Keto Copycat Sausage McGriddle (Air Fryer)

The McGriddle is the one breakfast sandwich that keto usually takes off the table. Two maple-soaked pancakes is a lot of flour, and there’s no swapping your way around it, you have to rebuild the bun from scratch.

This version does exactly that. Instead of pancakes, you make a quick fathead dough from mozzarella, cream cheese and almond flour, cut it into rounds, and crisp it in the air fryer. Then you stack it the way McDonald’s does: sausage, egg, cheese, and a slick of sugar-free maple syrup on the bun so the sweet-savory thing still happens.

The whole sandwich lands at 6g net carbs — 9g total carbohydrate minus 3g of fiber — with 39g of protein. That’s a real breakfast, not a consolation prize.

If you like this kind of thing, the air fryer copycat McDonald’s breakfast burritos are worth a look too, and the rest of my copycat recipes live here.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• One bowl, no splatter. Nothing to scrub off the stovetop afterward.
• 6g net carbs per sandwich. The fathead bun is what makes it work — no pancake mix, no hidden sugar.
• Faster than the drive-thru. Fourteen minutes in the air fryer, and the dough comes together in one bowl in the microwave.
• Actually crisps. Fathead dough goes soggy in the oven if you’re not careful. Circulating air fixes that.
• Meal-prep friendly. Make the buns Sunday, assemble in three minutes on a Tuesday.

What Is a McDonald’s Sausage McGriddle?

The McDonald’s Sausage McGriddle is a breakfast sandwich built on two griddle cakes instead of a muffin or biscuit. A sausage patty and folded egg go in the middle, and the pancakes themselves have maple flavor baked in — that’s the signature move, and it’s why the sandwich tastes sweet and savory at the same time.

It’s also why it doesn’t fit a low-carb day. A standard sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle runs well north of 40g of carbohydrate, almost all of it from the two griddle cakes.

What Makes This Version Keto

The bun is fathead dough — the mozzarella-cream-cheese-almond-flour dough that low-carb baking runs on. You melt the two cheeses together, work in almond flour and an egg, and you get something you can roll, cut, and bake like a biscuit.

It is not a pancake, and it won’t pretend to be one. It’s denser and a little chewy, closer to a soft biscuit than a flapjack. What it does do is hold a sausage patty without falling apart, brown properly in the air fryer, and soak up sugar-free syrup the way the original does.

If fathead dough is new to you, this is a forgiving place to start — you’re cutting simple rounds, not shaping anything.

Ingredients Needed

For the fathead dough buns:

• Shredded mozzarella cheese: The structure of the whole thing. Use low-moisture shredded mozzarella, not fresh; fresh mozzarella carries too much water and the dough won’t hold.
• Cream cheese: Softens the dough and keeps it pliable enough to roll. Full-fat block cream cheese, not whipped.
• Almond flour: Blanched and finely ground. Almond meal is coarser and gives you a gritty bun.
• Egg: The binder that turns melted cheese and flour into a workable dough.

For the filling:

• Sausage patties: Pork for the classic flavor, turkey for something lighter. Check the label; some brands sneak sugar into the seasoning.
• Eggs: Fried or scrambled, whichever you like better in a sandwich.
• American or cheddar cheese slices: For melting over the hot sausage.
• Cooked bacon: Optional, but two strips per sandwich is the right amount.
• Sugar-free maple syrup: This is what does the McGriddle impression. Melted butter works if you’d rather skip it.

How to Make a Keto McGriddle

Step 1: Melt the cheeses. Combine the mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave one minute, stir, then microwave another 30 seconds. You want them fully combined and glossy.

Step 2: Build the dough. Stir in the almond flour, then the egg. Let the cheese cool for a minute first — if it’s too hot you’ll scramble the egg right in the bowl. Stir until it comes together, then knead with your hands until there are no streaks of flour left.

Step 3: Cut the buns. Press the dough into a flat rectangle about ½ inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter or the rim of a drinking glass. Re-press the scraps and cut again until it’s used up.

Step 4: Air fry. Spray the rounds with cooking spray and air fry at 400°F for 7 minutes. Flip, then air fry 7 more minutes. They’re done when they’re browned and firm to the touch.

