High-Protein McDonald's: 40+ Items Ranked by Protein (US Menu)

The highest-protein McDonald’s item for one person is the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, with 48 g of protein and 740 calories. The 40-piece Chicken McNuggets box has more protein in total, 92 g, but it’s made to share and has 1,650 calories. If you want a high-protein McDonald’s order with fewer calories, the 3-piece McCrispy Strips have 31 g of protein for 400 calories. At breakfast, the Egg McMuffin gives the most protein for its calories: 17 g for 310.

To compare these with the other chains at your own limits, use the free Protein Finder: it filters all five menus by protein and calories and shows sodium alongside.

Every number here is for the McDonald’s US menu, from its Nutrition Calculator, checked on 22 October 2026. McDonald’s says its figures are based on standard recipes and serving sizes, so your order can vary a little by restaurant. Menus in the UK, Australia and other countries are different.

Protein numbers for the same item often differ from one list to the next online. So we took all of them from McDonald’s own calculator and added a column most lists leave out: protein per 100 calories.

McDonald’s items ranked by protein

The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has the most protein of any single item on the McDonald’s US menu: 48 g for 740 calories. The 40-piece Chicken McNuggets box sits above it in the table with 92 g, but it’s a sharing box with 1,650 calories. After the Double Quarter Pounder come the 20-piece Chicken McNuggets with 46 g and the 4-piece McCrispy Strips with 41 g.

The table ranks 25 burgers, chicken and fish sandwiches, McNuggets and strip sizes, and Snack Wraps, with carbs and fat so you have the full macros. Breakfast has its own table further down.

Protein per 100 cal is the grams of protein you get for every 100 calories: protein divided by calories, times 100. The higher it is, the leaner the item, so a small order can beat a big one.

Item	Calories	Protein (g)	Protein per 100 cal	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)
Chicken McNuggets (40 piece, sharing box)	1,650	92	5.6	102	98
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese	740	48	6.5	43	42
Chicken McNuggets (20 piece)	830	46	5.5	51	49
McCrispy Strips (4 piece)	530	41	7.7	32	26
Quarter Pounder with Cheese Bacon	630	36	5.7	43	35
McCrispy Strips (3 piece)	400	31	7.8	24	20
Quarter Pounder with Cheese	520	30	5.8	42	26
Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe	630	30	4.8	44	37
Deluxe McCrispy	530	27	5.1	48	26
Spicy McCrispy	530	27	5.1	48	26
Spicy Deluxe McCrispy	530	27	5.1	49	26
McCrispy	470	26	5.5	46	20
Double Cheeseburger	440	25	5.7	34	24
Big Mac	580	25	4.3	45	34
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)	410	23	5.6	26	24
McDouble	390	22	5.6	32	20
Daily Double	490	22	4.5	30	31
Snack Wrap McCrispy Spicy	390	17	4.4	32	22
Snack Wrap McCrispy Ranch	400	17	4.3	32	23
Filet-O-Fish	380	16	4.2	38	19
Cheeseburger	300	15	5.0	31	13
Chicken McNuggets (6 piece)	250	14	5.6	15	15
McChicken	390	14	3.6	38	21
Hamburger	250	12	4.8	30	9
Chicken McNuggets (4 piece)	170	9	5.3	10	10

Checked against McDonald’s official nutrition information on 22 October 2026.

Two things stand out. The McCrispy Strips beat every burger on protein per calorie. And Deluxe toppings add calories but little or no protein: the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe has the same 30 g as the regular Quarter Pounder with Cheese, for 110 more calories.

Best high-protein McDonald’s orders under 500 calories

The best high-protein McDonald’s order under 500 calories is the 3-piece McCrispy Strips, with 31 g of protein for 400 calories. Seven items on the list have at least 20 g of protein and come in under 500 calories, and the strips lead them by 5 g.

Item	Calories	Protein (g)	Protein per 100 cal	Sodium (mg)
McCrispy Strips (3 piece)	400	31	7.8	1,320
McCrispy	470	26	5.5	1,140
Double Cheeseburger	440	25	5.7	1,120
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)	410	23	5.6	850
McDouble	390	22	5.6	920
Daily Double	490	22	4.5	810
Sausage McMuffin with Egg	480	20	4.2	830

Checked against McDonald’s official nutrition information on 22 October 2026.

Under 400 calories, the McDouble has the most protein: 22 g for 390 calories, with 32 g of carbs and 20 g of fat. The Daily Double has the same 22 g for 100 more calories. For something lighter still, the Egg McMuffin has 17 g of protein for 310 calories and the 6-piece Chicken McNuggets have 14 g for 250.

Highest-protein McDonald’s breakfast

The highest-protein breakfast at McDonald’s is the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes, with 36 g of protein, but it also has 1,340 calories and 48 g of sugars. The Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel is close behind with 34 g of protein for about half the calories, 680.

Item	Calories	Protein (g)	Protein per 100 cal	Sugars (g)	Sodium (mg)
Big Breakfast with Hotcakes	1,340	36	2.7	48	2,070
Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel	680	34	5.0	7	1,510
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bagel	710	27	3.8	6	1,380
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel	590	25	4.2	7	1,320
Egg and Cheese Bagel	520	21	4.0	6	1,100
Sausage McMuffin with Egg	480	20	4.2	2	830
Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles	550	19	3.5	15	1,290
Egg McMuffin	310	17	5.5	3	770
Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles	430	17	4.0	15	1,230
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit	460	17	3.7	3	1,330
Sausage Biscuit with Egg	530	17	3.2	3	1,190
Hotcakes and Sausage	770	15	1.9	46	810
Sausage McMuffin	400	14	3.5	2	760
Sausage Burrito	310	13	4.2	2	800
Egg and Cheese Biscuit	390	13	3.3	3	1,110
Sausage McGriddles	430	11	2.6	14	990
Sausage Biscuit	460	11	2.4	2	1,090
Hotcakes	580	9	1.6	45	530

Checked against McDonald’s official nutrition information on 22 October 2026.

