Keto at McDonald's: Best Low-Carb Menu Options
Keto at McDonald's is easy: a bunless Double Quarter Pounder has about 4g net carbs. See the best low-carb McDonald's menu picks and exact carb counts.
Head of Nutrition · June 17, 2026 · 4 min read
McDonald's is one of the easiest fast-food chains to navigate on a low-carb diet, because almost everything that wrecks your carb count is bread, fries, or sugar that you can simply leave off. With a few swaps, you can eat a satisfying meal and stay well under your daily limit.
To eat keto at McDonald's, order any burger or grilled chicken sandwich without the bun, skip the fries and regular soda, and drink water, black coffee, or a Diet Coke. A bunless Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has roughly 4g net carbs and 740 calories of mostly protein and fat, while a bunless McDouble runs about 3-4g net carbs. The bun alone accounts for about 25-26g of carbs, so removing it is the single biggest win for low-carb McDonald's ordering.
The Golden Rule: Ditch the Bun
The carbs at McDonald's live overwhelmingly in three places: buns, fries, and sweetened drinks. A standard hamburger bun contributes about 25-26g of carbohydrate by itself. That means a burger you might assume is "all meat" is actually mostly bread carbs.
Ask for any burger "no bun" and the crew will serve the patties, cheese, and toppings in a container or lettuce wrap. This one change typically removes 80-90% of a burger's carbs. Everything left over (beef, cheese, a little ketchup, pickles, onions) is keto-friendly in the small amounts McDonald's uses.
Best Low-Carb Burgers (Bunless)
These numbers are approximate and reflect the burger without its bun. Carbs come almost entirely from cheese, ketchup, pickles, and onions.
| Item (no bun) | Net carbs | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburger patty + toppings | ~2-3g | ~12g | ~150 |
| McDouble | ~3-4g | ~22g | ~270 |
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese | ~3-4g | ~26g | ~370 |
| Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese | ~4g | ~46g | ~600 |
| Big Mac (no bun, no middle bun) | ~6-7g | ~25g | ~390 |
The Big Mac runs slightly higher because of the Big Mac sauce, which contains a bit of added sugar. If you want it as low as possible, ask for no sauce or just a small amount. For the best protein-to-carb ratio, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese is hard to beat.
Grilled Chicken Options
McDonald's grilled chicken (when available in your market) is a lean, low-carb choice, but order it carefully. The grilled chicken filet itself is only 1-2g of carbs. The problem is the bun and any sweet sauces.
Order a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun, or ask for a side of grilled chicken with a side salad. Skip crispy or breaded chicken: the breading on a McCrispy or McNuggets adds meaningful carbs. For reference, a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets order is about 11g of carbs, and a 10-piece is around 27g, mostly from the fried coating, so nuggets are best avoided or kept to a small portion.
Keto Breakfast at McDonald's
Breakfast is genuinely easy here once the muffins, biscuits, and hash browns are out of the picture.
- Folded egg, sausage patty, and cheese (no muffin or biscuit): only a few grams of net carbs combined.
- Sausage McMuffin with Egg, no muffin: roughly 2-3g net carbs.
- Avoid: hash browns (~15g carbs), biscuits (~30g+), pancakes (~50g+), and the English muffin (~27g).
Pair any of the above with a black coffee or a coffee with a splash of cream and you have a clean, filling start to the day.
What to Skip (and the Carb Damage)
These are the items that quietly blow a keto budget. Knowing the numbers helps you say no with confidence.
| Item | Carbs |
|---|---|
| Small fries | ~26g |
| Medium fries | ~44g |
| Large fries | ~63g |
| Hash brown | ~15g |
| Regular Coke (medium) | ~58g |
| Sweet tea (medium) | ~38g |
| Vanilla shake (small) | ~60g+ |
| McFlurry (regular) | ~80g+ |
| Apple pie | ~35g |
A single medium fries can equal or exceed an entire strict-keto day's allowance, which is why fries are the one item to leave off every time.
Smart Drinks and Sides
For drinks, your safe choices are water, unsweetened iced tea, black coffee, and Diet Coke, all effectively zero carb. A side salad with a low-sugar dressing (such as Caesar or ranch) works too; check the dressing packet, since some vinaigrettes carry added sugar.
If you want condiments, mustard, mayo, and a small amount of ketchup are fine. The carbs in ketchup are small per serving, but they add up if you use several packets, so go light.
Sample Keto McDonald's Orders
- Light: Bunless Quarter Pounder with Cheese + Diet Coke = ~4g net carbs.
- Hungry: Bunless Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese + side salad = ~7g net carbs.
- Breakfast: Sausage, egg, and cheese (no muffin) + black coffee = ~3g net carbs.
All three keep you comfortably inside a 20-30g daily keto target with room to spare.
Fast-food estimates vary by region and recipe changes, so it pays to log what you actually ordered. Drop your bunless burger or grilled chicken into CarbMeNot to capture the real net carbs, confirm you stayed under your limit, and see how the meal fits your day before you order the same thing next time.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you eat keto at McDonald's?
- Yes. The simplest approach is to order any burger or grilled chicken sandwich without the bun, skip the fries and sugary drinks, and choose water, black coffee, or unsweetened iced tea. A bunless Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese lands around 4g net carbs, which fits easily inside a typical 20-30g daily keto budget.
- How many carbs are in a McDonald's burger without the bun?
- A regular hamburger bun adds roughly 25-26g of carbs. Removing it cuts most of a burger's carbs. A bunless Quarter Pounder with Cheese has about 3-4g net carbs, and a bunless McDouble has about 3-4g, almost all from cheese, ketchup, pickles, and onions.
- Are McDonald's fries keto-friendly?
- No. A small fry has about 26g of carbs and a large has about 63g, almost entirely from potato starch. A single medium fry can use up most of a strict keto day's carb allowance, so fries are the one item to consistently skip.
- What can I drink at McDonald's on keto?
- Stick to water, unsweetened iced tea, black coffee, or a Diet Coke, all of which are zero or near-zero carb. Avoid regular soda, sweet tea, McCafe frappes, shakes, and most sweetened coffee drinks, which can carry 40-80g of carbs or more.
- Is the McDonald's Egg McMuffin keto?
- Not as served. The English muffin adds about 27g of carbs. Order it without the muffin, or build a keto breakfast from the components: a folded egg, sausage patty, and cheese together total only a few grams of carbs.
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