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What Are the Best High-Protein Orders at McDonald's?

The best high-protein orders at McDonald's, ranked by protein per calorie: the Double Quarter Pounder, Egg McMuffin, McNuggets and more, with easy swaps.

Reviewed by Menu Scan Editorial TeamLast reviewed 6 min read

The short answer

The best high-protein order at McDonald's is a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, with 48 grams of protein for 740 calories, per McDonald's nutrition data. For fewer calories, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese has 30 grams for 520 calories, and at breakfast two Egg McMuffins give you 34 grams for 620 calories. Skip the fries and soda to keep the protein-to-calorie ratio high.

McDonald's isn't a health food restaurant, but it's not a protein desert either. If you know which items to pick, you can get 30 to 70 grams of protein from a single order. The trick is avoiding the combos: the fries and soda add hundreds of calories and almost no protein.

Here's what to order, using McDonald's own nutrition data.

What has the most protein at McDonald's?#

The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has the most protein of McDonald's core sandwiches, with 48 grams for 740 calories. It's also one of the best protein-per-calorie items on the menu. Here's how the main items compare, from the McDonald's Nutrition Calculator:

Item Calories Protein Protein per 100 cal
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese 740 48 g 6.5 g
Quarter Pounder with Cheese 520 30 g 5.8 g
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece) 410 23 g 5.6 g
Egg McMuffin 310 17 g 5.5 g
Deluxe McCrispy 530 27 g 5.1 g
Big Mac 580 25 g 4.3 g
McChicken 390 14 g 3.6 g
Sausage McMuffin 400 14 g 3.5 g
Big Breakfast 1,060 26 g 2.5 g

Nutrition from McDonald's US nutrition data as of October 2026. Values can vary by restaurant and change over time; check the McDonald's app or website before ordering.

A useful rule of thumb: an order is "high protein" when it gets close to 10 grams of protein per 100 calories. Nothing at McDonald's quite hits that, so the goal is to pick the items with the best ratio and skip the extras that drag it down.

What is the best high-protein meal at McDonald's?#

The best high-protein meal at McDonald's is a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese with water or a diet drink instead of fries. That gets you 48 grams of protein for 740 calories. Here are a few more orders, added up from McDonald's published values:

Order Calories Protein
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese 740 48 g
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese + 10 pc McNuggets (bulking) 1,150 71 g
Quarter Pounder with Cheese + 10 pc McNuggets 930 53 g
2 Egg McMuffins (breakfast) 620 34 g
Quarter Pounder with Cheese (lighter) 520 30 g

If you're trying to build muscle and don't mind the calories, the Double Quarter Pounder plus 10 McNuggets is one of the highest-protein meals you can put together at McDonald's. For a lighter lunch, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese gives you 30 grams.

What is the best high-protein breakfast at McDonald's?#

The Egg McMuffin is the best high-protein breakfast at McDonald's, with 17 grams of protein for 310 calories. Ordering two gets you 34 grams for 620 calories, which beats nearly every other breakfast option on protein per calorie.

Compare that with the Big Breakfast: 1,060 calories but only 26 grams of protein. The Sausage McMuffin is 400 calories with 14 grams. Eggs and Canadian bacon are leaner than sausage and biscuits, so the Egg McMuffin comes out ahead.

Are McNuggets or the McCrispy better for protein?#

McNuggets are slightly better per calorie. A 10 piece Chicken McNuggets has 23 grams of protein for 410 calories (5.6 grams per 100 calories), while the Deluxe McCrispy has 27 grams for 530 calories (5.1 grams per 100 calories).

Both are breaded and fried, so neither is especially lean. Dipping sauces add calories with no meaningful protein, so use one sauce, not three. The McChicken is the weakest of the chicken sandwiches for protein, at 14 grams for 390 calories.

How do you make a McDonald's order higher in protein?#

Add patties, drop extras, and skip the combo. These changes make the biggest difference:

  1. Go double. The Double Quarter Pounder has 18 more grams of protein than the single Quarter Pounder for 220 more calories.
  2. Skip the fries. A medium fries adds 320 calories, mostly from carbs and fat.
  3. Swap the soda. A regular soda is pure sugar. Water, diet soda, unsweetened iced tea or black coffee keep the calories for the food.
  4. Add a side of McNuggets instead of fries if you want more protein in the meal.
  5. Hold the mayo-style sauces on chicken sandwiches.

McDonald's sandwiches are also high in sodium, especially the double burgers. If you're watching salt, see our guide to low-sodium restaurant orders.

What should you avoid at McDonald's if you want protein?#

Avoid items where most of the calories come from bread, fried potatoes, sugar or fat. The usual suspects:

  • Fries and hash browns. Mostly carbs and fat.
  • Shakes, McFlurries and sweet McCafé drinks. Dessert in a cup.
  • Breakfast platters. The Big Breakfast is 1,060 calories for just 26 grams of protein.
  • Pies and cookies. The seasonal Baked Pumpkin Pie, for example, is 250 calories with 3 grams of protein.

For a bigger picture of fast food protein options, see our list of high protein fast food orders at major chains. If you're bulking and want a chicken-focused option, here's what to order at Chick-fil-A to bulk up.

How do you track a McDonald's meal?#

Log each item separately using McDonald's published values, then add them up. Because McDonald's portions are standardized, these numbers are more reliable than most restaurant estimates. Our guide on how to track macros when eating out covers the rest.

For local burger joints and diners that don't publish nutrition, Menu Scan AI can help. Snap a photo of the menu on your iPhone and it estimates calories, protein, carbs and fat for each dish from the menu description, then flags the best matches for your goal. Those are estimates, not lab values, so treat them as a guide.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the highest protein item at McDonald's?#

The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, with 48 grams of protein and 740 calories according to McDonald's nutrition data. It also has one of the best protein-per-calorie ratios on the menu at about 6.5 grams per 100 calories.

How much protein is in an Egg McMuffin?#

An Egg McMuffin has 17 grams of protein and 310 calories. Two of them give you 34 grams of protein for 620 calories, a strong high-protein breakfast for a fast food chain.

How much protein is in 10 Chicken McNuggets?#

A 10 piece Chicken McNuggets has 23 grams of protein and 410 calories, before dipping sauce. Sauces add calories but essentially no protein.

Is McDonald's good for building muscle?#

It can fit. A Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese delivers 48 grams of protein, which is more than a typical per-meal target for muscle growth. Just keep the fries, shakes and soda occasional so most of your calories come with protein.

What is the healthiest high-protein option at McDonald's?#

The Egg McMuffin is the leanest high-protein pick, at 310 calories for 17 grams of protein. For lunch, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese (520 calories, 30 grams) is a reasonable middle ground.

Sources#

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