes a good savory-sweet breakfast combo.

That being said, this dish gets boring after just a few bites. Yes, you have that nice contrast between the savory, saltiness of the sausage and the sweetness of the pancake, but there’s nothing to counteract the dish’s heaviness. Plus, even though you do get some moisture from the sausage link, the breakfast overall tastes kind of dry. If you decide to pair this frozen Jimmy Dean breakfast with other foods, like fresh fruit or even some butter and syrup, it may not be a bad combination. But eating it as is will likely lead to some disappointment in your breakfast.

Breakfast burritos are an ideal way to get your day off to a good start for so many reasons. First of all, you’re mostly getting fillings, not bread, which makes them more flavorful and often heartier. Plus, because you wrap all the fillings in a tortilla, they’re a lot more portable than other types of frozen breakfast options out there. That’s why I had such high hopes for Jimmy Dean’s Sausage Breakfast Burritos. Unfortunately, though, they fell flat on the flavor front.

Yes, they’re packed with sausage, egg, and cheese, but in reality, there’s not enough sausage in the mix. On the other hand, there may be too much cheese, which makes all the other ingredients glom together in an unpleasant way. And unlike a breakfast burrito you might make from scratch, you’re really not getting much freshness here. After a few bites, all of those heavy flavors kind of meld together in your mouth, making the dish taste deeply uninteresting. Add to that the fact that the tortilla takes on a hard texture after a few minutes out of the microwave, and it should be clear why this product is ranked in the lower half of this list.

Sure, a breakfast bowl may not be as portable as a sandwich, but for those who like to eat everything out of bowls (and I include myself in that category), there’s nothing quite like a bowl full of hash browns, eggs, and sausage. The fact that the Sausage and Gravy Breakfast Bowl from Jimmy Dean also contains rich, creamy gravy intrigued me — it’s one of the best breakfast condiments, so I figured it would really shine in this dish.

Unfortunately, though, this breakfast bowl fell flat. The gravy just doesn’t have much flavor to it at all and just seems to add a strange thickness to the bowl. The eggs included in the dish taste far from fresh, and the hash browns end up sad and soggy instead of reaching the crispy texture you’re probably looking for. Adding some hot sauce to the bowl provides some much-needed acidity, and chopping some scallions to include in the mix can also add a nice fresh sharpness to the bowl, but it’s not a product that’s super delicious all on its own.

I wasn’t nearly as excited about the Bacon Breakfast Bowl as I was about the Sausage and Gravy Breakfast Bowl, but this one actually turned out to be a bit better. You don’t have that flavorless gravy taking up any room in the dish, so this version felt heartier than the last. There are still the same problems with the hash browns and the eggs: They’re too soft and taste too bland, respectively, but with such a generous serving of cheese, all that creamy dairy kind of balances things out.

What really stood out to me in this frozen breakfast, though, is the bacon. I never would’ve assumed that microwaved bacon could taste so good, but it actually reaches quite a crispy texture, which undoubtedly plays a role in making the finished product more interesting. Plus, the bacon packs a ton of flavor, which permeates throughout the dish, making every bite more appealing since it’s so well-distributed. Admittedly, this dish could also benefit from some hot sauce and a sprinkling of chopped scallions or chives, but overall, it’s definitely a step up from the other Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl I tried.

Sometimes, you just need a good biscuit-based breakfast sandwich to get you through the day, and that’s exactly what Jimmy Dean’s Egg, Cheese, and Bacon Biscuit offers. It’s about as simple as it can get: a layer of egg, a layer of cheese, and a thin, not-so-crispy layer of bacon all sandwiched between two pieces of biscuit. It’s a solid combo that’s hard not to enjoy. As long as you like bacon, there’s a good chance that you’ll find this sandwich enjoyable. It’s probably even better than a lot of similar fast food breakfast sandwiches you’ll find out there, which is why it’s ranked closer to the top of this list.

