The new Jack in the Box Hearty Breakfast Bowl looks like it got hit repeatedly with an ugly stick, followed by a magic spell from the wand of the ugly fairy, and then given an ulgy gift by Ugly Claus. But it also is the perfect storm of breakfast, with its waves of scrambled eggs, flood of white cheddar cheese sauce, downpour of shredded cheddar cheese, hail of sausage balls, torrent of bacon pieces, and the thunder of golden hash brown sticks. It may look like something that comes out of you rather than something that goes in you, but the Jack in the Box Hearty Breakfast Bowl is one tasty mofo…as long as you close your eyes while eating it.
The combination the Jack in the Box cuisine creators constructed with their Hearty Breakfast Bowl is just about perfect. Nothing overpowers each other, although I have to admit I didn’t know it had bacon until I read that it had hours later. The cheese was nicely melted, the hash brown sticks were slightly crunchy, and the eggs were mostly fluffy. The use of small balls of sausage, bacon pieces, and long hash brown sticks helped ensure you can taste almost all of the ingredients with every bite. With all of those flavors combined it’s like I had an inexpensive Las Vegas breakfast buffet in my mouth, except without the old people holding up the line.
The somewhat small size of the bowl the Hearty Breakfast Bowl comes in, which is about five inches in diameter and 1.75 inches deep, makes it seem like it is not so hearty, but one bowl satisfied my manly, hair-chested hunger and probably raised my blood pressure and cholesterol to levels my future cardiologist would say they shouldn’t be at. I guess the Hearty Breakfast Bowl is appropriately named for something that does that to my heart. The plastic bowl also seemed to be reusable, since it states that it is microwave safe and dishwasher safe, which is good because the plastic it’s made out of is difficult to recycle (#5).
The Jack in the Box Hearty Breakfast Bowl is the breakfast I wish I could make in the morning, if I had the time, ingredients, and the kitchen full of people I could demand to make it for me. Thankfully, every Jack in the Box has all of those things and they also can make it during anytime of the day, since they serve breakfast around the clock, although it will probably be just as ugly as the one above. It’s a good thing I have paper bags to cover it while I have at it.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 bowl – 780 calories, 60 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, 7 grams of trans fat, 445 milligrams of cholesterol, 1350 milligrams of sodium, 430 milligrams of potassium, 34 grams of carbs, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 1 gram of sugar, 26 grams of protein, and thanks to Ryan.)
(Editor’s Note: I originally gave this an 8 out of 10, but I didn’t know the nutrition facts, until reader Ryan pointed them out. After I found out that it has 7 grams of trans fat, I decided to knock down the score to 7 out of 10, because having 7 grams of trans fat just isn’t right.)
Item: Jack in the Box Hearty Breakfast Bowl
Price: $3.89 ($2.99 most other places)
Purchased at: Jack in the Box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: It’sa damn good. The breakfast I wish I could make in the morning. Flavors don’t overpower each other. Use of sausage balls, bit of bacon and hash brown sticks helps ensure all the ingredients are covered in every bite. Available 24 hours a day. Container is reusable, microwave safe, and dishwasher safe.
Cons: A very unhealthy 7 grams of trans fat. Looks like it got hit with an ugly stick again and again. It’s probably bad for you. Bowl may seem small to some. Didn’t notice the bacon. Container’s plastic is hard to recycle (#5).
Oh man…that dish of food is all kinds of ugly I’m just going to have to take your word for it. Also, it’s not every day that you have to duck a “hail of sausage balls.” Very cute 🙂
That does sound tasty, even if it doesn’t look it. I may have to try one in the morning. Generally, I think McD’s fast food breakfasts are tastier than JITB, but this one may be a contender. Everything is better with bacon!
I shuddered at the name and the pic did not make me want to run out and eat it. “Ugly” isn’t the word I’d use. That said, I imagine it is pretty tasty – it had better be considering what I suspect the nutrional value is..
It looks like a bowl of one part mucus, three parts vomit.. and yet it is at the same time appetizing. What the hell is going on?
I had one of those yesterday. I think it would have passed for acceptable (appearance wise) if they didn’t coat it all in gravy, which makes it hard to look at… Mine had noticeable bacon, too. Pretty tasty, wouldn’t do it again because my arteries hardened 10 minutes later.
Damn, it isn’t the best looking meal i’ve seen, but it sounds delicious. Too bad the nearest Jack In The Box is 4 hours away. I miss it… the 24-hour menu is awesome.
Not sure if they just put it up or if you simply overlooked it, but the nutritional information for it is listed at http://www.jackinthebox.com/ourfood/dynamic/nutrition.php?cat=5. It certainly isn’t health food. 😉
Damn you..New York doesnt have one here.
Do you ever wonder if their “sausage balls” are really just deep fried Jack-In-The-Box heads. Or worse…
the “cheeze” sauce looks kinda like raw eggs, but after the positive review. i MAY give this a try if i ever go to the house of Mr. box.
ha ha you said “sausage and balls!”
