What to Eat at Burger King: Healthy Menu Choices and Nutrition Facts

Burger King’s reign as fast food royalty began in 1954. Today, the chain has more than 17,000 locations around the world. From its famous Whopper to chicken sandwiches, salads, onion rings, and even breakfast, Burger King’s menu has made it one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the world. 

Starting with breakfast, you’ll find a range of fast food favorites on Burger King’s menu. Choose from hamburgers and cheeseburgers with a side of fries or onion rings, chicken sandwiches, crispy chicken tenders, salads, and dessert. 

To keep up with consumer demand and the competition, in recent years Burger King not only added a full breakfast menu with egg sandwiches, hash browns, and coffee drinks but also vegetarian-friendly burgers at select locations. 

Before you go, review the nutrition information for Burger King’s menu on the website. If you follow a special diet or have food allergies, you’ll also find information about the ingredients in Burger King’s food.  

Using these tools can help you estimate the calories, fat, carbohydrate, and sodium content of your order. Having an idea of how your choices stack up can help you avoid becoming overwhelmed by your options and stick to a meal that fits your tastes, dietary needs, and overall health goals. 

Making a healthy choice at the drive-thru can be tricky, but with a few simple tips and a solid understanding of the menu, it is possible to make nutritious choices Burger King.

Navigating the Menu

Breakfast

Burger King’s breakfast menu includes egg and cheese sandwiches on biscuits or croissants, sausage and bacon, a stack of pancakes, and hash browns. While Burger King’s French Toast Sticks with syrup for dipping are lower in calories than other options on the breakfast menu, they’re also low in protein. Choosing a meal that’s higher in protein will help keep you satisfied until it’s time for lunch.

Most Nutritious Option

Egg and Cheese Croissan’wich

340 calories, 18g fat, 8g saturated fat, 610 mg sodium, 29g carbohydrate, 4g sugar, and 12g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Ultimate Breakfast Platter

1230 calories, 70g fat, 23g saturated fat, 0.5g trans fat, 2550 mg sodium, 122g carbohydrate, 33g sugar, and 29g protein

Burgers

While Burger King is known for the Whopper, you’ll also find typical fast food burger options on the menu. To keep the calories, fat, and sodium content of your burger low, avoid double, triple, (or more) stacked burgers. You can also save calories, fat, and carbs by loading up your burger with veggies instead of cheese, bacon, or onion rings. When you’re choosing a side, stick with a simple salad instead of fries or mozzarella sticks. 

Most Nutritious Option

Hamburger

240 calories, 10g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 0.5g trans fat, 380 mg sodium, 26g carbohydrate, 6g sugar, and 13g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Rodeo King

1250 calories, 82g fat, 31g saturated fat, 3.5g trans fat, 2270 mg sodium, 69g carbohydrate, 14g sugar, and 60g protein

Depending on how many patties you get, Burger King’s Whoppers can be anywhere from 600 to more than 1200 calories. If you want to go with the famous burger, choose the Whopper Jr. which has 310 calories and 18 grams of fat. 

Chicken

You’ll find a selection of crispy fried chicken items on Burger King’s menu, such as sandwiches, nuggets, and even Chicken Fries. Burger King only offers a couple of grilled chicken options. However, when you add cheese and sauce, they won't necessarily be lower in calories and fat than smaller portions of fried versions. 

Most Nutritious Option

Chicken Nuggets (4 pieces)

170 calories, 11g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 310 mg sodium, 11g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, and 8g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Rodeo Crispy Chicken Sandwich

960 calories, 60g fat, 15g saturated fat, 1g trans fat, 2230 mg sodium, 72g carbohydrate, 14g sugar, and 33g protein

One way to make a lower-carb Grilled Chicken Sandwich at Burger King is to order it without the potato bun. You’ll save 200 calories but still get 34 grams of protein. 

Salads

Burger King only offers a few salads—and they aren’t necessarily low-calorie options. However, it is possible to customize your salad to maximize nutrition. Skip extras like cheese and croutons, use a low-fat dressing sparingly, and go for grilled chicken rather than crispy fried, to make a healthier Burger King salad. 

Most Nutritious Option

Garden Side Salad 

60 calories, 4g fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 95 mg sodium, 3g carbohydrate, 2g sugar, and 4g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Chicken Club Salad

540 calories, 33g fat, 10g saturated fat, 1380 mg sodium, 31g carbohydrate, 5g sugar, and 31g protein

Sides

You’ll find classic fast food sides at Burger King, like fries and onion rings, as well as some unique offerings like Chicken Fries and mozzarella sticks. These sides are typically high calorie, high-carb, and have a lot of sodium. However, you can find a smaller 4-piece portion of Burger King’s Chicken Nuggets on the side menu for 170 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 8 grams of protein. 

Most Nutritious Option

French Fries (Value)

220 calories, 10g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 330 mg sodium, 31g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, and 3g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Onion Rings (Large)

500 calories, 25g fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 1310 mg sodium, 64g carbohydrate, 7g sugar, and 5g protein

Dessert

The dessert options at Burger King are all high in calories, carbs, and sugar. While you’ll find some typical fast food sweet treats, like soft serve and shakes, Burger King also offers slices of pie, cookies, and mini cinnamon buns.

