McDonald’s Calories & Macros For Every Menu Item In 2026

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If you want to know all of the nutrition facts for the entire McDonald’s menu, then you’re in the right place. Whether you’re searching for breakfast, lunch, or dessert, we’re breaking down the entire menu.

If you’re new to this blog, the single most important thing that I’d like for you to take away from this content is that you can eat ANY food you like, regardless of your goals.

Even if you have a goal of weight loss, I want you to understand that nothing is off-limits.

Yes, that includes fast food.

I love putting together nutrition guides for fast food menus like these (check out my Chick-fil-A Nutrition Guide or Wendy’s Nutrition Guide for more examples) to show you exactly what you can expect when ordering out.

Maybe you don’t consider McDonald’s to be the highest quality food, but when you break down the McDonald’s nutrition and calories, you can see that it may not be as “bad” as you might have previously thought.

Is McDonald’s “Healthy” Overall?

When most of us think about McDonald’s, “healthy” isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind.

Of course, how healthy or unhealthy you consider the menu is entirely dependent on your own goals and preferences.

If you are eating a high-protein diet and are hoping for some kind of grilled chicken, you’ll be disappointed by the lack of options at McDonald’s. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still get a quality meal at McDonald’s!

If a low-carb or keto diet is more your style, the traditional menu won’t have many options for you, but you can check out this guide from Joe Duff for some great keto-friendly options.

One thing that is worth noting is that at the time of writing this, McDonald’s is not offering any salads. This isn’t totally uncommon for fast food (Five Guys doesn’t offer any salads), but it does seem that the vast majority of fast-food restaurants are now offering salad to accommodate people who are wanting to eat healthier.

At one point, McDonald’s did offer a handful of different salads, such as the Premium Bacon Ranch Salad or Premium Southwest Salad, but we are waiting to see if they make a comeback.

In the grand scheme of things, this question is completely subjective, so my goal with this post is to simply present you with the full picture to make the right choices for you.

We’ll explore the entire McDonald’s menu, along with the calories & macros (plus saturated fat and sodium), to help you find options that work for your diet.

Healthiest McDonald’s Menu Items for Specific Diets

As you go through this post, I’ll break down every section of the McDonald’s menu with the full nutrition information. But before we dive in, I want to highlight some options for different dietary preferences.

If you follow a keto diet, your idea of “healthy” is certainly going to be different from someone who is just trying to eat more plant-based foods, so there’s no way to give you the healthiest option across the board.

However, I can point you in the direction of a healthy choice based on your specific diet:

McDonald’s Menu Item With the Most Protein

Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese: 740 Calories, 42g Fat (20g Saturated Fat), 43g Carbs, 48g Protein, 1,360mg Sodium

The Double Quarter Pounder is high in calories, high in fat, and high in sodium, but that also comes with the most protein on the McDonald’s menu. It is certainly not the best option for quality protein, but I can’t argue with nearly 50 grams of protein.

McDonald’s Menu Item With the Most Protein Under 500 Calories

McCrispy Strips (4 Piece): 460 Calories, 23g Fat (3.5g Saturated Fat), 24g Carbs, 40g Protein, 1,470mg Sodium

If you want a high protein option at McDonald’s with fewer calories than the Double Quarter Pounder, the McCrispy Strips are your best option.

A 4-piece comes in under 500 calories and contains an impressive 40 grams of protein. This is balanced quite well with the fat and carbohydrate content, making this an all-around well-balanced option.

If you order a 3-piece, you’ll still get 30 grams of quality protein for just 350 calories.

McDonald’s Menu Item With The Fewest Carbs

4 Piece Chicken McNuggets: 170 Calories, 10g Fat (1.5g Saturated Fat), 10g Carbs, 9g Protein, 340mg Sodium

While a 4-piece order of chicken McNuggets is small, if you need a quick bite that’s low carb, they fit the bill. Unfortunately, McDonald’s doesn’t currently have salads, or else that would be the easy choice here!

McDonald’s Menu Item With The Lowest Fat

Hamburger: 250 Calories, 9g Fat (3.5g Saturated Fat), 31g Carbs, 12g Protein

It can be tough to find a low-fat option when eating fast food, but if you stick with a single hamburger without any cheese, you’ll consume under 9 grams of total fat, which may be a great option for you. A double hamburger still only contains 16 grams of fat, so depending on your diet, you may be able to make that work as well!

Lowest-Sodium McDonald’s Meal

4 Piece Chicken McNuggets: 170 Calories, 10g Fat (1.5g Saturated Fat), 10g Carbs, 9g Protein, 340mg Sodium

Small Fries: 230 Calories, 11g Fat (1.5g Saturated Fat), 31g Carbs, 3g Protein, 190mg Sodium

Many McDonald’s menu items clock in at around 1,000mg of sodium, making it tough to find options for a low-sodium diet.

For a full meal, a 4-piece McNuggets order with small fries will be relatively low in sodium at just 530mg total. This is a smaller meal, and the sodium will obviously increase as the order gets larger.

If you order a 6-piece McNugget, add 160mg, or if you swap the McNuggets for a hamburger, add 170mg.

