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The 5 Best (and 5 Worst) Fast Food Burgers

Are you craving a fast-food burger? You might be surprised to learn which burgers are considered the best and which fall into the worst category.

In this article, we look at the most popular fast-food burgers. We also dig into which are the best and worst for your overall health. 

We hope you’re hungry! Let’s get started.

What Is a Fast-Food Burger?

A fast-food burger is cooked and sold at a fast-food restaurant. The burgers are mass-produced daily and, depending on the establishment, are typically precooked burgers that are frozen and unthawed. They’re convenient without a long wait at a traditional restaurant. 

Famous examples of fast food burgers include McDonald’s Big Mac, Burger King’s Whopper, and In-N-Out Burgers.

McDonald’s Big Mac is the most sold fast-food burger in the world. There have been over 550 million sold annually in the U.S. 

Americans love the Big Mac, and it originated in the U.S. However, you’ll now find McDonald’s fast food burgers in nearly every country in the world. The iconic restaurant is known for its quick service and economical meals. Its burgers are famous, as are McDonald’s fries. 

What Makes a Great Fast-Food Burger?

The making of a great fast-food burger is based mainly on personal preference. Whether you like a plain cheeseburger or a burger with all the toppings, there’s something for every type of hamburger lover. Each fast-food restaurant has its own special burger recipe, so you may need to taste test until you find the one you love.

Making the perfect burger has to do with flavor first and foremost. A well-seasoned burger, cooked to your liking, is what makes it great. Your favorite toppings help too.

The 5 Best Fast-Food Burgers

A great fast-food burger may be a personal preference, but we found the top five based on taste, toppings, and affordability.

Whataburger – Double Meat Whataburger with Cheese

The Double Meat Whataburger with cheese is a good value for the cost. It’s a large burger that can customize with various toppings. It’s a satisfying choice.

Whataburger is a popular staple throughout the state of Texas. You can find one or more in nearly every town.

In-N-Out – Double-Double

In-N-Out’s Double-Double is a popular choice at the iconic fast food restaurant that started on the west coast.

The burger is delicious on a toasted bun with ketchup, mustard, mayo, and pickles. While it’s not the cheapest fast-food burger, it’s affordable and tastes home-cooked. 

Culver’s – The Culver’s Deluxe

The Culver’s Deluxe burger is juicy and filling with a very buttery and thick bun. You can add several different toppings to the burger to your liking.

Culver’s food tends to be slightly more expensive than comparable fast food restaurants, but the portions are large to make it a good value.

Five Guys – Bacon Cheeseburger

Five Guys’ bacon cheeseburger is a quality burger, and you get what you pay for. The country-wide fast food chain is expensive, but worth it.

Its bacon cheeseburger comes with grilled onions and mushrooms, which adds flavor and makes the burger extra special.

McDonald’s – Quarter Pounder with Cheese

McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese is one of the world’s most famous fast food burgers. It’s juicy and relatively light compared to the restaurant’s Big Mac sandwich.

The quarter pounder with cheese comes with mustard, pickles, and ketchup. And it’s affordable, even when you get it in a combo meal.

The 5 Worst Fast-Food Burgers

It’s likely your mouth is watering now. But we have to share the worst fast-food burgers. You may want to avoid these five.

Dairy Queen – Cheeseburger

Dairy Queen is known for its ice cream but not so much for its cheeseburgers. The burger lacks any kind of special flavor to get your taste buds excited, and the bun tends to be soggy.

And, in our opinion, the food at Dairy Queen is overpriced for its quality.

Checkers – Checkerburger

The Checkerburger at Checkers is the opposite of tasty. Thankfully, the tomato, pickles, onion, mayo, ketchup, and mustard hide some of what is lacking in the burger.

But they do put iceberg lettuce on it, which brings down the value even more.

McDonald’s – Big Mac

McDonald’s Big Mac is a favorite among the franchise’s customers. However, it’s one of the most unhealthy burgers and ranks below other McDonald’s products in terms of taste. We say, save the calories and get a quarter pounder with cheese instead.

Burger King – Whopper

Burger King’s Whopper is a strong contender to its competitors Big Mac in terms of sales and lack of healthy qualities. The Whopper just isn’t as tasty as some of the more simple burgers on the fast-food restaurant’s menu. 

White Castle – Sliders

White Castle’s sliders are small and lack quality. The bun and thin burger patty make it unsatisfying. We recommend avoiding the bland sliders. They’re not worth the money or exposure to your taste buds.

Be Picky When Choosing a Fast-Food Burger

Choose your fast-food burger wisely. There are many options out there, but not all are the same. We recommend any in our top five list. 

What’s your favorite burger? Consider changing things up and trying other fast food restaurants to see what you like best.