That being said, all that meat, cheese, eggs, and bread don’t exactly make for an interesting flavor contrast. For these store-bought frozen breakfast sandwiches to reach the height of their deliciousness, you might want to add a few ingredients to the mix. You might want to think about different ways to elevate your frozen breakfast sandwich, like using other flavorful condiments, to add an extra layer of interest to the sandwich. Even if you eat it all on its own, though, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Finally, we get to some of the most interesting products in the lineup. Jimmy Dean’s Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit Roll-Ups aren’t your standard frozen breakfast option, but they are one of the better choices on this list. These small, snack-like frozen roll-ups are essentially just cylindrical biscuits filled with sausage, egg, and cheese. For some reason, eating them in this form is so much more fun than an average breakfast sandwich. Plus, it makes eating breakfast on the go so much easier.

The biscuit is nice and crumbly, but not so much that it’ll leave a mess in your car. The sausage is nice and juicy, which helps to add some moisture to the product. The egg and cheese, of course, just round things out nicely, adding some more variety to the dish. This frozen breakfast option feels a bit more like a snack than an actual breakfast, which is why it doesn’t rank higher on this list, but it’s definitely worth a try if you’re looking for something new and novel for the mornings when you decide to indulge in a frozen breakfast food.

Maybe you want something that’s on the lighter side when you’re opting for a frozen breakfast. In that case, you might want to look into the Jimmy Dean Delights foods. One of the products you’ll find in this lighter, supposedly healthier line is the Delights Egg White, Turkey Sausage, and Cheese Croissant. Because the eggs in Jimmy Dean products don’t tend to taste that good in the first place, swapping out a standard egg for just egg whites in this product doesn’t seem to make much difference flavor-wise. Similarly, the use of turkey sausage doesn’t seem to affect the flavor of the finished product much. You still get that juicy meatiness you already know and love. And that layer of cheese gives the sandwich the creaminess you crave.

Flavor-wise, a lot of Jimmy Dean’s products can start to taste overwhelming after a few bites. However, since this sandwich is lighter than most of its other counterparts, you won’t get that same sensation here. Plus, the buttery croissant provides a nice, soft texture that makes the sandwich feel a touch more indulgent.

I’d never seen hash browns stuffed with meat and other ingredients before, so I was instantly intrigued when I found these Jimmy Dean Meat Lovers Stuffed Hash Browns in the frozen section of the grocery store. I didn’t have a lot of faith that they would actually taste good, but I was excited to try them nonetheless. I’m happy to say that I was surprised at the results. These stuffed hash browns get super, super crispy thanks to the crisping sleeve that comes with the product. That crispy, almost crunchy exterior houses a thin yet seemingly generous layer of meat and cheese that’s full of flavor.

When that creamy inside and the crispy exterior come together, they create a harmonious combination of textures that seems like it somehow fulfills every junk food craving I’ve ever had. This may not be the most conventional way to eat breakfast, but it’s a product you should absolutely try if you love the crispiness that traditional hash browns deliver.

When you can’t decide what, exactly, you want to eat for breakfast, you should turn to this Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Blueberry Griddle Cake from Jimmy Dean, my No. 1 pick on this list. Is it the most nutritious breakfast you’ve ever tried in your life? Likely not. But it’ll save you from having to choose between a savory or sweet start to your day. That’s because this breakfast sandwich is built with two small blueberry pancakes that deliver a dose of sweetness to the sandwich. That sweetness isn’t overwhelming, but it does balance out the saltiness from the sausage patty nicely.

The egg isn’t amazing in this breakfast sandwich (nor is it particularly good in any of the others we’ve covered on this list), but it really doesn’t matter thanks to the flavor all of the other ingredients provide. The creaminess of the cheese is ultimately what brings it all together, offering a velvety texture that marries the pancakes and the sausage in perfect harmony. If you’re searching for a frozen breakfast sandwich you can get excited for in the morning, this Jimmy Dean offering should absolutely be on your list.

I chose these Jimmy Dean frozen products based on the availability at my local grocery store. The criteria for the ranking were, most importantly, overall flavor, in addition to creativity. Dishes that tasted better and that were more unusual ranked nearer the top of the list, while less flavorful and more commonplace ranked lower on the list. I cooked all of the products in the microwave as instructed, with the exception of the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Toaster Pop-Ups, which were instead prepared in the oven.