The Biggest Fast Food Burgers In History
Fast food hamburgers have been an icon of American ingenuity since they were popularized in 1948, following the post-World War II cultural boom. Since then, restaurants have transformed this simple sandwich in countless imaginative ways, including new and unusual topping combinations and ever-growing portion sizes. Today, this nonstop innovation has culminated in a whole new identity for hamburgers. What was once a tasty and convenient snack is now a symbol of the nation's insatiable hunger, and restaurant chains seem to be determined to constantly one-up each other.
The American public's desire for more meat on their plates inevitably led to the double hamburger. Before long, major fast food chains were selling triple hamburgers. And they didn't stop there. As portions still grow ever larger, it is clear that novelty burgers have become cemented into the culinary landscape. Now the trend has spread, and you can order a massive mountain of meat at fast food restaurants across the globe. Don't expect to see a return to normalcy anytime soon.
In recognition of this prolific trend, here are some of the biggest burgers ever offered on fast food menus in order of size. While some may look grotesque enough to pass as an eating challenge, you'll receive no accolades for finishing them. For every one of these meals, it is an invariable fact that the burger is the real prize. Read on to find out about the biggest and best burgers around.
Read more: Fast Food Hamburgers Ranked Worst To Best
The Freddy's Jalapeño Pepper Jack Triple
Kicking things off is the humble Jalapeño Pepper Jack Triple from Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Freddy's offers almost all of its burgers with either double or triple patties, but we chose to highlight the Jalapeño Pepper Jack burger since it was brought back to select Freddy's locations in 2021. True to its name, the sandwich consists of three steakburger patties, melted pepper jack cheese, and grilled jalapeños.
Though the patties aren't quite steak-sized, three of them still amount to a substantial meal. One burger consists of 1,070 calories, 70 grams of fat, 1,660 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbs, and 83 grams of protein. It provides almost the entire maximum recommended daily value of fat, and yet it's one of the healthier burgers on this list.
We won't harp on the nutritional aspect of these burgers more than we have to, but it is worth noting that it is not good for you to supersize your portions. When the smallest burger on the list has three patties, you know things are going to get wild from here.
The Triple Meat Whataburger
Texas-based burger chain Whataburger is the next purveyor of food portioning crimes. While most of its menu consists of reasonably-sized sandwiches, the chain does offer the impressively large Triple Meat Whataburger. This recipe adds two additional patties to its classic No. 1 burger to make for an unbridled mound of meat. The burger consists of diced onions, iceberg lettuce, mustard, pickles, tomatoes, special seasoning, and, of course, three large beef patties.
Nutritionally, this sandwich alone accounts for over half of the average person's recommended daily calorie intake, and the truly wild part is that this burger is only $7.99 at the time of writing. In the culinary courtroom, some may consider it reckless endangerment to make a burger this overindulgent so easily available. Then again, maybe this is just what is considered normal now. Either way, it appears that everything is indeed bigger in Texas, at least when it comes to burgers.
The Checkers Triple Smoky BBQ Bacon Buford
The Triple Smoky BBQ Bacon Buford is an everyday menu item from Checkers that belongs in any conversation about big fast food burgers. It is prepared with three hand-seasoned beef patties, three slices of Swiss cheese, two slices of smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, BBQ sauce, mayo, and then, for some reason, a second layer of bacon bits. It may not be unhinge-your-jaw huge (at least compared to other giant fast food burgers), but it is definitely not for the faint of heart.
This burger à la carte contains 1,210 calories and handily exceeds the daily recommended value of fat and sodium. That's what happens when you add this much bacon to an already substantial burger. When you factor out the limited-time burgers from this list, the Triple Smoky BBQ Bacon Buford is actually a top-ten contender. But as you'll see, the fast food market is so rich with oversized novelty burgers that this sandwich barely moved the needle on the big burger scale.
The McDonald's Monster Mac
While the official McDonald's menu doesn't contain any particularly egregious burgers, hungry McDonald's fans have created a number of off-menu items that are considerably larger than any permanent menu items. Among these, the Monster Mac is the largest, with its eight beef patties.