The good news is that the fries are surprisingly low in sodium, so you can add them to your meal without much worry!

Calories & Nutrition for McDonald’s Sandwiches

Whether you want to keep it simple with a single hamburger, or go with a massive double quarter-pounder (a half-pounder, in other words), there’s a burger on the McDonald’s menu for you.

It’s worth noting that these burgers all include condiments (ketchup and mustard) and American cheese (except for the hamburgers that don’t include cheese, of course). The condiments will generally add 10-20 calories per sandwich, with cheese adding 50 calories.

A Big Mac at McDonald’s contains 580 calories, which is admittedly much lower than I expected. Between the extra sesame seed bun, cheese, and special sauce, it’s easy to assume that the Big Mac calories would be incredibly high. But at 580 calories, the Big Mac calories are actually lower than a Whopper.

One of McDonald’s staples over the years has been the McChicken sandwich, which you may be surprised to see only has 14g of protein. With 400 calories, you’d expect the McChicken to contain more protein than it does, but since it is a chicken patty rather than a chicken breast, the protein is much lower.

If you’re looking for more protein, the McChicken is now accompanied by all of the McCrispy chicken sandwiches, which are much better options.

Lowest Calorie McDonald’s Sandwich

Hamburger: 250 Calories, 9g Fat (3.5g Saturated Fat), 31g Carbs, 12g Protein

The single hamburger from McDonald’s is pretty much on par with all the other fast-food burgers out there in terms of nutrition. For reference, a single hamburger from Burger King is 240 calories, 10g fat, 26g carbs, and 13g of protein. Very similar!

The nutrition for a McDonald’s Cheeseburger is 300 calories, 13g of fat, 32g carbs, and 15g protein. We can estimate that each slice of cheese adds 50 calories, 4g fat, 1g carbs, and 3g protein based on the nutrition of the hamburger.

Highest Calorie McDonald’s Sandwich

Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese: 740 Calories, 42g Fat (20g Saturated Fat), 43g Carbs, 48g Protein, 1,360mg Sodium

It’s no surprise that this massive half-pound burger tops the charts in terms of calories, but with that, it also packs the most protein. At 740 calories and 48g of protein, that may not be the most ideal calories-to-protein ratio, but it is certainly the highest.

It may come as a surprise to you that the Big Mac is not the highest-calorie option here. This is because the size of the Big Mac is mostly due to the extra bun in the middle, and you’re not getting as much beef as even the single quarter-pounder!

The beef is much more calorically dense than the bun due to the high fat content, thus leading to fewer calories in the Big Mac.

Highest Protein McDonald’s Sandwich under 500 Calories

McCrispy Sandwich: 470 Calories, 20g Fat, 45g Carbs, 26g Protein

If you’re looking to maximize your protein intake without going overboard on calories, the McCrispy or Spicy McCrispy are solid choices. If you go the spicy route, you’ll add 60 total calories from sauce, so if you want to keep it under 500 calories, the regular McCrispy is the way to go.

Calories & Nutrition for McDonald’s Snacks, Sides, and Condiments

You can’t talk about McDonald’s without talking about the Chicken McNuggets and the French Fries.

McDonald’s fries are arguably among the best out there, and they are actually on the low end of the calorie scale compared to other options. Check out this French Fries Nutrition Comparison I put together to see how these fries stack up:

This guide compares a medium order of fries, which may vary in size depending on where you order from (we’re looking at you, Five Guys), but gives us a general idea.

If ordering a Happy Meal, the “Kid’s Fries” is the size you can expect to find within the meal.

When it comes to other snacks, McNuggets are tried and true, but McDonald’s also now has McCrispy strips, which are a better option for those of you looking to make the most of your macros and protein.

McDonald’s has also brought back snack wraps, giving you a lower-calorie option if you’re craving chicken on the go but don’t want to commit to a full chicken sandwich.

And of course, no meal is complete without condiments or dipping sauces, so you’ll want to take those into account if you’re watching what you eat. If you want to keep things lower in calories, stick with lighter options like honey mustard or bbq sauce (or the classic ketchup and mustard) and be mindful of thicker sauces like ranch or mayo.

Calories & Nutrition for McDonald’s Breakfast Menu

McDonald’s breakfast is just fantastic. Nutrition aside, they have the best-tasting breakfast of all the fast food out there (in my opinion… and probably Ronald McDonald’s opinion).

I absolutely love McGriddles. I’m “Team Waffles” forever, but their fluffy pancakes make perfect buns. Pair that with a hash brown patty (or 20 of them… those things are seriously addicting) and an iced coffee, and you’ve got yourself an amazing breakfast.

The breakfast menu at McDonald’s tends to change year over year as they add and remove items, but the staples have remained for decades.

McDonald’s recently brought back bagels, giving you four options for breakfast buns: biscuits, English muffins, pancakes, and bagels.

I’m hoping to see the Egg White Delight make a comeback because that was one of the best options for a low-calorie, high-protein breakfast, but I won’t hold my breath.