Step 5: Assemble. Brush sugar-free maple syrup over the cut side of each bun. Stack sausage, cheese slice, egg and bacon, then cap it. Eat it warm.

Tips for the Best Fathead Buns

• Don’t skip the parchment. Fathead dough sticks to everything, counters included.
• Work while it’s warm. Once the cheese cools it stiffens and cracks when you press it. If that happens, microwave the dough for 15 seconds and try again.
• Keep them even. Uneven thickness means some buns burn while others stay pale. Press the whole rectangle to one thickness before cutting.
• Give them space. Don’t crowd the basket — the buns need air on all sides to crisp instead of steam.
• Cool before assembling. A hot bun under a slice of cheese turns into a soft bun.

Variations

• No syrup: Melted butter with a pinch of salt gets you a savory biscuit-style sandwich instead.
• Eggs: Fried, scrambled, or over-easy. Scrambled travels better if you’re wrapping these for the week.
• Cheese: Add a slice of American or cheddar on top of the sausage, then return it to the air fryer for 30 seconds to melt.
• Breakfast meat: Swap in bacon, Canadian bacon, or a chicken sausage patty.
• Sweeter bun: Add a pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of granulated sweetener to the dough.

What to Serve With It

A McGriddle wants something crisp on the side. Trader Joe’s hashbrowns in the air fryer are the closest thing to the drive-thru experience, and shredded hashbrowns in the air fryer work if that’s what’s in your freezer. Neither is keto — swap in extra bacon or a side of avocado if you’re counting.

Storing

Fathead buns store better than you’d expect, which is what makes this a good meal-prep recipe.

Let the buns cool completely to room temperature first — warm buns will steam inside a container and go soft. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

For longer, wrap them individually in parchment paper, then seal in a freezer bag. They keep 2 to 3 months in the freezer.

You can also freeze the sandwiches fully assembled. Wrap each one tightly and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheating

Add the sandwich to the air fryer basket and set the temperature to 350°F for 3 to 5 minutes, until warmed through and the bun has crisped back up.

From frozen, give it 6 to 8 minutes at 350°F, and loosely tent it with foil for the first few minutes so the outside doesn’t run ahead of the middle.

Skip the microwave. It’ll heat the sandwich, but the bun comes out limp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why almond flour? Can I use regular flour? Almond flour is what keeps this low carb. You can substitute all-purpose flour and the dough will still work — but at that point it’s no longer keto, and the carb count goes up substantially. Coconut flour is not a one-to-one swap; it absorbs far more liquid and you’d need to rework the whole ratio.

What exactly is fathead dough? A low-carb dough made from melted mozzarella, cream cheese, almond flour and egg. It’s the standard base for keto pizza crust, bagels and biscuits. No yeast, no rising time, and it comes together in about five minutes.

How many net carbs are in one sandwich? 6g net carbs — 9g total carbohydrate minus 3g fiber, per sandwich as written. Your number will shift slightly depending on which sausage and sugar-free syrup you use.

Can I make these without an air fryer? Yes. Bake the buns on a parchment-lined sheet at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway. They won’t crisp quite as evenly, so watch the edges.

My dough is sticky and won’t press out. What went wrong? Usually the cheese cooled too far, or there’s a little too much moisture. Warm it 15 seconds in the microwave and knead again. If it’s still tacky, work in another tablespoon of almond flour.

Does it actually taste like a McGriddle? Close, honestly — but not identical. The sweet-savory contrast is there thanks to the syrup, and the sausage-egg-cheese core is the same. The bun is denser and more biscuit-like than a pancake. If you go in expecting a fluffy griddle cake you’ll be disappointed; if you go in wanting a keto breakfast sandwich that scratches the same itch, it delivers.

Can I double the recipe? Yes, and it’s worth doing. Air fry the buns in batches so the basket isn’t crowded.

More Keto Breakfasts Worth Making

If this one works for you, the air fryer Starbucks copycat bacon, sausage and egg wrap is the same idea in a different format, and these keto sausage and cheddar egg bites are the grab-and-go option for mornings when you don’t want to assemble anything. There’s more in the breakfast archive and the full air fryer collection.