What to Eat at McDonald's: Healthy Menu Choices and Nutrition Facts

McDonald's

Verywell / Christian Alzate

McDonald’s is one of the most recognized franchises in the world. The menu at McDonald’s varies from country to country, inspired by the culture and local tastes. In general, though, there are some classic McDonald’s items you’ll encounter no matter where you are in the world. The Big Mac, McNuggets, and fries are among the most popular items on McDonald’s menu, but they’re far from the healthiest. 

What Experts Say

"While McDonald’s offers sides of fruit, the majority of their options are lower in veggies, whole grains, and fiber, and higher in sodium. If you eat here on a regular basis, opting for meals that include whole grains and veggies and minimizing high sodium foods can help balance out overall nutrition for the day."

Willow Jarosh, MS, RD

Navigating the Menu

Making nutritious choices at the drive-thru can be challenging, especially at fast-food restaurants with large and ever-changing menus. You may find it useful to review the full nutrition content of a meal using McDonald’s online nutrition calculator. Knowing your options before you go can help you plan an order that suits your tastes and dietary needs, as well as your health and fitness goals. 

What to Order & Avoid at McDonald's
 Most Nutritious Options Least Nutritious Options
Fruit and Maple Oatmeal (Breakfast) Big Breakfast With Hotcakes (Breakfast)
Hamburger (Burgers) Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese (Burgers)
McNuggets (Chicken and Sandwiches) Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich (Chicken and Sandwiches)
4 Piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal (Happy Meals) Hamburger Happy Meal (Happy Meals)
Apple Slices (Snacks and Sides) World Famous Fries (Snacks and Sides)
Vanilla Cone (Desserts and Shakes) Strawberry Shake (Desserts and Shakes)
Americano (McCafé Drinks) Caramel Frappé (McCafé Drinks)
Bottled Water (Beverages) Pink Lemonade Slushie (Beverages)

Most Nutritious Option

The healthiest item from McDonald's classic menu is the hamburger, which delivers a healthy portion of protein while staying comparatively low in calories.

Breakfast

You’ll find a range of options on the McDonald’s Breakfast and All Day Breakfast menus. You can choose from McDonald’s take on classic brunch items like egg sandwiches and pancakes (McMuffins and Hotcakes), hash browns, as well as a selection of McCafé Bakery treats and coffee drinks. 

Portion control is key for choosing a lower-calorie breakfast that will still keep you satisfied. Stick to individual menu items rather than breakfast combos, which are high in calories, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium. 

You can also customize individual breakfast items to make them lower in calories and fat. For example, a regular Egg McMuffin has 310 calories and 13 grams of fat. Without bacon, cheese, or butter, it has 220 calories and 7 grams of fat, but you still get 12 grams of protein.

Milk-based coffee drinks, like lattes and mochas, can add a lot of extra calories, fat, and sugar to your breakfast—especially if you add syrup and whipped cream. Stick with a regular hot or iced coffee from the McCafé menu. Try a sugar-free, zero-calorie Flavor Shot like French Vanilla instead of cream and sugar.

✓ Fruit and Maple Oatmeal

McDonald's fruit and maple oatmeal contains 320 calories, 4.5g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 64g carbohydrate, 31g sugar, 6g protein, and 150mg sodium. While high in sugar, this breakfast option offers 4 grams of fiber and some protein to keep you full, and is lower in sodium than other options.

✗ Big Breakfast With Hotcakes

The Big Breakfast with hotcakes—with a biscuit, hash browns, sausage, and scrambled eggs—has 1,340 calories, 63g fat, 25g saturated fat, 158g carbohydrate, 48g sugar, 36g protein, and 2,070mg sodium.

Burgers

McDonald’s burgers range from simple single hamburgers to Quarter Pounders with cheese to the famous Big Mac. While most burgers are high in calories and fat, even the lighter options can turn into a high-carb, high-fat meal if you add a large side of fries and soft drink.

✓ Hamburger

A hamburger with one beef patty contains 250 calories, 9g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 31g carbohydrate, 6g sugar, 12g protein, and 510mg sodium. Without added cheese, extra patties, and sauces that come in other burgers, the hamburger is the lowest in calories and fat, while still providing plenty of protein.

✗ Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese

A Double Quarter Pounder with cheese has 740 calories, 42g fat, 20g saturated fat, 43g carbohydrate, 10g sugar, 48g protein, and 1,360mg sodium.

McDonald’s Big Mac is another one of the highest calorie items on the menu with 550 calories and 30 grams of fat. If you want the taste of the burger’s secret sauce, order it on a smaller burger or as a side for an extra charge.

Chicken and Sandwiches

From McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches to Filet o’ Fish, if you aren’t a fan of hamburgers, you’ll find other protein sources on the McDonald’s menu. Most of the chicken sandwiches are fried, and the chain has temporarily stopped offering grilled chicken options.

✓ McNuggets

Four pieces of Chicken McNuggets contain 170 calories, 10g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 10g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, 9g protein, and 330mg sodium. Order the McNuggets sans sauce to keep the sugar, sodium, and calories lower, as well.

