12 Saltiest Menu Items At Fast Food Chains You Might Want To Think Twice About Ordering

It's natural to have a weakness for fast food. Whether it's nostalgia that brings you back to your childhood, a special treat that you get when you achieve something, or an easy and cheap option that you rely on for busy days — there's always a time and a place for fast food. Most of us also recognize that fast food isn't necessarily the healthiest option.

Considering the nutritional qualities of fast food often brings to mind greasy, fried meals that are dripping in fat. Perhaps you think of the bread and french fries as carbohydrate overload. One element a lot of people tend to glance over, however, is sodium. Fast-food meals tend to have incredible amounts of sodium, in quantities that may be shocking to customers. Some of the highest amounts of sodium aren't even in the obvious items like french fries, but in salads and breakfast sandwiches.

It's important to remember the effects of a high sodium diet include health issues like high blood pressure, which is concerning because it can lead to complications like a stroke or heart attack. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, and many fast-food meals cut it pretty close. We dove into the nutrition facts at many popular fast-food restaurants to identify which menu items were the highest in sodium. Some you may expect, and others may be a total surprise.

Since the early '70s, McDonald's has been serving delicious breakfast options. It's a great way to get a full breakfast on the go, even if you have to fight the intense morning drive-through line. The McDonald's Big Breakfast with Hotcakes is a plate with scrambled eggs, a biscuit, hash browns, sausage, and hotcakes topped with syrup and butter. It's a mouthwatering meal that will definitely keep you full for a long time. Most people might think of is as being high in carbs, but more importantly, it's McDonald's highest sodium menu item.

This meal contains 2,070 milligrams of sodium, which is 90% of the FDA's daily recommended amount. Consuming that quantity of sodium in one sitting, at the start of your day at that, is not good for your heart health. In addition, eating that much sodium in one sitting will lead to immediate effects like severe bloating and thirst.

The sodium in this meal most likely comes from the hash browns, sausage patty, and salted butter. However, if McDonald's is preparing food like most restaurant kitchens, it's adding salt into everything in the meal. This generally makes the flavor more potent and encourages customers to want more and more.

There's something about McDonald's burgers that really hits the spot. The famous Quarter Pounder, which has been a customer favorite for over 50 years, is actually made with 100% fresh beef, whereas the other burger patties on the menu are flash frozen. The Quarter Pounder with Bacon and Cheese is made with a beef patty, American cheese, onions, pickles, bacon, ketchup, mustard, and served on McDonald's signature sesame seed bun. The calorie count isn't actually all that bad, with about 630 calories. Somehow though, McDonald's has found a way to pack 1,470 milligrams of sodium into the meal, or 64% of the FDA's daily value.

This burger holds the crown at McDonald's for having the highest amount of sodium out of all of the burgers. We initially thought the winner would be the Big Mac, but we were wrong. The Big Mac actually has 420 less milligrams than the Quarter Pounder with Bacon and Cheese. Next time you have a hankering for a McDonald's burger, maybe opt for one that doesn't have bacon — that way it'll at least be a bit more heart-healthy.

Many people flock to Burger King for, well, burgers. Burger King has tons of burger options, and lots of people specifically choose it with that craving in mind. However, BK has lots of other menu items that are just as good. In general, some diners opt for a chicken sandwich versus a burger when eating at a fast-food restaurant to try to be a little healthier. Unfortunately, if you're thinking about getting the Fiery Bacon Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich for that reason, you might want to check the nutrition information.

This chicken sandwich has more sodium than any burger on the menu. It clocks in at 2,540 milligrams, which is about 110% of the FDA's recommended daily value. If you're at all concerned about your health, you better make sure that you don't have a single drop of sodium in your other meals throughout the day.

The chicken sandwich contains 930 calories, which is quite a lot, but still not enough to justify the amount of sodium. If you compare this chicken sandwich to a Double Whopper with Bacon and Cheese, the burger has 1,090 calories and about 1,830 milligrams of sodium. There is still so much more sodium packed into the chicken sandwich than the Whopper — it's undoubtedly an incredibly salty option.

Burger King is another culprit when it comes to extremely salty breakfasts. Similar to McDonald's, BK offers various breakfast sandwiches, burritos, platters, french toast sticks, and more. The Double Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit seems like it wouldn't be that bad just by looking at it — however, it has 2,526 milligrams of sodium. With only a biscuit, two pieces of sausage, an egg, and cheese, it's quite shocking to see that it alone holds 110% of the FDA's recommended daily intake of sodium.