Some restaurants know this order by name, but you'll usually have to ask for it by ordering a normal Big Mac with six extra beef patties, each with their own slice of cheese, and extra toppings of lettuce, sauce, and ketchup. While this is far from the unhealthiest burger on our list, it still contains 1,499 calories. This includes an alarming 300 grams of carbs, 120 grams of fat, and 3,352 milligrams of sodium, all exceeding the daily recommended values.
Eight patties might sound like a lot, but since McDonald's beef patties are comparatively smaller than those of other chains, the Monster Mac is still one of the smaller burgers on this list.
The Wendy's Triple Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger
The Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger is a sandwich with a cult-like following. It first hit menus in 2020, only to be unexpectedly discontinued in 2021. Then, another year later, it was brought back by popular demand. And since nobody knows how long this mouthwatering menu item will be available this go-around, hardcore fans are ordering this one by the triple portion.
The Wendy's Triple Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger contains three quarter-pound beef patties topped with Muenster cheese, three strips of Applewood smoked bacon, smoky honey mustard, warm beer cheese sauce, crispy fried onions, and pickles. Because this sandwich has such decadent toppings and nearly a whole pound of meat within it, it is one of the highest calorie counts to ever appear on a normal fast food menu: a massive 1,520 calories. But as huge as the Triple Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger is, some make it look like child's play.
The Steak 'N Shake 7x7
Steak 'n Shake's menu describes the 7x7 burger as "the ultimate challenge," but makes no mistakes, it is not a challenge but an exercise in excess. There is no prize for overcoming this gargantuan sandwich. All you get for finishing it is a twisted sense of satisfaction and a case of the meat sweats.
The 7x7 is served fairly plain, with seven hamburger patties and seven pieces of cheese between two buns. Nutritionally, it contains 1,660 calories and exceeds the daily recommended values of fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrates. The most shocking part about this burger, though, is that it is regularly available through Steak 'n Shake's secret menu for the low price of $7.77. For a time, customers could only order this sandwich between midnight and 6 a.m., and based on the health risks customers assume by eating this sandwich with any regularity, Steak 'n Shake probably should have kept it that way.
The Burger King Stacker 4 Whopper
Although the image of a massive stack of beef patties is inextricably linked to American culture, some of the most unconscionably large burgers in history come from other parts of the world. For instance, the chain's Extreme Super One Pound Beef Burger was a Japan exclusive. However, the Stacker 4 Whopper is exclusively sold and marketed in South Korea and is even larger.
True to its name, the Stacker 4 Whopper is like the classic Whopper but with four patties. Aside from that, it has the same sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion. This four-patty version contains 1,707 calories and weighs close to 1.5 pounds, making it a true force to be reckoned with -- there is even an off-menu version that adds a fifth patty. But even that fifth patty won't bring this Whopper anywhere close to Burger King's most monstrous effort, which we'll get to shortly.
The Fatburger XXXL Triple Kingburger
While fast-casual restaurant chain Fatburger first gained national attention via lyrical references from critically acclaimed rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Ice Cube, it is now primarily known for serving absolutely massive burgers. Its largest burger is an everyday menu item: the XXXL Triple Kingburger.
You don't need to make any extra requests or offer a secret passcode to be served 1.5 pounds of lean beef on a toasted sponge-dough bun. Simply walk into any Fatburger location and say, "One XXXL Triple Kingburger, please." This sinful sandwich contains 2,050 calories when you order it with "The Works," which includes lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard, pickles, and relish. You can further up the ante by adding a scoop of chili, two slices of bacon, two onion rings, or a fried egg to truly test your limits. However, since the standard version already exceeds the FDA's recommended daily allowance of everything, we strongly suggest that you don't try to customize this burger any further.
The Carl's Jr. Really Really Really Big Carl
We can only assume that Carl's Jr. executives had no idea what havoc they were unleashing when they first released the Really Big Carl in 2019. After all, no one could have foreseen this trend culminating with the release of the appropriately named Really Really Really Big Carl. This burger may have only been released in Australia and exclusively on April 1st, 2022, but that's all it needed to qualify as one of history's biggest fast food burgers. And no, it wasn't an April Fool's Joke.