McDonald’s Lowest Calorie Breakfast Option

Egg McMuffin: 310 Calories, 13g Fat (6g Saturated Fat), 30g Carbs, 17g Protein, 770mg Sodium

A classic Egg McMuffin is one of the lowest-calorie breakfast options you’ll find out there. A basic Canadian bacon, egg, and American cheese on an English muffin, it’s tough to beat. As far as fast food breakfast items are concerned, it’s actually one of the healthier options you’ll find.

Check out this graphic I made that compares the Egg McMuffin to some of the other healthiest options out there:

McDonald’s used to offer the Egg White Delight McMuffin, which was even lower calories and higher in protein, but it was discontinued in 2019 with no signs of returning.

Highest Calorie McDonald’s Breakfast

Big Breakfast with Hotcakes: 1,340 Calories, 63g Fat (24g Saturated Fat), 158g Carbs, 36g Protein, 2,070mg Sodium

It’s called a Big Breakfast for a reason, and this thing is packed with over 1,300 calories! The Big Breakfast contains a warm biscuit, hot sausage, fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy hash browns, and 3 pancakes with a side of butter and maple syrup. In other words: it pretty much has everything!

If calories are a concern, you’re likely not ordering the big breakfast, but it sure would be filling.

Highest Protein McDonald’s Breakfast under 500 Calories

Sausage McMuffin with Egg: 480 Calories, 31g Fat (12g Saturated Fat), 30g Carbs, 20g Protein, 830mg Sodium

With 20g of protein, the Sausage McMuffin with Egg is the breakfast option with the most protein at McDonald’s. While it contains almost 500 calories, if you’re looking for the most protein, this is certainly a decent option.

If you’re looking to get more bang for your buck, the regular Egg McMuffin is still a better choice. While it contains slightly less protein with 17g, it contains only 310 calories.

Calories & Nutrition for McCafe Drinks

What’s breakfast without coffee? While Mcdonald’s breakfast is incredible, their coffee selection is even more impressive.

It used to be that McDonald’s only offered simple hot coffee, but as you can see here, their McCafe menu has expanded.

The breakdown you see here is for medium beverages, but you also have the option to order a small or a large drink, which will change the calories and macros of your drink.

You can head over to the McDonald’s website if you need to find nutrition facts for a specific size, but I want to give you a few notes regarding the McCafe menu:

1. Black coffee and Americanos are not listed here because they contain 0 calories.
2. Iced coffee contains nearly 200 calories, which may be surprising to you. The default iced coffee is served with cream and flavored syrup, but you can order your coffee without either if you prefer.

McDonald’s Coffee Calorie-Saving Tips

As you can see here, some of the McCafe drinks are pretty high in calories. Here are some tips on how you can make your coffee drinks a little bit healthier.

1. Ask for no cream in your coffee. Leaving the cream out of your coffee will save you 60 calories for a small coffee, 80 calories for a medium coffee, and 100 calories for a large coffee.
2. Substitute the whole milk in your specialty drink. In 2022, McDonald’s started offering dairy-free milk alternatives, so you can swap the whole milk out for a lower-calorie option, or stick with the dairy and opt for nonfat milk.
3. Use sugar-free syrup. McDonald’s offers sugar-free French vanilla syrup, and if you were to switch the regular syrup for the sugar-free version in a large iced coffee, you’ll save 120 calories!

Calories & Nutrition for McDonald’s Sweets & Treats

When it comes to sweets, you’re likely not ordering them to be “healthy,” and that is totally fine. These are treats, after all.

But like I always say, it never hurts to know what you’re consuming!

I won’t compare the lowest calorie & highest calorie options here, because the options are quite obvious based on the size (a small cookie is clearly going to be the lowest calorie, and a large shake is unsurprisingly the highest calorie).

But, I do want to draw your attention to the ice cream: a vanilla cone from McDonald’s is only 200 calories, which is not much at all.

If you want a sweet treat, enjoying a vanilla ice cream cone may be a great idea. At only 200 calories, it won’t be difficult to fit that into any diet. If a cone isn’t your thing, you can also order a plain sundae, which is just vanilla soft serve in a cup. The calories will be slightly higher, but that’s because you actually end up getting more ice cream this way.

I made sure to include the Shamrock Shake and Shamrock McFlurry in this guide as well, since those are fan-favorite options every year.

Conclusion: Is McDonald’s Healthy?

Overall, the McDonalds menu contains a wide range of options, so you’re likely to find something that suits your dietary needs.

Whether or not it’s “healthy” depends entirely on what it is you are looking for.

The McDonald’s menu doesn’t contain a lot of high-protein options, and many of the items are high in fat, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible to find an option for you if you’re looking to eat high-protein or low-fat.

If your focus is on eating low-sodium or low-saturated-fat foods, I’ll admit that McDonald’s probably won’t be your go-to option. But there are always going to be some options for ya.

Unfortunately, McDonald’s does not offer any salads right now, so if your definition of healthy means lots of vitamins and minerals, then you’ll be missing out at McDonald’s.

But like anything in life, moderation is always key. Even if McDonald’s doesn’t have optimal options for you, I hope this guide helps to show you that there are still plenty of options you can make work for your diet.

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