Most people look at fast food as being high in calories. And while that’s mostly true (although McDonald’s does offer apple slices!), one of the bigger issues that fast food has is the high amounts of sodium. If we’re being honest, almost all foods you eat out are high in sodium. It doesn’t matter if you’re getting it from a drive-thru or a Michelin star restaurant. There’s a reason why things seem to taste so much better when you eat out than when you eat at home.
But since sodium intake can be an issue for a lot of people with hypertension, high blood pressure and the like. So it’s helpful to know which menu items are the highest in sodium. Which is why we made this list!
For this exercise we created a criteria that used solely each company’s published nutritional information and based our choices off of what an individual would get by visiting the establishment, ordering that company’s signature food (in its presented form from the menu board) and consuming that. We’re not talking crazy combos, catering trays and the like.
All the values below are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Which means that your sodium intake (for the day!) shouldn’t exceed 2,300 milligrams. Now onto the fun part. The results surprised us in more ways than one, because when it comes to the worst of the worst, it isn’t the calories. It’s the salt.
Why salt is the number nobody watches
Calories are the stat most people pay closest attention to, and if that’s the number you want, we ranked the chains that way too. But calories only tell you half the story about a fast food meal. Take this item from KFC for example, the appropriately named Famous Bowl:
Sure, at 590 calories this is far from the heftiest meal out there. But those 590 calories contain 2,160 mg of sodium, 94 percent of your entire daily allotment. If people paid as much attention to sodium as they do calories, there’s no way that this meal would leave the counter, but the menu doesn’t exactly make it easy to tell which meals will make dieters happy and which will make hypertension patients swoon.
Sodium is by far the worst part of most fast food (we can often order a single item that contains more sodium than we should have for the entire day, and many of us have already blown our daily allotment of sodium by the time we even walk through the restaurant door). And since there’s no good way to judge the sodium content in a given meal, since no one sizes their sandwich visually and says, Hmm, that looks like about 1,900 mg of sodium, a shocking amount can creep in. Close behind sodium, saturated fat is the No. 2 nutritional villain to worry about, and fortunately, that one’s a little easier to visualize.
So we tracked sodium and saturated fat. Below, we ranked the chains according to the worst item you can possibly eat, as a percent of your daily allotment, at each chain, and let you know if the worst offender is thanks to salt or saturated fat.
18. McDonald’s
So how bad is the Big Mac, really? At 580 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat (56 percent of your recommended daily allowance), and 1,060 mg. of sodium (46 percent of your RDA), it’s not exactly health food, but after running the numbers, it became apparent that McDonald’s, long the poster child for the fast food industry, has been thoroughly bested by its peers.
Fifty years as the embodiment of gluttony and bad dietary decisions has left the Big Mac looking downright anorexic: with only one third the sodium of Arby’s cheesesteak, less than half the saturated fat in a large Dairy Queen side order, McDonald’s emerged as the mildest of miscreants out of the ten chains we compared.
17. Sonic
Notably, Sonic is the first chain on the list to really drop the ball with beverages (which is actually worse, because at least people pay attention to how much nutrition there is in actual food). Unfortunately, one of the few drawbacks is that unlike Subway’s nutrition website, for example, Sonic doesn’t separate out how much of that sugar content is added, versus naturally-occurring (which does matter a little, particularly given the fact that because Sonic shakes contain dairy, some of the sugar is occurring naturally).
Still, a large Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Slush clocks in at 1,200 calories and 219 grams of sugar, and a large Banana Pudding Shake contains 1,160 calories, and 28 grams of saturated fat–that is 140% of your saturated fat for the entire day, downed through a straw in addition to whatever food you’ve ordered. Just a large 44 ounce Banana Dirty Dr Pepper has 670 calories and 141 grams of sugar. And it isn’t only sugar hiding in the cup. A large Peanut Butter Shake carries 1,070 milligrams of sodium, close to half a day’s worth, in a milkshake.
16. Panda Express
Panda Express is the mildest offender here that’s still problematic. The worst dish is Chow Fun with 1,570 milligrams (that’s 68 percent of a day) of sodium in a 12 ounce serving. Chow Mein isn’t too shabby, either, with 1,040 milligrams. The Original Orange Chicken, the dish everybody goes there for, anyway, actually comes in pretty meekly at 650 milligrams. In addition, there isn’t a menu item at Panda Express that has more than 5 grams of saturated fat.
