The 15 Worst Burgers

Food  and Nutrition

The 15 Worst Burgers

A hamburger isn't, by itself, a terrible nutritional choice. Topped with some lettuce and tomato, ketchup and mustard, and a relatively small bun, a burger is a high-protein treat that shouldn't pack too much fat or too many calories. But just as country music went from skinny little Hank Williams playing honky-tonks to Garth Brooks touring stadiums—and just as baseball went from wiry Jackie Robinson stealing home to muscle-bound Barry Bonds stealing homers—so have our burgers evolved from lean and simple to very fat and very complicated. How hard has it become to decode the once-simple hamburger? Get a load—literally—of one of these.

15. WORST BURGER KIDS' MEAL: Burger King Cheeseburger and French Fries (small)

640 calories, 31 g fat (9.5 g saturated), 1,240 mg sodium

Choose chicken tenders over beef for your kid any day. The cheeseburger, with 300 calories and 6 grams of saturated fat, gets trounced by the tenders, while the small French fries double the meal’s caloric load without adding any real nutrition to the equation. On the other hand, at just 63 calories a piece, BK’s chicken tenders rank among the best nuggets/tenders/fingers in the fast-food world. Add to that the genius product that is Apple Fries and you have a pretty sound kid’s meal.

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Chicken Tender (4 piece) with Barbecue Dipping Sauce and Apple Fries with Caramel Sauce

300 calories
11.5 g fat (2 g saturated)
740 mg sodium

14. WORST CHEESEBURGER WITH EVERYTHING: Wendy’s Dave's Hot 'N Juicy 1/2 lb. Double

800 calories, 48 g fat (21 g saturated, 2.5 g trans), 1,530 mg sodium

In the pantheon of fast-food burgers, this cannot compete with the atrocities wrought by the Double Whoppers and Six Dollar Burgers of the world. But there are too many burgers at Wendy’s to end up with this mistake. Take the Double Stack—with small chili—for example. With 37 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, it might be the most satisfying $2 meal in America.

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Jr. Hamburger with Small Chili

490 calories
19 g fat (8 g saturated, 1 g trans)
1,700 mg sodium

13. WORST HAMBURGER AND FRENCH FRIES: In-N-Out Burger Hamburger and French Fries

785 calories, 37 g fat (10 g saturated), 895 mg sodium

You’re heading into dangerous territory whenever you and add fries to your order at In-N-Out. Sure, they’re trans-fat-free, but that won’t protect you from the 400 greasy, gut-bloating calories they carry. Instead, skip the fries and get serious about your burger. In-N-Out was offering up the low-carb treat long before other restaurants started making money off the Atkins craze. Take advantage of their prescience—and the 150 calorie savings—by simply tacking on the phrase “protein style” to your order.

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Protein Style Double-Double with grilled onion, ketchup, and mustard

440 calories
30 g fat (16 g saturated)
1,240 mg sodium

12. WORST PLAIN CHEESEBURGER: Five Guys Cheeseburger (plain)

840 calories, 55 g fat (26.5 g saturated), 1,050 mg sodium

Even if you taken the regular (i.e. bi-pattied) cheeseburger naked, you’ll still be taking in more than 250 calories and 20 grams of fat extra over the seemingly decadent bacon and sautéed mushroom burger. That’s because what Five Guys calls a “Little Burger,” healthy people call a “normal burger.” Plus, if you limit yourself to a single beef patty, you can get away with a couple of indulgent toppings like cheese or bacon.

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Little Bacon Burger with Sautéed Mushrooms and AI Steak Sauce

585 calories
33 g fat (14.5 g saturated)
1,020 mg sodium

11. WORST DOUBLE MEAT BURGER: Whataburger Double Meat Whataburger

870 calories, 49 g fat (18 g saturated, 1 g trans), 1,510 mg sodium

You slash your caloric intake by more than half when you order the smaller burger. Make a swap like this once a day for 6 months and you could lose 30 pounds of body fat. With those numbers in mind, please welcome Whataburger Jr. to the Burger Hall of Fame. Each one has 0 grams of trans fat, which is definitely a rare accomplishment in the world of fast-food burgers. Just limit yourself to only one.

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Whataburger Jr.

300 calories
15 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
730 mg sodium

10. WORST CHICKEN BURGER: Red Robin California Chicken Burger

824 calories, 43 g fat , 1,923 mg sodium

Think chicken burgers grant you amnesty from the calorie conundrum presented by the rest of RR’s burger lineup? Not quite. Two-thirds of these birds have more than 900 calories apiece. In contrast, the Natural is by far the best burger on the menu, so eschew the long list of calorie-loaded house creations and devote yourself instead of loading up this one with a dream team of your custom condiments.

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Keep It Simple Burger (on Onion Roll with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Jalapeño, and Guacamole)

611 calories
28 g fat
1,079 mg sodium

9. WORST PORK SLIDERS: Applebee's BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with Fries

1,420 calories, 66 g fat, 2,760 mg sodium

Don't be surprised to find yourself sliding into a bigger pair of pants after a plate of this shrunken sandwiches. If you're craving a diminutive dish at Applebee's, stick with the mini wonton tacos. Opt for the grilled chicken, a leaner meat than pork, to help shave off additional calories.