For protein per calorie, the Egg McMuffin is the best McDonald’s breakfast at 5.5 g per 100 calories, ahead of the Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel at 5.0. The hotcakes are mostly carbs: 9 g of protein, 101 g of carbs and 45 g of sugars. Sides add little protein, with 2 g in hash browns and 9 g in a plain bagel.

Watch the sodium at breakfast. The Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel has 1,510 mg, and the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes has 2,070 mg.

Chicken McNuggets and McCrispy Strips protein by size

A 10-piece Chicken McNuggets has 23 g of protein and 410 calories, while the 3-piece McCrispy Strips have 31 g for 400 calories. Piece for piece, each McCrispy Strip has about 10 g of protein and each McNugget about 2.3 g.

Item	Calories	Protein (g)	Protein per 100 cal	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)
Chicken McNuggets (4 piece)	170	9	5.3	10	340
Chicken McNuggets (6 piece)	250	14	5.6	15	500
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)	410	23	5.6	24	850
Chicken McNuggets (20 piece)	830	46	5.5	49	1,700
Chicken McNuggets (40 piece, sharing box)	1,650	92	5.6	98	3,400
McCrispy Strips (3 piece)	400	31	7.8	20	1,320
McCrispy Strips (4 piece)	530	41	7.7	26	1,760

Checked against McDonald’s official nutrition information on 22 October 2026.

The 4-piece strips have 5 g less protein than the 20-piece McNuggets (41 g against 46 g) for 300 fewer calories. The catch is sodium. Three strips have 1,320 mg, while 10 McNuggets have 850 mg. If you add a dipping sauce, look up its calories in the calculator too.

The 40-piece box is made to share, so its numbers are for the whole box: 92 g of protein, 1,650 calories and 3,400 mg of sodium. That works out to about 2.3 g of protein per McNugget, the same as the smaller boxes.

The leanest McDonald’s picks and the sodium trade-off

The leanest high-protein items at McDonald’s are the McCrispy Strips: 7.8 g of protein per 100 calories for the 3-piece and 7.7 g for the 4-piece. Among burgers, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese leads at 6.5 g, followed by the Quarter Pounder with Cheese at 5.8 g.

This table shows the 10 items with at least 20 g of protein that give the most protein per calorie, leaving out the 40-piece sharing box. The last column compares each item’s sodium with 2,300 mg, the daily limit for people 14 and older in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Item	Calories	Protein (g)	Protein per 100 cal	Sodium (mg)	Share of 2,300 mg
McCrispy Strips (3 piece)	400	31	7.8	1,320	57%
McCrispy Strips (4 piece)	530	41	7.7	1,760	77%
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese	740	48	6.5	1,360	59%
Quarter Pounder with Cheese	520	30	5.8	1,140	50%
Quarter Pounder with Cheese Bacon	630	36	5.7	1,470	64%
Double Cheeseburger	440	25	5.7	1,120	49%
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)	410	23	5.6	850	37%
McDouble	390	22	5.6	920	40%
Chicken McNuggets (20 piece)	830	46	5.5	1,700	74%
McCrispy	470	26	5.5	1,140	50%

Checked against McDonald’s official nutrition information on 22 October 2026.

Lean doesn’t mean low in sodium. The 4-piece strips alone use up about three quarters of the daily limit. If sodium matters to you, the Daily Double (810 mg), the Sausage McMuffin with Egg (830 mg) and the 10-piece McNuggets (850 mg) have the least sodium of the items with 20 g of protein or more.

How to add protein to a McDonald’s order

The easiest way to add protein at McDonald’s is to choose the double version of a burger. A Double Cheeseburger has 25 g of protein, 10 g more than a Cheeseburger, for 140 more calories.

These swaps all come straight from McDonald’s numbers:

• Go double. Moving from a Quarter Pounder with Cheese to a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese takes you from 30 g to 48 g of protein, for 220 more calories.
• Pick strips over McNuggets. Three McCrispy Strips have 8 g more protein than 10 McNuggets (31 g against 23 g) and 10 fewer calories.
• Pick the McCrispy over the McChicken. It has 26 g of protein against 14 g, for 80 more calories.
• Keep the egg at breakfast. A Sausage McMuffin with Egg has 20 g of protein against 14 g in a Sausage McMuffin, for 80 more calories.
• Choose steak on the bagel. The Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel has 7 g more protein than the Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bagel and 30 fewer calories.
• Skip Deluxe if protein is the goal. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe adds 110 calories and no protein. The Deluxe McCrispy adds 60 calories and 1 g of protein.
• Bacon adds a little. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese Bacon has 6 g more protein than the plain Quarter Pounder with Cheese, plus 110 calories and 330 mg of sodium.

Eating at more than one chain this week? Our high-protein fast food guide compares the best orders across chains, and high-protein Subway ranks Subway’s Protein Bowls, subs and wraps the same way. For restaurants that don’t post their numbers, here’s how to count calories when eating out. At those places, MacroScout’s menu scan (a Pro feature) lets you photograph the menu and see which dishes fit the calories and protein you have left today.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before changing your diet, especially if you have a health condition.