✗ Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich

A spicy deluxe crispy chicken sandwich contains 540 calories, 26g fat, 4g saturated fat, 48g carbohydrate, 10g sugar, 27g protein, and 1,150mg sodium.

If you're craving a chicken sandwich, consider the McChicken sandwich for fewer calories and less sodium, fat, and sugar. It provides 400 calories, 21g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 39g carbohydrates, 5g sugar, 14g protein, and 560mg sodium.

Happy Meals

McDonald's famed Happy Meals are its kid-friendly menu options. They include one main dish, fries and apple slices, and a drink (milk or juice). There are three main-dish options available on the nationwide menu: a hamburger, 4-piece McNuggets, or 6-piece McNuggets.

✓ 4 Piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal

Based on calorie count and sodium intake, the 4-piece chicken McNuggets Happy Meal is the most nutritious of the kids' options. It contains 395 calories, 17g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 41g carbohydrates, 19g protein, and 500mg sodium.

✗ Hamburger Happy Meal

On the other hand, the hamburger Happy Meal proves to be the least nutritious out of all the choices on this part of the menu. When ordering the hamburger option, you'll consume 475 calories, 16g fat, 5.5g saturated fat, 62g carbohydrates, 22g protein, and 680mg sodium.

Snacks and Sides

McDonald’s iconic fries are the main side for any combo meal, but they’re a high-calorie, high-carb, and salty option. More nutritious options can be found on the kid’s menu and are regular additions to Happy Meals, such as apple slices.

✓ Apple Slices

Apple slices are the healthiest snack or side option at McDonald's. One serving contains 15 calories, 0g fat, 4g carbohydrate, 3g sugar, 0g protein, and 0mg sodium.

✗ World Famous Fries

A large order of McDonald's World Famous Fries has 490 calories, 23g fat, 3g saturated fat, 66g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, 7g protein, and 400mg sodium.

If you’re craving fries, consider ordering a smaller size from the kid’s menu. A Happy Meal serving of fries has 110 calories, 5g fat, 15g carbs, and just 90mg sodium. 

Desserts and Shakes

The dessert options at McDonald’s recall favorites from other fast food menus. You’ll find cool treats like milkshakes, soft-serve ice cream, McFlurries, and sundaes as well as warm bakery-style items like cookies and apple pie. 

Portion control is a great tool when it comes to enjoying McDonald's dessert options. Most McFlurry flavors are 500 calories or more in the standard size. For example, a regular size M&M McFlurry has 640 calories, 21g fat, 96g carbohydrate, and 83g sugar. The smaller snack-size portion, on the other hand, has 420 calories, 14g fat, 64g carbs, and 55g sugar. While it’s still a high-calorie treat, you’ll save calories by enjoying a smaller size. 

✓ Vanilla Cone

The creamy, soft-serve vanilla cone has 200 calories, 5g fat, 3g saturated fat, 33g carbohydrate, 23g sugar, 5g protein, and 80mg sodium.

✗ Strawberry Shake

A large order of the strawberry shake provides 840 calories, 21g fat, 14g saturated fat, 1g trans fat, 139g carbohydrate, 106g sugar, 19g protein, and 310mg sodium.

McCafé Drinks

McDonald's launched its McCafé menu to provide coffee and other caffeinated beverages. From classic coffee to blended Frappés, some drinks on the menu may provide a meal's worth of calories and sugar. It's best to consider skipping the more sugary options here, or sharing them with a friend.

✓ Americano

The Americano is a classic choice, and when ordered without sweetener or cream, provides 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g carbohydrates, 0g protein, and 10mg sodium in a small drink.

✗ Caramel Frappé

With coffee, caramel flavor, whipped cream, and caramel drizzle, the caramel Frappé drink is a blended sugary treat that provides 420 calories, 17g fat, 11g saturated fat, 60g carbohydrates, 7g protein, and 125mg sodium, as well as 55g total sugars.

If craving a caramel coffee drink, consider ordering the iced caramel coffee instead. A small size will have 140 calories, 5g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 23g carbohydrates, 3g protein, and 220mg sodium.

Beverages

You’ll find the typical selection of Coca-Cola fountain drinks at McDonald's and most meals come with your choice of a soft drink. Whether you’re dining out or making a meal at home, water is always the healthiest drink choice. However, if you’re looking for other beverages at McDonald’s that won’t add added sugar to your meal, there are a few other options for you.

While diet soda, coffee, and iced tea may not add calories to your meal, keep in mind that many sugar-free, calorie-free beverages contain artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, which you may prefer to avoid. 

✓ Dasani Bottled Water

Dasani water contains 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, 0g protein, and 0mg sodium. If you want another more flavorful option with no sugar or sweeteners, McDonald's small unsweetened iced tea contains 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g carbohydrates, 1g protein, and 10mg sodium. For a slightly more filling option, the 1% low-fat milk jug contains 100 calories, 2g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 12g carbohydrate, and 8g protein.

✗ Minute Maid Pink Lemonade Slushie

A large Minute Maid Pink Lemonade Slushie contains 350 calories, 0g fat, 95g carbohydrate, 93g sugar, 0g protein, and 40mg sodium.