I don’t think I could get past the look of the thing.. the breakfast that is.
are ur arteries diamonds by now? cause i sure don’t think they could get any harder after eating that…..or maybe they could if you ate a KFC bowl thing for ur next meal….i guess we’re gunna have to get you a wife to cook 4 u (aka downturn ur bad for u foods) or ace is gonna be left alone running this shop
not that that would be a bad thing either…actually…ima go stalk ace for a while. buahahahaha
@Erin – I just hope you have nightmares of the picture above.
@Chuck – Just a quick warning, I just found out it had 7 g of trans fat. I’d hate to lose one of TIB’s original readers.
@SheRa – Oh, those nutritional values. You are absolutely correct about them and they would probably make you want to run away from them.
@NobleArc – Either you’re really hungry, really tired or really stoned.
@Dae – A part of me regrets eating it. That part is my heart.
@Ryan – I guess I might have overlooked it. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I’ve made the changes above and thanks to you I had to change the score of this product, which is a TIB first.
@Shannon – I think most East Coasters don’t have access to Jack-in-the-Box, but you do have access to White Castle which makes me jealous.
@Armauld – I don’t want to think what “worse” could be.
@liz – It does look like runny eggs. You’ve just made an even more unappetizing to look at.
@bikerbabee – First off, I like the new gravatar. I still don’t know what happened to the old one. For some reason it just wasn’t showing up. To eat this I did what I would do if I had to make out with Amy Winehouse, close my eyes and hope for the best.
@MintWrecker – If you really want to stalk Ace, I have his address. Oh wait, he has my address, so he could send a stalker after me too. never mind
In the interest of TIB’s readership, I just copied this off the JITB web site:
Calories: 779.6
Calories from fat: 542.5
Total fat (g): 60.3
Saturated fat (g): 20.3
Trans fat (g): 6.6
Cholesterol (mg): 446.3
Sodium (mg): 1345.6
Potassium (mg): 432.3
Total carbohydrate (g): 34.4
Dietary fiber (g): 4.3
Sugars (g): 0.9
Protein (g): 25.7
Just typing that out makes me much less interested in trying one of these. I’ll probably stick with McD’s bacon egg and cheese bagel, which only gets 1/3 of its calories from fat…still not healthy, but better than this!
@Chuck – I think I’ll just stick to my peanut butter and jelly toast and soy milk for breakfast. Although, I may eat this again, once my arteries clear.
I really have a hard time believing that something that looks like that, could actually taste good..
I’m sorry but did something throw up in that bowl?
I’m surprised you only gave it a 7 considering how much you waxed rhapsodic about it.
Did you shower yourself in this “goodness” as well, Marvo? Usually you don’t rate stuff this high unless you lather it on your body. Laaaaather.
That bowl is uglier then my ex wife but probably taste better.
Looks like someone added their “special” ingredient all over the middle of it. Someone named Pookie who works at a resturant that used to be a White Castle. This is a movie reference for the uninitiated, by the by.
Oh ew… it looks like vomit! Nasty dog vomit.
But it sounds oh so yummy.. it must be the cheese…
This looks like the lovechild of the KFC Famous Bowl and Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowl, but I’ll believe you when you say it actually tastes good. Will try when drunk at 2am.
That looks really disgusting. I was hungry and was about to go on lunch break but looking at it makes me never want to eat again. 🙁
Their new Nacho Cheese Sandwiches are pretty boring, but at $1.29 for two after 9 PM, they are hard to beat when you’re drunk. Oh hey, speaking of…you should review those.
The product does not please the eye.
augh too bad I don’t like
scrambled eggs, white cheddar cheese sauce,
cheddar cheese, or sausage balls.
…so all I’d have is bacon and hashbrowns ):
angry bob is very disappointed in all of you superficial types. Ugly foods are just like ugly people. As long as they’re warm and crunchy and fit neatly in a bowl, why should you care what they look like?
Angry Bob, presentation counts. Especially in a resturant, besides buffets.
Manly, hair chested hunger??? So does this mean you haven’t kept up with the waxing?
As for the food, I’m trying to forget I ever saw the picture of it. It’s almost as bad as larvae boob (google it, but be warned… It’s worse then 2 girls 1 cup in gross out factor)
I’m not going to lie, that looks ugly as sin but sounds delicious.
Marvo, you need to take a trip to the American south. That bowl idea vaguely reminds me of Krystal’s scramblers which have been around for a while. Little styrofoam cup with grits, eggs, sausage and cheese. There are also pancake and biscuit varieties. (Krystal.com)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is angry bob’s fork.
Ugly Claus? Is he related to the Hanukkah Zombie?
Goatse II, the revenge.
Do you have Hardee’s/Carl Jr’s there? They have a breakfast bowl that rocks: a biscuit (they have the best biscuits), a sausage patty, scrambled eggs, cheese, and the sausage gravy. Haven’t had one in awhile, but they are better than this one looks.