Along with this biscuit sandwich, almost all of Burger King's breakfast items have over 1,000 milligrams of sodium — and several creep close to the 2,500 range. The only outliers are the pancakes, french toast sticks, and the small order of hash browns. From this information, it seems like the eggs and cheese must have high amounts of sodium, since that's the common denominator among most of the high sodium breakfasts. For the Double Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit, we can also infer that the sausage must be loaded with salt. We'd definitely recommend staying away from Burger King breakfast options if you are at all concerned about your daily sodium intake.

Chick-fil-A is famously known for its chicken and it boasts a large variety of menu items. From breaded chicken or grilled chicken sandwiches to nuggets, breakfast items, wraps, and salads, it might seem like the place to go for "healthier" options. If you need something quick and don't want to have your chicken fried like other fast-food restaurants do, Chick-fil-A offers grilled versions of all of its chicken meals.

When ordering a salad, it's normal to think it's probably one of the healthiest options on the menu. That's not the case for the Chick-fil-A Cobb Salad. This item has the highest amount of sodium out of all the menu options, with 2,220 milligrams. This salad comes with mixed greens, roasted corn, cheddar and jack cheese, bacon, hard boiled eggs, grape tomatoes, and avocado lime ranch dressing. It is automatically topped with breaded chicken nuggets unless you specify otherwise.

If you are only getting the salad with the hope of consuming a healthier meal, you should really opt for a chicken sandwich or nuggets instead. Those pack in fewer calories than the salad, fewer grams of fat, and a lot less sodium. If you're opting for the salad because you genuinely love the taste, be aware that it's unfortunately not the healthiest option on the menu by far.

Many people depend on Chick-fil-A for a delicious breakfast. We can't blame them — with the delicious chicken options and the syrup for dipping, it's Southern-cuisine heaven. Unfortunately, many of these breakfast items are loaded with sodium. The Chicken Egg and Cheese Biscuit has the highest amount, with 1,870 milligrams.

This biscuit is fairly small and comes loaded with fried chicken breast, a slice of American cheese, and an egg. It has about 550 calories, which overall is a fair amount for a filling breakfast. However, to have 81% of the FDA's recommended amount of sodium in a single item in your morning meal is not ideal.

Many of the other breakfast sandwiches on the menu have sodium counts that are close to that range, as well. If you are going to opt for the Chicken Egg and Cheese Biscuit, we recommend not making it a habit. Having that much sodium on a daily basis for one meal, especially if the rest of your diet isn't strictly low sodium, could potentially cause health issues over time that are difficult to reverse.

Sometimes you need a quick, cheap meal — but you aren't necessarily in the mood for a burger and fries. That's why we love Taco Bell, because it really breaks the mold of common fast-food options. With Taco Bell's wide selection of Mexican-inspired menu items, you can get your fill of any type of burrito, taco, quesadilla, and more. Just like other fast-food restaurants, Taco Bell succumbs to large amounts of sodium.

The Grilled Cheese Burrito with Steak has the largest amount of sodium on the entire menu, with 1,520 milligrams. Compared to the other restaurants we've covered, that's actually not that bad. However, in the grand scheme of healthy nutrition, that is still 66% of the FDA's daily recommended allowance. The FDA identifies any meal that has above 20% of the daily value as high in sodium.

Made with a flour tortilla, cheese blend, seasoned rice, steak, nacho cheese sauce, reduced-fat sour cream, tortilla chips, and chipotle sauce, this burrito packs in 700 calories and 38 grams of fat. Overall, this is not the healthiest meal to be having. If you truly are craving it, we recommend watching your sodium count closely for the remainder of the day.

Another one of Taco Bell's high sodium menu items (aside from other burritos, that is) is the Chicken Cantina Quesadilla. This quesadilla surprisingly has 1,330 milligrams of sodium – although the ingredients don't seem to be that salty. It's made with roasted chicken, a three-cheese blend, creamy chipotle sauce, guacamole, and reduced fat sour cream on a flour tortilla.

For such a simple dish, many people wouldn't guess that this quesadilla is one of Taco Bell's highest sodium items. We're not entirely sure where the sodium is coming from — though we can speculate that a lot of it must come from the cheese blend, as cheese naturally has a lot of sodium, depending on the type. It's also possible that Taco Bell seasons its roasted chicken with a large amount of salt. The good news is that there are many lower-sodium options available at Taco Bell, like the tacos.

Wendy's has an extensive menu of burgers, and fans go crazy over the beef patties that are never frozen; the old-fashioned, square cut burgers have a place in many hearts. Now, most people know that when you're reaching for a classic fast-food burger, it's not the healthiest meal in the world. Most burgers have a high amount of fat and carbohydrates (depending on the bread). Meanwhile, sodium amounts can vary pretty widely from burger to burger.

