The 10 Worst Fast Food Meals

Fast food is an American institution. Love it or hate it, it's a facet of life that we're not shaking any time soon. The good news? It's entirely possible to eat the occasional drive-thru meal without inflicting too much bodily harm. The challenge is avoiding the kind of foods that wreak havoc on your waistline. Chain restaurants will try to convince you that a bacon-gravy-sausage sandwich is a slight indulgence, when in truth it's a severely dangerous way to spend a lunch break. Here we've uncovered the country's 10 worst fast food meals. You'd be wise to avoid them at all costs.

Domino's Chicken Carbonara Breadbowl Pasta

1,480 calories

56 g fat (24 g saturated)
2,220 mg sodium

Basically, what we have here is a big wad of pizza dough hollowed out and stuffed with noodles, cream, and cheese. That’s why half of these calories come from refined carbohydrates and another third come from fat. This leaves little room for healthy nutrients such as protein and fiber. Three slices of pizza with chicken, peppers, and parmesan cheese will give you the same basic flavor profile while saving you more than 900 calories.

McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Large Biscuit, Hotcakes, Margarine, and Syrup

1,370 calories
64.5 g fat (21.5 g saturated)

2,335 mg sodium

49 g sugar

First off, this meal has more than two-thirds of the calories you should eat in a day. Secondly, it has more than a day’s worth of saturated fat and, with the pancake syrup, more sugar than two packages of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Really, there’s only one decent item on this plate, and that’s the eggs. Everything else—the pancakes, biscuit, sausage, and hash brown—is the sort of food that gives you a body more like Grimace than Ronald.

KFC Half Spicy Crispy Chicken Meal with Macaroni and Cheese, Potato Wedges, and Biscuit

1,610 calories
98 g fat (25.5 g saturated)
4,340 mg sodium

Half a deep-fried chicken is bad news, especially considering the half KFC gives you: the bottom half. That means 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs—all dark meat. Not only are these the cheapest cuts, but they're also the fattiest. All told this meal has close to 85 percent of your day’s calories and more fat and sodium than you should eat in an entire day.

Burger King Large Triple Whopper with Cheese Value Meal with Fries and Coke

2,110 calories
104 g fat (35.5 g saturated, 2 g trans)
2,270 mg sodium

Never eat foods that are named for their oversized dimensions. Take the Triple Whopper with Cheese: You know it’s big, but you still probably don’t realize that it’s packing 1,200 calories and 80 grams of fat. A side of fries adds almost 600 more calories, and if you opt for a Coke, you’re at nearly 2,200 calories! Eat one of these meals a week for one year and you’ll put on more than 30 pounds.

Quiznos Tuna Melt (Large) with Cheetos

1,620 calories
111 g fat (25 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
2,070 mg sodium

This tuna got taken from one sea and stuck into another: A sea of mayonnaise.  Eating this sandwich is the caloric equivalent to eating nearly a whole bag of Chewy Chips Ahoy! Cookies, which makes it one of the absolute worst sandwiches in the country. Even if you order it without chips, you’re looking at 1,460 calories and 27 grams of saturated fat. No thanks.

Wendy's Dave's Hot 'n Juicy 3/4 lb. Triple with Bacon with Small Fries and Small Coke

1,540 calories
83 g fat (33 g saturated, 4 g trans)
2,370 mg sodium

Three slices of cheese, 3 hamburger patties, and 3 strips of bacon? It doesn't take a nutritionist to see the problem here. It's a shame too, because this burger is a serious blemish on Wendy's otherwise decent menu. Not only is it loaded with sodium and saturated fat, but it's also one of the tran-fattiest burgers on any big-chain fast food menu in the country.

Dairy Queen Chicken Strip Basket (6-piece w/Country Gravy)

1,370 calories
57 g fat (8 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
3,650 mg sodium

This basket embodies everything wrong with America's eating habits. Dairy Queen has taken an already unhealthy meal of deep-fried chicken strips and french fries and made it worse by adding Texas Toast and a side of gravy. Nevermind that this meal takes up almost 70% of your daily calories or that it far surpasses your day's sodium. Heck, you could eat 3.5 small Butterfinger Blizzards and still not consume the fat load of this meal.

Hardee's Monster Biscuit Large Hash Rounds

1,170 calories
79 g fat (22 g saturated)
2,800 mg sodium

Breakfast at fast food restaurants can be dangerous. Fried sides, gravy, fatty meats, and empty carbohydrates can account for half your day's calories in just one meal—especially when that meal contains all of the above. The 30 grams of protein in this biscuit doesn't make up for the fact that 700 of these calories come from fat. Switch to the Frisco Breakfast Sandwich and you'll cut your caloric intake by two-thirds and still earn 23 grams of protein. The choice should be easy.

Long John Silver's Fish Combo Basket

830 calories
46 g fat (11.5 g saturated, 12.5 g trans)
2,040 mg sodium

Notice the staggering amount ot trans fat in this meal? That's a testament to Long John Silver's unflagging commitment to keeping partially hydrogenated oils in its fryer. While other fast-food chains are working to phase out the dangerous fats, Long John Silvers is quietly stuffing America's bellies with cheap, artery-clogging grease. If you can't pass on the fried foods, you better find a better seafood shack.

Carl's Jr. Double Guacamole Bacon Burger with Large Fries

1,530 calories
95 g fat (28 g saturated fat)
3,240 mg sodium

Guacamole is a healthy condiment, but it's still high in calories. That means you probably shouldn't be eating it in a "double" portion, and you certainly shouldn't eat it off a latticework of bacon. Only one beef burger at Carl's Jr. falls below the 500 calorie mark, and at 460 calories, even that one doesn't leave much room for a side. Go with the chicken sandwich instead of this monstrosity and you'll swap out 10 grams of fat for 10 grams of protein. Not a bad exchange by any measure.

Thanks for reading!