15. Wendy’s
And none of that factors in the fries and drink that tend to come with it. Nutrition info for the Baconator that we found online ranged from 930 calories and 1,810 milligrams of sodium, to 54 grams of fat and 1,770 milligrams of sodium.
We’ve included the calories and nutrition info from Wendy’s website on which you can order the sandwich: 890 calories, 24 grams saturated fat (120% of your daily saturated fat intake right there), 2.5 grams of trans fat and 1,580 milligrams of sodium (69% of your daily sodium intake, also right there). Inconsistent and inaccurate (both over and under actual values) calorie and nutrition information everywhere we looked was one reason we chose to use information provided by each chain.
14. Raising Cane’s
Raising Cane’s only sells four things, so there’s really nowhere to hide. The worst item is the Chicken Sandwich which has 810 calories and 1,650 milligrams (that’s 72 percent of a day.) of sodium. (We didn’t count The Caniac Combo which has 3,480 milligrams because this combo is considered a meal and we’re only counting single items.) So the sandwich will have to do as Raising Cane’s representation on our list.
13. Five Guys
Five Guys makes this list courtesy of a side item. In fact, Five Guys proves to be the trickiest chain of this group to determine totals for. That’s because Five Guys customizes your food (no standard orders here) and lists nutritional information according to ingredients instead of the actual sandwiches.
In case you’re interested, we did the work for a bacon cheeseburger here: One patty: 302 calories, 8 grams of saturated fat; Bun: 240 calories, 3 grams of saturated fat; Two slices bacon: 70 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat; Slice of cheese: 70 calories, 3.5 grams of saturated fat. Remember, the regular Five Guys hamburger comes with two patties.
That adds up to a burger with just cheese and bacon at over 1,000 calories and about 28 grams of saturated fat, not even counting the fries. Speaking of those: A large order of Five Guys Style fries clocks in at 1,314 calories, representing 66 percent of what you should consume all day. That side of fries also represents half the saturated fat Five Guys says is OK to eat in one day. Get them Cajun, and you’ll add as much as 1,658 milligrams of sodium, which is 72 percent of a day’s allotment.
12. Dairy Queen
When it comes to Dairy Queen and sodium, their ice cream sweet treats don’t make the list. Those might be calorie bombs, but they aren’t sodium bombs. But, their large Cheese Curds (which is basically just a side dish) carries 1,960 mgs of sodium, about 85% of your daily intake. This is the sneaky thing about fast food. Where the sides can be a bit higher in certain things than the main meals. Which is also why they taste so good.
(Note: DQ’s nutrition table did also list some truly amazing feats of nutrition, such as their entire cakes, including their sheet cake (8,480 calories). We obviously didn’t include those because no one sits down and eats an entire sheet cake by themselves, but we thought it would be fun to let you know where that one lands).
11. Domino’s
It’s hard to rank pizza places like Dominos because all their pizza-related nutritional info is by the slice. So if you have one or two slices it isn’t bad. If you have three or four then you may want to check their site. This is sort of like Dairy Queen, where the sides are the higher offenders more than the main.
10. Taco Bell
One thing to keep an eye on if you are concerned about your sodium intake you should steer clear of anything that’s fried. As an example, the 10 piece order of Crispy Chicken Nuggets, has a whopping 640 calories AND 2,140 milligrams of sodium, 93 per cent of what’s recommended as adequate for the entire day!
9. Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A makes our list in part because having it lends credibility to the other nine. (For example, Chick-fil-A’s worst offender, the Spicy Deluxe, at 540 calories and 1,890 milligrams of sodium, doesn’t even look like much sitting next to the Arby’s sandwich at the top of this list, a sandwich with 1,320 calories and 3,950 milligrams of sodium. Relative to many sandwiches out there, going with Chick-fil-A’s Spicy Deluxe will go down pretty soft on your body).
