Unlike some it it’s competitors, McDonald’s® doesn’t offer triple-anything, mega stacks of bacon, or any sandwich even approaching 1000 calories. Yeah, that surprised me too. Let’s check out the details of the ‘deluxe’ burger options on the menu.

Well this is interesting. It seems you tack on 220 calories just by adding an extra 1/4lb beef patty. Lettuce and tomato have the same calorie count as bacon? Hmm… let’s get into this.

As with the ‘basic’ burgers at McDonald’s, each of these comes with ketchup, mustard, pickles and onion. At this level however, the pickles generally aren’t steamy and gross, and the onions come in sliver? form (I guess that’s what we’ll call it) instead of minced. Since each of these can come with several times the cost of a ‘basic’ burger, the beef patties are considerably larger and the buns come with sesame seeds.

So what’s the difference? The only difference between the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and it’s Double version is an additional 1/4lb beef patty (and 220 calories). Just as simply, the difference between the former and the Bacon version is – yep – bacon. Though that will tack on an additional 110 calories to your sandwich. Now here’s the kicker I had to figure out: The Deluxe version just adds sliced tomato and a bed of lettuce, but is also a surprising 630 calories. How can that be? Mayonnaise. Apparently there is enough mayo on this thing that it is roughly equivalent to adding a whole other slice of cheese. This makes me sad because this is the best tasting version in my opinion.

Oh, I almost forgot the Big Mac® (which was invented in PA, by the way). This sandwich is hard to classify because there isn’t anything ‘deluxe’ about it besides the sesame seed bun and calorie count. It uses the same crappy lettuce as the McChicken and the same beef patties, minced onions, and gross pickles as the basic burgers. The Big Mac clocks in at 550 calories, which is probably helped along by the unnecessary third bun and single piece of cheese.

Will going with a ‘deluxe’ chicken sandwich cut some calories? We found out with the McDonald’s ‘basic’ sandwiches that the answer is ‘NO’. However, both the Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich and the Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich are comparable in calories to the Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  The Spicy Deluxe Crispy Chicken Sandwich is more (540 calories), but all of those options are far less than the other Quarter Pounders on the menu.

If you are thinking that the Deluxe Quarter Pounder kind of reminds you of a Whopper you’re not alone. Unfortunately, the signature sandwich from Burger King has far more calories across similar versions. I find that surprising, as Whoppers generally have more veggies and no cheese by default.

The same can be found at Wendy’s, as the comparable Dave’s Single and Dave’s Double both have more calories that their McDonald’s counterparts. Though both come with a pile of veggies and plenty of cheese.

Lesson’s Learned:

As with their ‘basic’ options, all four ‘deluxe’ McDonald’s burgers are very similar.

Surprisingly, these burgers have less calories that their closest competitors.

Going with the chicken version of the deluxe style sandwiches is going to save you a decent amount of calories.

eric’s opinion:

Well, as I mentioned, all of these burgers are very similar. My initial reaction would be to pick the Quarter Pounder Deluxe, but it makes me sad that the mayo adds 100 calories. Yes, I could order it sans mayonnaise, but that’s what makes it taste good! I guess it makes me feel better that if were to get an Impossible™ Whopper (without cheese… or MEAT), it would still be 626 calories.

I don’t mean to keep giving Arby’s props, but while we’re in the 600 calorie range, I’d rather get this! Smoked brisket with BBQ sauce AND mayo, gouda, and crispy onion straws. 600 calories for real?