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Grilled Chicken Wonton Tacos

590 calories
24 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
2,150 mg sodium

8. TRANS-FATTIEST BURGER COMBO MEAL: Sonic Super Sonic Bacon Double Cheeseburger with Mayo with Ched 'R' Peppers

1,610 calories, 109 g fat (42 g saturated, 4.5 g trans), 2,740 mg sodium

Sonic's menu ranges from good, to bad, to just plain ugly. For example: Their burgers are riddled with trans fat, but surprisingly, they boast one of the most reasonable potato-based sides on the fast-food scene (a small side of Tater Tots will only run you 130 calories). Your best bet is to stick with the basics here—avoid any burger with "Double" in the title and count Tots as your go-to side to keep the damage to a minimum.

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Junior Burger with Tater Tots (small)

470 calories
25 g fat (7.5 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
910 mg sodium

7. WORST BBQ BURGER: Red Robin Whiskey River BBQ Burger

1,182 calories, 74 g fat, 1,516 mg sodium

One look at this burger and it’s no real surprise that it packs more than half a day’s worth of calories between two buns. It’s heavy on the sauce, for one—BBQ and mayo are not a good combination when it comes to calorie counts. Next, take a look at those curls of crispy fried onion rings. Red Robin might find it amusing to use a typical side dish as a burger garnish, but there’s nothing really funny about 120 calories worth of fried produce. A much better option that packs a zesty punch of flavor is the pineapple-topped Banzai Burger, hold the mayo and cheese.

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The Banzai Burger (no mayo or cheese)

617 calories
21 g fat
1,267 mg sodium

6. WORST “HEALTHY” BURGER: Ruby Tuesday Avocado Turkey Burger

938 calories, 57 g fat, 1,571 mg sodium

Read it and weep. Turkey and avocado—2 of the healthiest foods on the planet—conspire to create a single burger with more calories than 2 Big Macs and more fat than 8 scoops of Breyers ice cream. Choose a steak instead of a burger at Ruby’s—Ruby Tuesday serves up the leanest sirloin in town. Think about it: You could have 2 of these entrées, or 1 turkey burger. We know which one we’d choose.

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Petite Sirloin

443 calories
24 g fat
655 mg sodium

5. WORST FAST FOOD CHEESEBURGER: Burger King Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese and Mayo

1,140 calories, 75 g fat (27 g saturated, 2 g trans), 1,110 mg sodium

This Triple Whopper is triple trouble. You could remove 2 patties and still be looking at more calories than you should tussle with in one sitting. And the fact that it’s got more trans fat than you should eat in a day only adds insult to injury. The problem with BK burgers is that not a single one comes without the heart-harming trans-fatty acids, depite their long-standing promise to (someday) make their menu trans-fat free. Your best bet when dealing with the King is to choose a chicken sandwich, instead.

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Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich with mayo

470 calories
18 g fat (7 g saturated, 0 g trans)
1,100 mg sodium

4. WORST MINI BURGERS: Chili’s Big Mouth Burger Bites with Fries

2,120 calories, 133 g fat (38 g saturated), 4,810 mg sodium

Sliders and “small” bites are the most troubling trend in the restaurant industry today. That’s because they give the illusion of portion control, but the reality is that bites and sliders almost always contain more calories than the original full-size dishes that inspired their creation. Considering how uniformly treacherous the rest of the Chili’s menu is, their Guiltless Grill options—despite steep sodium counts—are your best option.

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Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Steamed Broccoli

610 calories
13 g fat (5 g saturated)
1,320 mg sodium

3. WORST BURGER IN AMERICA: Chili’s Jalapeno Smokehouse Big Mouth Burger with Jalapeño Ranch Dressing

2,210 calories, 144 g fat (46 g saturated), 6,600 mg sodium

Any burger whose name is 20 syllables long is bound to spell trouble for your waistline. This burger packs an entire day’s worth of calories and 2½ days’ worth of fat. Chili’s burger menu rivals Ruby Tuesday’s for the worst in America and the entire menu contains more sodium than a salt mine, with the Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken providing a rare exception.

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Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken

610 calories
25 g fat (4 g saturated)
800 mg sodium

2. WORST BURGER HYBRID: Applebee's Quesadilla Burger

1,240 calories, 103 g fat (43 g saturated, 2.5 g trans), 1,930 mg sodium

Menu items that purport to combine un-combinable dishes are almost always a fast track to flab, and the ranch, bacon, and cheese-slathered Quesadilla Burger is no exception. This Tex-Mex mutant packs more calories than eight White Castle sliders, two full days' worth of saturated fat, and the salt equivalent of five and a half orders of large McDonald's French fries. Applebee's Hamburger is their only non-veggie burger option under 900 calories; If you can't stomach fake burger meat, it's the best you can do.

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Hamburger

790 calories, 46 g fat (15 g saturated, 2 g trans), 1,180 mg sodium

1. WORST MUSHROOM BURGER: Cheesecake Factory Wild Mushroom Burger

1,400 calories, 33 g saturated fat, 2,003 mg sodium

Putting mushrooms on a burger can create a patina of healthfulness, but like almost everything else at the Cheesecake Factory, ordering the Wild Mushroom Burger means throwing your diet out the window. Reaching 1,400 calories with excess mayo and two kinds of cheeses, the burger is the caloric equivalent of seven Original Glazed donuts at Krispy Kreme. The stripped-down Factory Burger is your only refuge, and will cut calories and sodium nearly in half.

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Factory Burger

730 calories, 15 g saturated fat, 1,016 mg sodium