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

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. Choose from hamburgers and cheeseburgers with a side of fries or nuggets, chicken sandwiches, crispy chicken tenders, salads, and dessert. 

While some dishes may be high in calories, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium, 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 at Burger King.

Navigating the Menu

Most Nutritious Option

If you're searching for the most nutritious option at Burger King, reach for the basic hamburger, which has the healthiest nutrition profile.

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.

✓ Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissan’wich

The bacon, egg, and cheese croissan’wich provides 335 calories, 18 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 0.4 g trans fat, 812 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 4.4 g sugar, and 13.5 g protein. While not specifically on the menu, you can also opt to go meatless with just egg and cheese to keep the sodium and fat lower while still benefitting from the 12 grams of protein from the egg.

✗ Double Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit

Burger King's double sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit provides 852 calories, 66 g fat, 29 g saturated fat, 1.6 g trans fat, 2,522 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g sugar, and 33 g protein. With more than quadruple the sodium of the most nutritious breakfast item, this single sandwich can make up half of your caloric and sodium intake for the day.

If you're really craving a biscuit, cut down on the sodium by ordering the sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit or the plain sausage biscuit, which offer 1,400 mg or 1,147 mg sodium, respectively.

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 lower, avoid double- and triple-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. 

✓ Hamburger

The Burger King hamburger contains 253 calories, 9.5 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 560 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 7 g sugar, and 13 g protein. This classic sandwich comes with pickles, mustard, and ketchup, and keeps it simple with no additional toppings.

✗ Bacon King

The Burger King bacon king has 1,360 calories, 94 g fat, 39 g saturated fat, 3 g trans fat, 2,986 mg sodium, 58 g carbohydrate, 14.5 g sugar, and 73 g protein. With two beef patties, two slices of American cheese, as well as a layer of smoked bacon, this burger is loaded in sodium, saturated fat, and calories.

The classic Whopper, meanwhile, can be a better alternative. Depending on how many patties you get, Burger King’s Whoppers can be anywhere from 650 to more than 1,200 calories. If you want to go with a more nutritious version of the famous burger, consider the Whopper Jr., which has 314 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. 

✓ Chicken Nuggets (4 pieces)

BK's 4-piece chicken nugget provides 224 calories, 11 g fat, 1.7 g saturated fat, 535 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 11 g sugar, and 8 g protein. These bite-sized portions can make for a low-calorie protein snack.

✗ Spicy Ch'King Deluxe Sandwich

At 1,498 calories, 149 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 0.5 g trans fat, 4,755 mg sodium, 180 g carbohydrate, 13 g sugar, and 45 g protein, the spicy ch'king deluxe sandwich is the highest-calorie and highest-carb chicken sandwich on the menu. One way to make a lower-carb chicken sandwich at Burger King is to order the Chicken Jr. without the bun. You’ll save calories but still get 11 g of protein. 

Salads

Burger King only offers a couple of salad options—and they aren’t necessarily low-calorie choices. It is, however, possible to customize your salad to maximize nutrition. Consider skipping 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. 

✓ Side Garden Salad

The side garden salad at Burger King provides 322 calories, 32 g fat, 6.4 g saturated fat, 336 mg sodium, 5 g carbohydrate, 4 g sugar, and 5 g protein. With lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and croutons, this salad can be made healthier by skipping the cheese and croutons and opting for no dressing.

✗ Chicken Garden Salad

The chicken garden salad contains 870 calories, 71 g fat, 14.2 g saturated fat, 1,605 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 7 g sugar, and 27 g protein.

King Jr.

The King Jr. menu at Burger King features kids-sized meals made up of the chain's most popular items. Choose between chicken nuggets, hamburger, and cheeseburger options, and pair each meal with a side (fries, applesauce, or onion rings) and a drink.

4 Pc Chicken Nuggets King Jr Meal 

The 4-piece chicken nuggets provide 224 calories, 11 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 23 g carbohydrates, 1 g sugar, 8 g protein, and 536 mg sodium. Choose the applesauce side and water as the beverage to maximize the nutrition of the meal.