Diet-Specific Options

McDonald's offers a few menu items suitable for gluten-free, low-carb, diabetes-friendly, low-fat, low-sodium, vegetarian, and vegan diets. However, it may be difficult to assemble a full meal from the available choices.

Gluten-Free

McDonald’s doesn’t designate any certified gluten-free options on its menu, but you will find some items that don’t contain gluten or wheat ingredients. However, if you have celiac disease, these choices may not be safe for you to consume, as they may have come into contact with gluten during the storage, prep, or cooking process. 

Items at McDonald’s that don't have gluten-containing ingredients include:

  • Any burger without the bun and no Big Mac sauce (ask for lettuce wrap)
  • Egg McMuffin (ask for no English muffin)
  • Caramel or mocha Frappé
  • M&M McFlurry
  • Hot fudge or caramel sundae
  • Apple slices
  • Smoothies

For a nutritious gluten-free meal, order any burger (a plain hamburger or cheeseburger, for example), and ask for no bun.

Low-Carb

While there are not many low-carb options on the McDonald's menu, ordering a breakfast sandwich, such as the sausage and cheese McMuffin, and asking for no muffin will help keep your carb count lower.

  • Chicken McNuggets (4 pieces)
  • Kids' fries
  • Breakfast sandwiches without the McMuffin or biscuit

Diabetes-Friendly

The small 4-piece chicken McNuggets order may be the best diabetes-friendly option at McDonalds. You'll consume 10g carbohydrates and 0g sugars.

  • Hash browns
  • Chicken McNuggets (4 pieces)

Low-Fat

If you're craving a classic McDonald's burger, the hamburger is your best low-fat choice, with only 9g fat per sandwich.

  • Smoothies
  • Hamburger
  • Fruit and maple oatmeal
  • Apple slices
  • Vanilla cone

Low-Sodium

McDonald's does not have many low-sodium options, so you'll have to reach for the sides menu to find something suitable. If visiting McDonald's at breakfast, reach for the fruit and maple oatmeal—it has 150mg sodium per serving.

  • Fruit and maple oatmeal
  • Coffee
  • Kids' fries
  • Apple slices
  • Vanilla cone

Vegetarian and Vegan

Depending on where you are in the world, you’ll find that some McDonald’s locations have more options for diners who don’t eat meat. In the United States and Canada, vegan- or vegetarian-friendly items may not work for all plant-based diets. 

McDonald’s uses the same equipment (such as fryers) to prepare all its food. Even if you order an item from the menu that doesn’t contain animal products, it may have been prepared alongside meat, dairy, or eggs. 

The only vegan food options at McDonald's are pre-packaged apple slices from the kids' menu and the chain’s famous Baked Apple Pies. The fruit and maple oatmeal can also be made vegan as long if you omit the cream. Many beverage options, such as black coffee and tea, are also vegan-friendly. 

Vegetarian-friendly items at McDonald's may include: 

  • Oatmeal
  • Smoothies
  • Shakes
  • Hotcakes
  • English muffin, biscuit, or bagel 

The oatmeal is once again a nutritious and filling meal, and is also vegetarian-friendly for any diners looking to avoid meat with their breakfast.

McDonald’s French fries and hash browns use a very small amount of beef flavoring, meaning that even though they're made from potatoes, they aren’t technically vegan- or vegetarian-friendly options. 

Food Allergies and Safety

If you have a food allergy, review the ingredients list for McDonald’s menu which is available online. You can also use the company's online allergen information tool to sort the menu according to ingredients or allergens you may need to avoid. 

Common food allergens McDonald’s notes on its menu include:

  • Soy
  • Milk
  • Fish
  • Eggs
  • Wheat
  • Peanuts
  • Shellfish
  • Tree nuts

As all the food at McDonald’s is prepared in a shared kitchen space, the chain can’t guarantee your meal will be completely free from an allergen. Cross-contamination of food allergens is possible, so if you have food allergies, always exercise caution when dining out.

A Word From Verywell 

With a large, varied, and ever-evolving menu of fast food, McDonald's menu has something to suit many different tastes and diets. Most of the items, from breakfast and beyond, are high in calories, fat, and sodium.

However, if you stick to smaller serving sizes and devote most of your calories to the main part of a protein-packed meal instead of carb-heavy sides or sugary desserts and drinks, it is possible to make healthier choices at McDonald's.

4 Sources
Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Kirkpatrick SI, Reedy J, Kahle LL, Harris JL, Ohri-Vachaspati P, Krebs-Smith SM. Fast-food menu offerings vary in dietary quality, but are consistently poorPublic Health Nutr. 2014;17(4):924-931. doi:10.1017/S1368980012005563

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Water and nutrition.

  3. Celiac Disease Foundation. Sources of gluten.

  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food allergies.

Additional Reading

By Malia Frey, M.A., ACE-CHC, CPT
 Malia Frey is a weight loss expert, certified health coach, weight management specialist, personal trainer​, and fitness nutrition specialist.