The Really Really Really Big Carl includes five patties, cheese, lettuce, and CJ's classic sauce on a sesame seed bun. Because it was only released for a single day, there is no longer any nutritional information available for this burger. However, a regular Really Big Carl has 1,120 calories, so there's no way this monster novelty burger doesn't exceed the FDA's daily recommended calorie intake. Carl help us if this burger ever makes it to stateside menus.
The Burger King New York Pizza Burger
It's hard to tell if Burger King's New York Pizza Burger counts as one burger or six. This pizza-inspired sandwich is 9.5 inches in diameter, is served in six slices, and comes in a cardboard pizza box. Since the odds are that at least one forlorn soul has eaten this burger solo, we're going to hoist this one into the rafters alongside fast food's other biggest burgers.
The Burger King New York Pizza Burger contains one pound of Whopper patties (about six), mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and a nut-free pesto mayo. This burger gained much media attention when it debuted in 2021, even though it was only offered for an extremely limited time at Burger King's Whopper Bar location in New York.
It should come as no surprise that this burger is an absolute nightmare in the nutrition department. A whole burger contains 2,500 calories, 144 grams of fat, and 380 milligrams of cholesterol. It's clear why this burger was a limited-time offering, but Burger King deserves credit for pushing the definition of a burger farther than it has ever been pushed.
The Wendy's T-Rex Burger
Like several of the downright supererogatory sandwiches on this list, the Wendy's T-Rex Burger started as a mere joke. It first appeared in 2013 in a quirky Sports Illustrated ad created for a Wendy's store in Manitoba, Canada. However, when customers started ordering this fictitious burger in earnest, the restaurant obliged. To borrow a quote from "Jurassic Park" -- which feels appropriate given the name of the burger -- Wendy's "were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." Before long, several U.S. locations also started marketing this secret menu item, but Wendy's headquarters intervened and put a stop to the sale of T-Rex burgers out of concern for public health.
Just how big was the T-Rex burger? It was made with nine beef patties, each draped in cheddar cheese. It was topped with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and a special sauce, all sandwiched in a brioche bun. The sandwich weighed 2.25 pounds and contained 3,000 calories, 200 grams of fat, and 6,000 milligrams of sodium. Although its time in the spotlight was short, the fact that the T-Rex burger was even created in the first place is a testament to the cultural impact of novelty burgers.
Jake's Wayback Triple Triple Burger
Wayback Burgers (previously known as Jake's Wayback Burgers) is a fast-casual restaurant chain with humble beginnings. But as this restaurant chain has expanded outwards from its home base in Cheshire, Connecticut, its portion sizes have expanded upwards in the form of the Triple Triple Burger.
The Triple Triple burger originally started as an eating challenge at two of the chain's New York locations in 2013. However, it became a recognized secret menu item after it garnered an unexpected amount of attention. The burger consists of nine beef patties, each with its own slice of American cheese. The burger is topped with lettuce and tomato and served on a grilled bun, and it contains a jaw-dropping 5,100 calories and 117 grams of saturated fat. Considering this burger has enough calories to sustain an adult male for two days straight, we don't recommend trying to consume one of these solo unless you're a top-tier competitive eater.
The In-N-Out 100x100
Topping off our list is the uncontested champion of big fast food burgers: the 100x100 from In-N-Out. This burger comprises one hundred patties topped by one hundred pieces of cheese, blurring the line between a menu item and a testament to a higher power. Of course, this burger is obviously not part of the normal In-N-Out menu. The largest burger on the official menu is the meager 4x4. That said, the 100x100 has been ordered a few times historically and was first ordered by a blogger named Will Young in 2004. The burger cost him $97.66, and don't worry, he shared it with seven friends.
The In-N-Out 100x100 is so massive that it would be frivolous to calculate the actual nutritional value of this burger. Rest assured, the calorie count is well into five figures. While it may not be the largest burger in history (that title belongs to this 2,000-pound monstrosity concocted in Pilsting, Germany), it is undoubtedly the largest burger ever offered by a fast food restaurant. But in the grand scheme, there is still room for an even bigger fast food burger to emerge. It may not happen anytime soon, but like the changing of the seasons, an even larger burger is all but inevitable.
Read the original article on Mashed.