Cheeseburger King Jr Meal

Meanwhile, the cheeseburger King Jr. provides 299 calories, 13 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 781 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrates, 7 g sugar, and 15 g protein. This meal is the highest-sodium kids' option, so if you do choose it, it's best to balance it out with an applesauce side and water as your side and beverage.

The hamburger option helps to eliminate some calories, fat, and sodium, and in total has 242 calories, 10 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 385 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrates, 6 g sugar, and 13 g 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 high sodium though you can certainly enjoy them in moderation.

✓ French Fries (Value)

A value size of French fries delivers 223 calories, 10 g fat, 1.7 g saturated fat, 331 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 0 g sugar, and 3 g protein. Opt for the value size of all sides for a snack portion of your favorite menu items.

✗ Onion Rings (Large)

Meanwhile, a large order of the onion rings contains 524 calories, 24 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 949 mg sodium, 70 g carbohydrate, 7.5 g sugar, and 6.6 g protein. Alternatively, the Burger King 8-piece serving of cheesy tots delivers 316 calories and 795 mg sodium—approximately half of the large onion rings.

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 and cookies.

✓ Vanilla Soft Serve Cone

The vanilla soft serve cone has 142 calories, 4 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 100 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 16 g sugar, and 3 g protein. This cool sweet treat comes in at the lowest sugar count of all Burger King desserts—just 16 grams.

✗ OREO Cookie Shake

The OREO cookie shake delivers 715 calories, 20 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 539 mg sodium, 118 g carbohydrate, 98 g sugar, and 16 g protein. Loaded with calories, sodium, and sugar, this treat is best shared—grab two spoons and split it with a friend.

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.

✓ Nestle Pure Life Bottled Water

A bottle of Nestle Pure Life water has 0 calories, 0 g fat, 30 mg sodium, 0 g carbohydrate, 0 g sugar, and 0 g protein. Overall, water is your best bet and the most nutritious option when dining out.

If you're looking for a beverage with more flavor, you might also consider a glass of unsweetened iced tea or black coffee—they even offer a cold brew coffee option.

✗ Mello Yello (Large)

A large Mello Yello soda drink has 544 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 160 mg sodium, 138 g carbohydrates, 138 g sugar, and 0 g protein. The sweet soda has more sugar than most of the shakes on the Burger King menu, so it's best to skip this one altogether.

Diet-Specific Options

If you follow a specific diet, Burger King does offer limited options for gluten-free, low-carb, diabetes-friendly, low-fat, vegetarian, and vegan diets, though not necessarily enough to make a full meal. It does not, however, have options for diners on a low-sodium diet.

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 to be gluten-free. Burger King does not recommend its gluten-free-friendly foods (which do not contain gluten, wheat, oats, or barley ingredients) 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
• Garden fresh salad mix
• Applesauce
• Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry shakes

Low-Carb

• Breakfast burrito jr.
• 4-piece nuggets
• 4-piece jalapeno cheddar bites
• MOTTS applesauce
• Side garden salad

The low-carb menu at Burger King is not extensive, but you may be able to put together your own custom meal by pairing a few different options. Combine the 4-piece nuggets (23 g carbohydrates) with the side garden salad (5 g carbohydrates)

Diabetes-Friendly

• Small hash browns
• 8-piece ghost pepper nuggets
• 4-piece jalapeno cheddar bites

While not a full meal, the small hash browns are low in both carbohydrates and sugar—two crucial factors in making a dish diabetes-friendly—and make for a hearty snack.

Low-Fat

• Spicy crispy chicken jr. 
• Vanilla Soft Serve (cup or cone)
• Side garden salad (no dressing)

A low-fat meal at Burger King is possible. Choose the spicy crispy chicken Jr. sandwich for 23 grams of fat.

Vegetarian & Vegan

Starting in 2019, Burger King rolled 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:

• French toast sticks
• Garden side salad (no dressing) 
• “Veggie sandwich” (Whopper Jr. with no meat or mayo)

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 allergen information available for diners to review as a PDF. If you have a food allergy, you’ll want to consult this information 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 a 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.