Chick-fil-A’s claim to fame on our list, though, is for featuring the sneakiest trap of any of the menus we pored over. You go to Chick-fil-A and, instead of a sandwich, get the healthy-sounding Cobb Salad: 830 calories and 2,180 milligrams of sodium, 95 percent of a day’s allowance. On sodium, the number that matters most, it is worse than the Spicy Deluxe sandwich you passed up. Also of note, Chick-fil-A’s Mac and Cheese Side (16 grams of saturated fat, 80 percent of the daily allowance) and vanilla milkshake (80 grams of sugar).
8. Burger King
The Bacon King is also marked with Burger King’s warning icon (BK being the only restaurant on our list to add these icons to their menu; the explanation on BK’s menu indicates that items marked with the icon contain more sodium than the total amount (2,300 milligrams) recommended as a daily limit, coming from BK is rather more effective than us saying it about their signature sandwich).
At 1,260 calories and 2,330 milligrams (101 percent) sodium, this is also one of the rare entries where saturated fat is more of a problem than sodium, at 34 grams, the Bacon King accounts for 170 percent of your daily intake of saturated fat, which seems even worse than going over for sodium.
7. KFC
KFC’s most abysmal individual item is not chicken. It’s the Hot Ranch Loaded Wedges, with 870 calories and 2,920 milligrams of sodium, or 127 percent of a day, from a side. But the Famous Bowl deserves more consideration, as it appears benign at 590 calories while offering 2,160 milligrams, or 94 percent of a day. So does the Chicken Pot Pie, which sounds like it was made by somebody in their own house but actually contains 25 grams of saturated fat in a 720 calorie meal.
6. Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut: As we mentioned when looking at Domino’s, it’s often a pizza chain’s non-pizza fare that’s even worse for you than the pizza. Pizza Hut’s Roasted Turkey and Provolone Sandwich with Bacon has 1,240 calories and 3,300 milligrams of sodium, 143 percent of your daily intake. Both those figures eclipse anything in the pizza department.
So do the 2,910 milligrams of sodium in a serving of Pizza Hut’s Pizza Hut Nacho Fries. Add on 30 grams of saturated fat (that is 150 percent of your daily allotment) and you have yourself another pizza-chain dud that eclipses anything in the pizza category. Twice now that we’ve tallied a pizza chain’s sins and in both cases the least healthy food to eat at said pizza chain isn’t pizza.
5. Popeyes
Sugar is shockingly high all around (50 grams is in the territory you find in desserts), and Popeyes Six Sweet and Spicy Bone-In Wings top the list in sodium as well with 3,810 milligrams, 166 percent of your day. (Six classic Bone-In Wings aren’t far behind at 2,430 milligrams of sodium).
Popeyes Five Tenders, either classic or spicy, contain 2,840 milligrams of sodium, 123 percent of a day. It’s actually pretty amazing to see that five blackened tenders have less than half of everything, calorie- and nutrition-wise, than five fried: 280 calories to 650; 4 grams of saturated fat to 15. It’s the same bird, from the same restaurant, but made a different way.
By comparison, the famous chicken sandwich that inspired people to stand in line to eat seems tamer, with 700 calories and 1,440 milligrams of sodium.
4. Subway
Subway has spent the last couple of decades building its name as a relatively healthy fare in the fast food industry. But its meats are still sodium bombs: A footlong 5 Meat Italian, for instance, has a whopping 3,820 milligrams, or 166 percent of your daily intake. (Subway’s nutrition table is based around six inch sandwiches, but helpfully reminds us that all numbers should be doubled in the case of footlongs). Similarly, a footlong Meatball Pepperoni sandwiches contains 3,640 milligrams of sodium and 32 grams of saturated fat: a shocking 160 percent of your recommended daily allotment of either.
Subway is, by far, the chain on this list to really show its extremes: The seemingly sensible footlong grilled chicken sandwich, for instance, isn’t nearly as virtuous as you thought–it has 1,660 milligrams of sodium, or 72 percent of your daily total. The only truly reasonable fare at Subway is the vegetarian footlong Veggie Delite, at 620 calories and 1,160 milligrams of sodium (still not nothing, but about half of the aforementioned behemoths, and served on the same bread, no less, at the same place).
