The 10 unhealthiest fast-food burgers in America, ranked
There are some burger chains out there that pride themselves on fresh food. Some, like In-N-Out, tout their high-quality ingredients and never-frozen beef. Others, like McDonald's, don't sell a single burger with more than 750 calories.
But some burger joints aren't worried about that. Some chains drop burgers on us with far more than just 750 calories; some with more than double. Using the official nutrition facts from every chain, we checked in on the calorie count of some of fast-food's heaviest burgers and ranked them.
Want to know which chain restaurant burgers are the worst for you? From triple patties and bacon burgers to spicy jalapeño specials, here are the 10 unhealthiest fast-food burgers.
#10. SuperSONIC Double Cheeseburger (Sonic Drive-In)
- Calories: 1,040
- Total Fat: 68g
- Saturated Fat: 20g
- Sugar: 12g
Sonic's classic double cheeseburger doesn't have any surprises loaded; this is just a double burger with two slices of American cheese, pickles, ketchup, onions, mayo, lettuce, and tomatoes. Not every fast-food burger comes standard with more than one condiment, so the ketchup-mayo duo may factor heavily into this.
#9. Bacon Cheeseburger (Five Guys)
- Calories: 1,060
- Total Fat: 62g
- Saturated Fat: 28g
- Sugar: 9g
The Five Guys menu is written a little bit like a trick. The "Little Hamburger" is just your standard, single-patty burger. A "Cheeseburger" comes standard with two patties and two slices of cheese. Then you've got bacon, and suddenly you're on your way to a 1,060-calorie burger
#8. Triple Meat Whataburger (Whataburger)
- Calories: 1,070
- Total Fat: 63g
- Saturated Fat: 21g
- Sugar: 12g
Perhaps some congratulations are in order for Whataburger, the only chain to keep a triple-patty burger under 1,100 calories. That's hardly a healthy meal, but it's a much different situation than some of the others listed here. Whataburger only operates in 17 states, but its following is fiercely loyal.
#7. Bacon Double Smashed Jack (Jack in the Box)
- Calories: 1,120
- Total Fat: 83g
- Saturated Fat: 30g
- Sugar: 9g
Jack in the Box went the other way with it, and managed to turn a double-patty burger into something with far more calories than a few of the triples. The Bacon Double Smashed Jack also has American cheese, grilled onions, and a mayo-based "Smashed Jack" sauce all on a brioche bun. That's not a light lunch
#6. Triple Avocado Bacon Burger (Shake Shack)
- Calories: 1,180
- Total Fat: 81g
- Saturated Fat: 32g
- Sugar: 6g
While avocados do contain a lot of healthy fats, Shake Shack's Triple Avocado Bacon Burger has almost 1,200 calories and a full 80 grams of fat. Shake Shack is topping this one with three patties, three slices of American cheese, avocado, bacon, and ShackSauce. Plus, let's not forget that Shake Shack uses potato buns, which also increase the calorie count.
#5. Dave's Triple (Wendy's)
- Calories: 1,195
- Total Fat: 80g
- Saturated Fat: 33g
- Sugar: 10g
Wendy's boasts fresh, never-frozen beef, so it's strange that the calories are so much more off the charts than a chain like In-N-Out. The gigantic triple burger doesn't feature anything out of the ordinary; it's just three patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, and mayo. So where are those extra calories coming from?
#4. Baconzilla! Triple (Rally's / Checkers)
- Calories: 1,210
- Total Fat: 96g
- Saturated Fat: 36g
- Sugar: 11g
Not enough foods have exclamation points in the middle of them. The Baconzilla! Triple from Rally's or Checkers (depending on where you live) is quite large, loaded with three patties, four slices of bacon, American cheese, cheddar cheese sauce, ketchup, and mayo.
#3. Triple Whopper w/ Bacon & Cheese (Burger King)
- Calories: 1,390
- Total Fat: 94g
- Saturated Fat: 36g
- Sugar: 15g
What is Burger King doing that's so much different than everybody else? The King's triple Whopper is served with three patties, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, onions, ketchup, and mayo, much like the other triple burgers on this list. Yet, the thing is just shy of 1,400 calories. Whataburger is managing to do nearly the same thing for 300 calories less.
#2. El Diablo Triple (Carl's Jr.)
- Calories: 1,430
- Total Fat: 78g
- Saturated Fat: 38g
- Sugar: 13g
Carl's Jr. is not playing around with its El Diablo line. The Diablo triple is a spicy behemoth, packed with three patties, bacon, pepper Jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, jalapeño poppers, and "Five Alarm" habanero ranch sauce. Between the fried poppers, the patties, the bacon, and the sauce, this makes sense.
#1. XXXL Triple Kingburger (Fatburger)
- Calories: 1,686
- Total Fat: 96g
- Saturated Fat: 33g
- Sugar: 12g
It almost feels like the XXXL Kingburger shouldn't count because it's a food challenge, but there are plenty of other triple cheeseburgers here. What Fatburger is serving here is three patties totaling 1.5 lbs, three slices of cheese, tomatoes, onion, mayo, mustard, relish, and pickles. They offer you a photo on the wall of fame if you can eat this thing in 30 minutes, as well as a coupon to come back for a free, normal-sized Kingburger. We're not sure that's worth it.