Most Nutritious Option

Vanilla Soft Serve (without cone)

120 calories, 4g fat, 3g saturated fat, 100 mg sodium, 20g carbohydrate, 16g sugar, and 3g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Vanilla Shake with TWIX

780 calories, 23g fat, 15g saturated fat, 0.5g trans fat, 530 mg sodium, 127g carbohydrate, 107g sugar, and 16g protein

Beverages

Your best bet for a healthy drink at Burger King is a bottle of water. However, depending on your dietary needs and preferences, there are some other low or no-calorie beverages, as well as a few that are low in sugar. Just remember that soft drinks and other calorie-free beverages may contain artificial sweeteners or preservatives like aspartame, which you may prefer to avoid.

Most Nutritious Option

Nestle Pure Life Bottled Water

0 calories, 0g fat, 30 mg sodium, 0g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, and 0g protein

Least Nutritious Option

Mocha Frappe (20 oz)

510 calories, 13g fat, 8g saturated fat, 50 mg sodium, 87g carbohydrate, 71g sugar, and 12g protein

One beverage option that’s unique to the Burger King menu is Frozen Coke. The regular version of the slushy soda has 130 calories and 35 grams of sugar. The Frosted Frozen Coke, which is mixed with soft serve, has 190 calories and 44 grams of sugar.  

Diet-Specific Options

If you follow a specific diet, Burger King makes it easy to sort the menu according to your preferences. Using the online tool, you can find menu items that are lower in calories, carbs, sugar, and sodium. If you use the tool to sort Burger King’s menu according to food allergens, you can also find options without meat or gluten. 

Gluten-free

If you avoid gluten or wheat, you may find some options on Burger King’s menu that could work for your diet.

If you have Celiac disease, you should know that no item on Burger King’s menu is guaranteed gluten-free. Burger King does not recommend its list of gluten-free-friendly foods (which do not contain gluten, wheat, oats, or barley) to customers who have Celiac disease. 

As with many restaurants, Burger King’s food is prepared in a shared kitchen. Even if you order a meal without gluten or wheat-containing ingredients, it may come into contact with allergens during storage, prep, or cooking (such as in a shared fryer).

Items on Burger King’s menu that may be suitable for a gluten-free diet include:

• Eggs
• Hamburger Patty
• Tendergrill Chicken Filet
• Garden Fresh Salad mix
• Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry Shakes

Low-carb

• Hamburger
• Hash Browns (small)
• Chicken Nuggets (4 pieces)
• Value Menu Cheeseburger
• Garden Side Salad with Ken’s Ranch Dressing

Diabetes-Friendly

• Whopper Jr.
• Fries (Value)
• Double Hamburger
• Breakfast Burrito Jr. 
• Club Salad with Grilled Chicken 

Low-fat

• Hamburger
• Veggie Burger
• Spicy Crispy Chicken Jr. 
• Egg and Cheese Croissan’wich 
• Vanilla Soft Serve (cup or cone)

Low-sodium

• Whopper Jr.
• French Toast Sticks
• Chicken Nuggets (4 pieces)
• Chocolate Chip or M&M Cookie
• Garden Side Salad (no dressing or croutons)

Vegetarian & Vegan

In 2018, Burger King made its foray into meatless meat with a Veggie Burger made with Morningstar Farms patties). Starting in 2019, the chain will be rolling out an Impossible Whopper nationwide made with vegan patties by Impossible Foods. 

If these burgers haven’t arrived at your location (or they aren’t to your liking) there are a few other options that can work for a vegan or vegetarian diet. 

Vegan-friendly items at Burger King may include:

• Dutch Apple Pie
• French Toast Sticks
• Garden Side Salad (no dressing) 
• “Veggie Sandwich” (Whopper Jr. with no meat or mayo)

If your local Burger King offers Quaker Oats Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal, the option can be made vegan if you ask for it to be prepared with water instead of milk. 

While Burger King’s fries and hash browns are made from potato, they are fried in the same fryer as items that may not be vegan. Whether or not you choose fries as a viable option will depend on the type of vegan diet you follow. 

If you follow a vegetarian diet, you can also choose from: 

• Pancakes
• Cheesy Tots, Onion Rings
• Cookies, Shakes, and Soft Serve
• Club or Garden Salad (no chicken)
• Egg ‘n Cheese Breakfast Sandwich 

Food Allergies and Safety

Burger King makes information about the ingredients used to create its menu readily available for diners to review as a PDF. If you have a food allergy, you’ll want to consult this information or use the interactive menu-sorting tool before placing your order. 

Common food allergens found in Burger King’s menu include:

• Soy
• Milk
• Fish
• Eggs
• Wheat
• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts

You can also sort the menu to show items prepared on equipment that may have come into contact with peanuts, soy, wheat, milk, or gluten. 

While some menu items may not include a particular food allergen, your meal still may have come into contact with the allergen during the storage or preparation process. Due to the risk of cross-contamination, it’s always best to talk to your doctor about how to safely order fast food and exercise caution when dining out.

A Word From Verywell 

You’ll find all your fast food favorites on Burger King’s menu, but you may be surprised by the other options you’ll have to choose from. The chain offers vegetarian-friendly burgers and offers a vegan version of its famous Whopper in some locations. Depending on your tastes and dietary needs, it’s possible to order a relatively nutritious meal at Burger King as long as you keep a few simple tips in mind: stick to smaller portions, choose grilled meat over fried, and skip any extra sauces and toppings.