Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

How To Make the New York Bodega Classic — Bacon, Egg and Cheese

Hunter Lu
By

For many New Yorkers, there’s one undisputed breakfast champion — the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Abbreviated as a BEC, these hot sandwiches are pervasive, affordable, and handheld, making this the perfect sandwich for busy New Yorkers on the go.

Driver holding up Bagel Breakfast Sandwich in car.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Related Guides

Recommended Videos

A New York Staple

Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are two main places to get a bacon, egg, and cheese in New York — the ubiquitous local bodega (corner store) or a breakfast cart. Most New York bodegas have delis featuring an array of food ranging from wings to smoothies to fresh breakfast sandwiches. Convenience and speed are important at the bodega so expect fast service and sandwiches wrapped in wax paper and foil. The best part about getting a bacon, egg, and cheese at a bodega is the customization. Feel free to request condiments like hot sauce or different meats (turkey bacon). As a bonus, you can also grab a coffee or any cold drink from the bodega’s coolers.

Related

The second option is a breakfast cart. These small food carts are usually located near subway stations and other areas with heavy pedestrian traffic. Pro-tip — the breakfast carts operated by Mexican cooks will sometimes have whole roasted jalapeños. Feel free to request one of these fiery peppers in your breakfast sandwich for a spicy kick. Besides breakfast sandwiches, these little carts also have hot beverages and breakfast pastries like muffins and donuts.

A typical BEC will feature American cheese, pork bacon, and thin, fried eggs between a sandwich roll. From there, customers can choose different variations like swiss cheese or bread (bagels are another option). This ability to customize the sandwich is the best element of the BEC. But remember, whatever the choice, this sandwich is best eaten hot and fast, preferably with a cup of strong coffee.

Read more: New York City Travel Guide

Toasty Walnut and Basil Egg Sammy

Schaller & Weber Uncured Double Smoked Bacone (whole) on wooden table.
schallerweber/Instagram

(By Nick Korbee, owner of First Mile Kitchen, partner at Egg Shop NYC and Chef James McBride of First Mile Kitchen.)

This upgraded version of bacon, egg, and cheese uses Double Smoked Uncured Bacon from Schaller & Weber, a classic German butcher in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The bacon at Schaller & Weber is twice smoked and sold in full bricks (not pre-sliced). While this bacon isn’t raw, it has been brought up to temperature during the smoking process. Unlike typical bacon, this process at Schaller & Weber ensures minimal fat shrinkage during cooking. “It’s a bacon for people who are serious about cooking,” said Jesse Denes, Vice President at Schaller & Weber.

For the Sandwich:

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole croissant (halved & toasted), ideally sourced from your local bakery
  • 1 tablespoon whipped montchevre
  • 2 slices heirloom tomato
  • 1 ounce field greens
  • 1 tablespoon Toasted Walnut and Basil Pesto
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 slices of seared Schaller & Weber Double Smoked Uncured Bacon

Method:

  1. In a small bowl using a fork, beat the eggs and whole milk together until well blended.
  2. Heat a small nonstick skillet over a medium-low flame, toss in butter, making sure that the melted butter coats the surface of the skillet.
  3. Pour in eggs, pause for a few seconds to let them cook slightly (gentle heat is essential for making a well-textured, fluffy scrambled egg).
  4. Gently move a rubber spatula across the bottom of the skillet to allow the eggs to constantly cook without browning. Cook eggs until no liquid remains.
  5. Spread montchevre on bottom slice of croissant, place eggs on bottom, then bacon, field greens and heirloom tomato. Drizzle pesto over everything. Top with last slice of croissant. Enjoy!

For Toasted Walnut and Basil Pesto:

Ingredients:

  • .5 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2.5 cups basil leaves (enough to turn the sauce a vibrant shade of green)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • .5 cup toasted walnuts
  • 1/3 cup aged white cheddar cheese (grated)
  • .5 teaspoon lemon zest
  • .5 teaspoon sea salt

Method:

  1. Using a small skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts for 2 minutes. Constantly toss the nuts to avoid burning. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
  2. Combine all ingredients excluding olive oil into a blender. Pulse a few times until all ingredients are well chopped. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while the machine is blending until you get a fairly smooth, vibrant walnut basil pesto. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Read more: Best Sandwich Recipes

Editors' Recommendations

Hunter Lu
Hunter Lu
Contributor
Hunter Lu is a New York-based food and features writer, editor, and NYU graduate. His fiction has appeared in The Line…
How to make peri peri chicken, a South African BBQ classic
Check out this recipe and make this delicious meal at home
Grilled chicken

Peri peri chicken might be a new concept to some of you out there, so we're here to introduce you to this South African BBQ staple that will soon have your mouth watering. Peri peri chicken is a flame-grilled chicken dish with African and Portuguese origins, and it is a smoky and spicy delight to the taste buds. A culinary staple in South Africa and Portugal, peri peri chicken has exploded in recent years, evidenced by the global popularity of the peri peri chicken chain Nando's, which has franchises all over the globe.

What makes peri peri chicken so delicious is its central ingredient -- the African bird's-eye chili, also known as the peri peri pepper. This combination of chili and chicken was created in Angola and Mozambique when the Portuguese brought over the chili peppers. Called piri-piri in Swahili, the peppers are blended into a sauce consisting of vinegar, citrus juice, garlic, and paprika since the 15th century. It's not clear who first created the now-iconic dish, and the subject remains hotly debated between Portuguese-Angolans and Portuguese-Mozambicans.

Read more
A guide to making a Rob Roy, the Scotch lover’s classic
Add this drink to you home bar menu for your next gathering
Rob Roy cocktail with cherry garnish

Of the many classic cocktails worthy of your time, the Rob Roy may have the best name. The title itself is friendly and hard to forget, not unlike the drink itself. The hypnotic hue of the drink as it shrinks into the base of a Nick and Nora glass is reason enough to adore the Rob Roy, but there are many more merits to this mixed beverage.

Essentially a Manhattan with Scotch whisky, the Rob Roy cocktail was born in 1894. Inherently classy, the drink was devised in the iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Manhattan came first, concocted a couple of decades earlier. With the name of its home borough already taken, the creators opted to honor the Broadway premiere of an operetta released at the time about the legendary Scottish outlaw and folk hero Robert Roy MacGregor.

Read more
How to age fish at home (your new favorite hobby)
Aging can enhance and preserve the flavor of fish. Here's how the pros do it
Aged fish by PABU

You’ve definitely heard of aging beef and curing pork into charcuterie goodness before, but maybe you’re not familiar with another protein that can be aged to texture and flavor perfection: fish. While the aging process for fish is typically much shorter than that of meat (think 24 hours compared to three weeks), letting it rest before cooking or serving it as sushi gives it a more toothsome texture and deeper, richer flavor.

To learn more about how to age fish and why it’s so beneficial, we turned to Ben Steigers, the former executive chef at Boston’s PABU. The restaurant has since closed, but it specialized in traditional izakaya, like seasonal small plates, tempura, house-made tofu, and fresh sushi and sashimi, some of which was made even more delicious by employing aging techniques. If you want to try it for yourself, follow Steigers’ careful instructions on how to age fish at home.
The benefits of aging fish

Read more