Wendy's Pretzel Baconator packs in 1,690 milligrams of sodium. It's made with two hamburger patties, American cheese, bacon, a pretzel bun, ketchup, and mayonnaise. With about 73% of the FDA's daily recommended amount of sodium, this burger is quite the concern. Now, let's compare this to another burger at Wendy's. The Dave's Double Burger has 1,250 milligrams of sodium. It looks like the extra sodium in the Pretzel Baconator comes from the bacon, and it's also possible the pretzel bun itself has more sodium.

Burgers at Wendy's range from 250 calories and 440 milligrams of sodium (the Jr. Hamburger) all the way to 1,050 calories and 1,690 milligrams of sodium with the Pretzel Baconator. Knowing that the latter has the highest amounts of both calories and sodium out of all of Wendy's burgers, you could be a bit more health conscious by choosing a burger that falls in the middle to lower end of the spectrum instead.

Beyond burgers, Wendy's has some great chicken options as well. Many people love the nuggets, but there are also a variety of chicken sandwiches on the menu. Unfortunately, many of those sandwiches have tons of sodium in them.

Wendy's Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich has 1,650 milligrams of sodium, which is 71% of the FDA's daily recommended value. This sandwich is made with a spicy chicken breast, ghost pepper infused American cheese, lettuce, tomato, ghost pepper seasoned crispy onions, ghost pepper ranch sauce, and a bun. While this sounds absolutely delicious, it really isn't great for your health.

When looking at the ingredients, the word "sodium" is mentioned under every single one except the tomato, lettuce, and the ghost pepper crispy onions. It's a shame there's so much sodium in this sandwich, because the other nutrition facts aren't too bad. There are 690 calories, which is a good amount for a filling lunch or dinner. There are 32 grams of protein, 61 carbohydrates, and 35 grams of fat (with 8 saturated). Overall, in the context of a fast-food sandwich, we're pretty impressed with those numbers. If it weren't for the sodium, we'd say this sandwich is a well-balanced yet indulgent meal.

KFC has some mouthwatering menu items that are incredibly addicting. One of the reasons that these items are so crave-worthy is most likely because of the high sodium content. Most of KFC's items include fried chicken and potatoes, which are both notoriously salty items when prepared at restaurants.

The KFC Famous Bowl is made with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn, a three-cheese blend, and fried chicken nuggets. This dish has the highest amount of sodium on the entire menu, with 2,160 milligrams of sodium per bowl, or 93% of the FDA's recommendation. Although the ingredients don't seem like they'd be all that bad, every restaurant has different ways of preparing the components of a dish — it's clear that KFC uses a lot of salt.

When focusing on some of the items of the bowl individually, we see that sweet corn actually has 0 milligrams of sodium. The mashed potatoes with gravy side dish has about 520 milligrams, and we can assume the portion is bigger for the Famous Bowl. The fried nuggets by themselves have about 150 milligrams, so that leaves the three-cheese blend as the final culprit. All together, the ingredients make up this wildly high amount of sodium. You'd be better off ordering the nuggets with a side of mashed potatoes, if you're looking for that flavor profile but don't want to go overboard with the sodium.

Coming almost head to head with the KFC Famous Bowl for sodium count, we have the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. This sandwich has 2,140 milligrams of sodium in it — 93% of the FDA's daily value. The sandwich is filled with a large, double breaded chicken breast topped with spicy sauce, crispy pickles, and served on a toasted brioche bun.

Reddit users describe this sandwich as tasting amazing and call it out for being the best item on the menu. One person even shared they'd never enjoyed a KFC item before this sandwich, and once they discovered it, they had it three days in a row. We know that salt can enhance flavors in foods and can also be extremely addicting – and we can definitely see that happening with this sandwich. With the double breading on the chicken taking up the bulk of the sandwich, we can assume that most of the sodium in this meal is coming from that.

If you're really craving a chicken sandwich, the Chicken Little at KFC has the lowest amount of sodium, with 620 milligrams. Although it may not be as filling, it can definitely scratch that itch without being too detrimental to your health.

When choosing which items to feature in this article, we first began by choosing six popular chain restaurants to focus on. From there, we looked at the nutrition information on each chain's website, which is easily accessible for customers to find. Some websites have the capability of toggling the nutrition information in specific ways. That made it easy to see the list of items from highest amounts of sodium to lowest. For restaurants that didn't have that option, we searched through every menu item to find the highest sodium numbers listed.

Our aim was to choose a variety of menu items from the restaurants without constantly repeating the same type of food. We compared these items against the FDA's daily recommended sodium limit of 2,300 milligrams and came to a percent value for each.