Each of these Fast Food Menu Items Has 590 Calories

If you could pick only one, would you choose a chocolate milkshake or a hot dog with cheese? Despite being very different foods, they deliver the same number of calories, a measure of energy provided by the macronutrients.

In this article we provide an overview and comparison of seven menu items served at popular fast food restaurants. While each dish has 590 calories, the nutritional value varies significantly.

One serving is a measured amount and differs for each food. For example, a measured serving may be one hamburger, one 8″ sandwich, or one milkshake.

This guide compares and contrasts select foods from popular fast food restaurants. Each menu item has 590 calories per serving.

List of Selected Food

Here is the list of foods we have included for comparison:

Comparison of Macronutrients

Although each of these foods deliver the same number of total calories, they are vastly different in nutritional value. For example, total sugars make up over half of the total calories in a chocolate milkshake but only 5% of the calories in the breakfast bagel.

Macronutrients provide energy for the body to grow, move, and maintain overall good health. They are divided into three main categories: Dietary Fat, Carbohydrates, and Proteins.

As you can see from the table below, the composition of macronutrients varies greatly.

Fat, Carbs, and Protein

Here is a summary of the total fat, carbohydrates, and protein in each of the selected fast food menu items.

Dietary Fat

The amount of total fat in each of these foods range from 16 grams to 41 grams per serving. That’s a significant difference.

On the low end, the Chicken Burrito contains 145 calories from fat. By comparison, the hot Dog with Cheese has 370 calories from fat. That’s a difference of 225 calories.

Percentage of 590 Calories from Total Fat

As you can see in the chart below, the percentage of total calories from fat varies between 25% of total calories in the burrito to over 60% of total calories in the cheese dog.

McDonald’s bacon, egg and cheese breakfast bagel contains 30 grams of total fat, including 12 grams of saturated fat.

Half of the total 590 calories in Jimmy John’s bacon, lettuce, and tomato sub sandwich on French Bread is derived from dietary fat.

The chocolate milkshake from Chick-fil-A contains 195 calories from 22 grams of dietary fat. That’s 33% of the total 590 calories.

Moreover, the 22 grams of total fat include 14 grams of saturated fat. That is high. It represents a 70% daily value (based on a 2,000 calorie diet). Approximately 21% of the total calories in the chocolate milkshake are derived from saturated fat.

Total Sugars

As shown in the table above, the greatest proportion of total calories in Chick-fil-A’s chocolate milkshake is derived from carbohydrates.

Dig deeper and you will see that most of the 97% of the carbohydrates are sugars. By comparison, TacoTime’s Chicken Burrito contains nearly 80 grams carbohydrates, but only 8% are sugars.

Moreover, Jimmy John’s Slim 6 provolone cheese sandwich has zero total sugars per serving.

Fast food meals come in all shapes, sizes, and tastes. And although a variety of different dishes may deliver the same total calories, the composition of nutrients can vary greatly.