3. Wingstop
Wingstop: We didn’t think we’d ever say it, but Wingstop chicken sandwiches are not as harmless as the chicken wings. A Wingstop Cajun chicken sandwich has 3,940 milligrams of sodium (and 640 calories). The chain’s Original Hot and Atomic chicken sandwiches also rate among the saltiest foods on our list, at 3,340 milligrams of sodium apiece and 3,230 milligrams, respectively. A dozen wings – depending on the flavors – would contain just 75 milligrams to 310 milligrams apiece.
2. Arby’s
Arby’s Spicy Angus Cheesesteak Half Pound has 1,320 calories, 3,950 milligrams of sodium, and 39 grams of saturated fat (172 and 195 percent of Arby’s suggested daily standard for sodium and sat fat, respectively). Nearly two days of sat fat and sodium in a single sandwich. (There are also three grams of trans fat, some of which occurs naturally in beef. ) It is the second worst single item on this list, beaten only by what is waiting at number one.
A Classic Roast Beef by comparison has just 360 calories and 970 mg of sodium, one fourth as much salt as you’ll find in another sandwich just twenty feet away from that menu. It’s clear that Arby’s has an extremely varied menu. When it comes to chains, it’s really important to keep in mind that it’s not always a question of where you eat, it’s what you order.
1. Jimmy John’s
Jimmy John’s: No chain restaurant item comes remotely close to topping Jimmy John’s for outright amount of sodium, which is why it’s on this list and it easily ranks among the saltiest foods relative to daily sodium intake. A 16 inch Jimmy John’s Giant J.J. Gargantuan has 7,750 milligrams of sodium, along with 2,160 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat. In other words, it has more than three days’ worth of sodium – 337 percent of the daily allotment.
But that’s assuming you actually get the Gargantuan. And you may not want to, given the sodium content: The 8 inch version has a whopping 3,870 milligrams, which is 168 percent of your daily sodium allotment and would place it a close second on our list. Objection: nobody eats a 16 inch. Rejoinder: the culprit here is the six types of deli meat. Case in point: if you’re being extra-health-food-conscious and opt for the lettuce-wrapped Unwich in lieu of a bread-based vehicle, you’ll still get 3,170 milligrams of sodium. (There isn’t much sodium in bread anyway.
What to actually do with this
The surprising thing: There’s more nutritional variability in choices at one fast-food restaurant than there is between different restaurants. Arby’s has sandwiches with 970 milligrams of sodium and sandwiches with 3,950 milligrams of sodium. At Popeyes, five tenders have 280 calories if blackened and 650 calories if fried. Subway has footlongs with 1,160 milligrams of sodium and footlongs with 3,820 milligrams.
In other words, there is almost always a higher-nutrition version of your fast-food fix that’s right there on the menu, often for the same price, and choosing it is likely to have a much bigger impact on your diet than which fast-food restaurant you frequent. Here are three rules to follow:
Order the little one. We covered this above, but it bears repeating. Size matters a whole lot in fast food, nutritionally speaking: Five Guys’ large fries have almost two and one-half times the number of calories of its little fries.
Don’t sleep on sides and drinks. Drinks and sides can be just as important (nutritionally speaking) as what’s on your plate: The shake at Sonic and cheese curds at Dairy Queen, for instance, outshine most of the entrées we analyzed in saturated-fat content.
Don’t take items at face value. Some items with reputations for being the healthy choices weren’t as healthy as expected nutritionally, especially in sodium content, including the Chick-fil-A salad and Subway’s grilled chicken sandwich.
Nutritional facts came from restaurants’ published nutritional information, accessed in October 2026. When a restaurant gave %DV based on its own daily caloric/nutrient recommendations, we used their %DVs. Items that come only in multi-servings (think cakes, catering trays and family-size chicken buckets) were excluded from consideration because one human is unlikely to consume the entirety of them. Photographs are illustrative and show the type of item described, not each chain’s own product.
Martha ‘Marti’ Jones founded Fitness Four after three decades of living with IBS, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and pernicious anemia. She spent two decades in the food industry, so she knows how important it is to be aware of what you’re eating.
She’s 76, lives in Eastern North Carolina, walks and is learning to get used to lifting weights more and more. She spends as much time as she can in her backyard garden.
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