McDonald's Calories: Official Numbers for the Orders People Actually Get
A McDonald's meal runs from about 450 to 1,900 calories. Official calories and protein for burgers, nuggets, fries, breakfast, and desserts, with low-calorie swaps, real order math, and an FAQ.
A typical McDonald's meal lands between 450 and 1,200 calories, and the classic Big Mac meal alone is about 1,170. McDonald's publishes nutrition for every US menu item; here are the official numbers for the orders people actually get, with the math shown. All figures come from mcdonalds.com product pages, cited at the bottom.
Official menu data
Burgers:
| Item | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Cheeseburger | 300 | 15g |
| McDouble | 390 | 22g |
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese | 520 | 30g |
| Big Mac | 580 | * |
| Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese | 740 | 48g |
*Big Mac protein is not shown on its current official product page, so it is omitted rather than filled in from elsewhere.
Chicken and fish:
| Item | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Filet-O-Fish | 380 | 16g |
| McChicken | 390 | 14g |
| 10-piece Chicken McNuggets | 410 | 23g |
| McCrispy | 470 | 26g |
Fries and breakfast:
| Item | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Hash Browns | 140 | 2g |
| Egg McMuffin | 310 | 17g |
| World Famous Fries, medium | 320 | 5g |
| World Famous Fries, large | 480 | 7g |
| Sausage McMuffin with Egg | 480 | 20g |
Desserts and drinks:
| Item | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet Tea | 130 | 1g |
| Vanilla Cone | 200 | 5g |
| Medium Coca-Cola | 270 | 0g |
| OREO McFlurry, regular | 410 | 10g |
How to build a low-calorie order
Ranked by impact, from the official numbers:
- Water or a zero-calorie drink instead of a medium Coke: saves 270. The drink is the quiet third of the meal.
- Skip the fries or go without: saves 320 to 480.
- McDouble instead of a Big Mac: saves 190 (390 vs 580) and it still has two patties.
- Cheeseburger instead of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese: saves 220 (300 vs 520).
- Vanilla cone instead of an OREO McFlurry: saves 210 (200 vs 410).
- Egg McMuffin is the strongest breakfast pick: 310 calories with 17g of protein, versus 480 for the Sausage McMuffin with Egg.
Five orders under 550 calories
- The McChicken solo: 390 calories, 14g protein
- The classic breakfast: Egg McMuffin + Hash Browns. 310 + 140 = 450 calories, 19g protein
- The cheeseburger and tea: Cheeseburger + Sweet Tea. 300 + 130 = 430 calories, 16g protein
- The double and tea: McDouble + Sweet Tea. 390 + 130 = 520 calories, 23g protein
- The nugget order: 10-piece McNuggets + Sweet Tea. 410 + 130 = 540 calories, 24g protein
Five highest-protein orders
- Double QPC + medium fries: 740 + 320 = 1,060 calories, 53g protein
- QPC + 10-piece McNuggets: 520 + 410 = 930 calories, 53g protein
- McCrispy + McDouble: 470 + 390 = 860 calories, 48g protein
- Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese alone: 740 calories, 48g protein
- QPC + medium fries: 520 + 320 = 840 calories, 35g protein
Real-world orders, broken down
The lean order: "egg mcmuffin and a hash brown"
| Component | Calories |
|---|---|
| Egg McMuffin | 310 |
| Hash Browns | 140 |
| Total | 450 |
19g protein. The best-known McDonald's meal is also one of its most reasonable.
The standard order: "big mac, medium fries, medium coke"
| Component | Calories |
|---|---|
| Big Mac | 580 |
| Fries, medium | 320 |
| Coca-Cola, medium | 270 |
| Total | 1,170 |
The Coke is nearly a quarter of the meal, and swapping it for water turns this into a 900-calorie lunch.
The indulgent order: "double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, medium coke, oreo mcflurry"
| Component | Calories |
|---|---|
| Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese | 740 |
| Fries, large | 480 |
| Coca-Cola, medium | 270 |
| OREO McFlurry | 410 |
| Total | 1,900 |
65g protein and most of a day's calories. The McFlurry and Coke together are 680 of it.
How to log this in Nouri
McDonald's is the easiest possible case for any tracker, the menu is the same everywhere, and it is still faster to type. "Big mac, medium fries, medium coke" is the entire log in Nouri, and the item-by-item breakdown comes back matching the numbers above closely enough to check at a glance. That legibility is the reaction I hear most from people trying it: it looks like the calorie app Apple would have made.
I built Nouri because the app you keep using beats the app with the perfect database, and one typed sentence is the version of logging I still do on week twelve. Nouri is iPhone (iOS only), and you can try it free.
FAQ
How many calories in a Big Mac?
580 calories per the current official McDonald's product page. A Big Mac meal with medium fries and a medium Coke totals 1,170.
How many calories in 10-piece Chicken McNuggets?
410 calories with 23g of protein, before sauces.
How many calories in medium McDonald's fries?
320 calories for the medium, 480 for the large.
How many calories in an Egg McMuffin?
310 calories with 17g of protein, one of the strongest protein-per-calorie items on the menu.
How many calories in a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
520 calories with 30g of protein. The Double is 740 with 48g.
How many calories in an OREO McFlurry?
410 calories for the regular size, with 10g of protein. The vanilla cone is 200.
What is the healthiest order at McDonald's?
For a meal shape, the Egg McMuffin with a hash brown at 450 calories, or a McDouble with a zero-calorie drink at 390. For protein per calorie, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese at 30g for 520.
How many calories in a Big Mac meal?
About 1,170 with medium fries and a medium Coke, using official per-item numbers. Swap the Coke for water and it drops to 900.
How many calories in a McChicken?
390 calories with 14g of protein.
What McDonald's burger has the most protein?
The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese at 48g, for 740 calories. The regular Quarter Pounder with Cheese is the better ratio at 30g for 520.
How many calories in McDonald's Sweet Tea?
130 calories, versus 270 for a medium Coca-Cola.
How many calories in a McDonald's hash brown?
140 calories.
Pick your usual from the tables above, then log it in Nouri as the sentence you said at the speaker, drink included. If you are just starting, Calorie Counting 101 is the foundation, TDEE Explained tells you what your daily budget actually is, and Nouri vs Cal AI covers the tracking-app question.
Sources
- McDonald's official US product pages, e.g. mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/big-mac.html, quarter-pounder-with-cheese.html, chicken-mcnuggets-10-piece.html, and the equivalent page per item (all checked August 29, 2026)
- All combo totals are sums of the official per-item values above; Big Mac protein is not published on its current product page and is omitted
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