The Calorie Count of Your Favorite Fast Food Cheeseburgers

Published: June 21, 2024 by 24/7 Tempo Staff

The cheeseburger is a perennial favorite, not just by Americans but by people around the world. This edible meat patty with cheese was invented in Pasadena, California in 1924 when teenager Lionel Sternberger, who worked in his father’s sandwich shop, placed a slice of American cheese on top of a hamburger, and a legend was born. It only cost 15 cents back then and has not only skyrocketed in price but in popularity as well.

When you’re craving a cheeseburger, you just want a cheeseburger. There isn’t much else on your mind, least of all the caloric content but when it comes to this American staple, there are certain things you should probably pay attention to. The cheeseburger isn’t exactly a healthy food and you won’t encounter too many people who are watching their weight, or cholesterol, chomping on something called a Baconzilla – or if they do, they might regret it the next day. But just as with most popular fast foods, there can be a considerable gap between the highest-calorie and lowest-calorie examples.

To identify the shocking calorie count of your favorite fast-food cheeseburgers, 24/7 Tempo reviewed nutritional information – including calories, fats, and sodium – on each U.S. fast-food chain’s official website. We selected the cheeseburgers with the highest and lowest amount of calories offered by each chain. Only food items intended for consumption by one person were included, and computations cover only the burger and its garnishes, not a complete meal (for instance, with fries and a drink). Cheeseburgers on kids’ menus were excluded. In a few cases, we included two high-calorie burgers for a chain because the one with the most calories is offered only regionally.

It is important to note that when it comes to nutrition, calorie count isn’t the only fact you should be looking at. One slice of Kraft American cheese, for example, contains about 60 calories, while a cup of chopped spinach contains about 90 and the spinach is a healthier product than pasteurized processed cheese food. So even if a plain Burger King cheeseburger has fewer calories than a Triple Whopper with Cheese, that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy – though if you have to choose between the two, it’s certainly healthier. (Considering burgers and other menu items, these popular fast foods are the biggest calorie bombs.)

It might come as a surprise to learn that a standard fast-food cheeseburger isn’t all that caloric; a basic McDonald’s cheeseburger only contains 300 calories, about the same amount as a small sweetened yogurt with some granola. But once you start adding on extra patties, more cheese, bacon, and other toppings, the calorie count can go through the roof. Some burgers on this list pack in more than half of the 2,000 daily calories recommended by the FDA. When choosing which one to get, always pay attention to the additions – cheese, extra patties, bacon, etc.

But if cheeseburgers aren’t your thing, or meat either, you can always go the way of 16-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champ Joey Chestnut and switch to hotdogs, or rather, plant-based hotdogs.

Here is the shocking calorie count of your favorite fast-food cheeseburgers: