Taste Test: Is McDonald's Premium Lemonade Better Than Chick-Fil-A's?

In what may well have been an attempt at competing with Wendy's, McDonald's introduced a new lemonade to its menu on a limited basis in March 2023. Previously, all lemonade at McDonald's was supplied by Minute Maid, but taking its place was a proprietary recipe using real lemon juice and cane sugar. Just over two years later, in April 2025, McDonald's permanently added this all-natural, premium lemonade to its menu nationwide.

Of course, Wendy's isn't the only competing fast food chain with a high-quality lemonade. Chick-fil-A lemonade simply tastes different, in part because it's made with just three natural ingredients. In order to find out just how the new McDonald's lemonade stacks up against Chick-fil-A's classic lemonade, I ordered one of each for myself and compared them in a variety of categories. So, anyone wondering whether or not McDonald's premium lemonade is better than Chick-fil-A's can read on for the results of this head-to-head competition to find out which one comes out on top. 

There's no single factor that makes one lemonade better than another, since every lemonade recipe must inherently strike a balance between sugary sweetness and tart lemon. So, while one lemonade aficionado's ideal might be high in sugar, another big-time lemonade fan's perfect drink could be punishingly sour. Anyone who falls into the former category should opt for the new McDonald's lemonade over the lemonade at Chick-fil-A.

As it turns out, sugar plays a distinctly unique role in each chain's lemonade recipe — McDonald's lemonade is sugary first and foremost, accented by its lemon content, whereas those elements are reversed at Chick-fil-A. Contrary to these observations, Chick-fil-A's lemonade actually contains more sugar than the McDonald's premium lemonade. Even though a medium McDonald's lemonade and a small Chick-fil-A lemonade total the same number of calories, the latter contains one additional gram of sugar. But even with its slightly lesser sugar content, the bottom line is that McDonald's lemonade still tastes quite a bit sweeter than the lemonade from Chick-fil-A.

One thing customers should know before drinking Chick-fil-A's lemonade is that its made with fresh lemon juice — previously that meant lemons were squeezed in-store, but now the process is a little more complex, involving cold pasteurization to preserve the quality of lemons juiced in a factory. Nevertheless, Chick-fil-A goes out of its way to ensure that it uses high-quality lemon juice. Of course, a freshly juiced lemon isn't all that sweet on its own.

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, then, that the Chick-fil-A lemonade is quite a bit more tart than the McDonald's premium lemonade. With that said, McDonald's new lemonade does boast real lemon juice, albeit from concentrate. Its lemon content is likewise supplemented by the addition of some sort of natural flavor. So, even if the McDonald's premium lemonade is relatively simple in composition, it's still a bit further from homemade than the Chick-fil-A lemonade. Tasting them side-by-side, the sourness of the McDonald's lemonade is more of an accent flavor, while sourness is the defining feature of Chick-Fil-A's product, resulting in something less comforting but more invigorating. So, fans of Warheads and green apples will find quite a bit more uniquely satisfying sourness in the Chick-fil-A lemonade than the competition from McDonald's.

First of all, McDonald's and Chick-fil-A are both franchised — though you'll probably never own a Chick-fil-A franchise due to some strict competition. Franchising means prices are not always consistent and can vary from location to location. I picked up my lemonades from restaurants in the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada, near Henderson. I've found that Henderson fast food prices are typically close to the median, meaning they're quite a bit lower than prices on the nearby Vegas Strip but not necessarily equivalent to the lowest in the country.

At my local McDonald's, small, medium, and large lemonades are $1.99, $2.49, and $2.89 respectively. For the sake of comparison, I changed my location online to Manhattan, New York and those prices rose to $2.99, $3.69, and $3.89. Meanwhile, at my local Chick-Fil-A, small, medium, and large lemonades are $2.39, $2.85, and $3.29 respectively. In New York, Chick-Fil-A's prices are still mostly higher, at $3.19, $3.65, and $4.15. For cheaper lemonade, then, visit McDonald's over Chick-fil-A, unless you live in New York City and want a medium-size lemonade specifically.

I ordered medium size lemonades at both McDonald's and Chick-fil-A. Anecdotally, I believe my McDonald's premium lemonade contained more liquid than my drink from Chick-fil-A. However, my McDonald's lemonade came without ice — which I appreciated, even if it wasn't something I specifically asked for — and this doesn't seem to be the norm, so my experience might not be representative of a typical McDonald's trip.

First off, McDonald's premium lemonade is served in the chain's clear cups, which are smaller than its soda cups and smaller than standard Chick-fil-A cups of equivalent sizes. My medium lemonade came in a clear cup used, according to a graphic on its side, for a small iced coffee or a medium orange juice, among other drinks. While it was visibly smaller than my Chick-fil-A cup, a lack of ice meant that it contained more liquid. That said, in most footage I've found online of McDonald's premium lemonade, ice is included. Furthermore, it's possible to order lemonade at Chick-fil-A without ice, which could theoretically take advantage of the larger cup size. All in all, I got more lemonade from McDonald's and it's a little cheaper. So, even if comparing quantities is not as straightforward as it might seem, the bottom line is that lemonade at McDonald's seems to be better value than Chick-fil-A's lemonade.

While McDonald's may be the superior lemonade chain for customers concerned with value first and foremost, Chick-fil-A offers its customers quite a few more ways to order their lemonade. First of all, lemonade on the standard McDonald's menu is limited to just the one recipe, in small, medium, and large sizes. It may be possible to order a classic Arnold Palmer drink at McDonald's locations willing to mix in some iced tea, but since it's not officially part of the menu, it doesn't factor into this comparison — nor would it ultimately make a difference even if it did.

Chick-fil-A, on the other hand, offers a diet lemonade, various permutations of tea and lemonade, as well as gallon sizes of each of those drinks. The chain will even do a gallon jug of half lemonade, half diet lemonade, for anyone looking to indulge in moderation. Plus, Chick-fil-A often introduces promotional flavored lemonades to its menu, including, for example, a lineup of Chick-fil-A Mango Passion drinks, which Mashed reviewed positively when they debuted in early 2024. Hands-down, then, the wider variety of lemonade options is available at Chick-fil-A.

Comparing the nutritional content of McDonald's premium lemonade to standard Chick-fil-A lemonades of the same size, the former is largely the more healthful option. A small McDonald's premium lemonade totals 120 calories, 31 grams of carbs, 5 milligrams of sodium, and 29 grams of sugar, whereas a small Chick-fil-A lemonade totals 190 calories, 50 grams of carbs, 0 milligrams of sodium, and 46 grams of sugar. Even a medium McDonald's premium lemonade could be considered superior in the nutritional department, netting an equivalent 190 calories, with 48 grams of carbs, 10 milligrams of sodium, and 45 grams of sugar.

With that said, it's also possible, of course, to order diet lemonade at Chick-fil-A. One large diet lemonade totals just 80 calories, 23 grams of carbs, 15 milligrams of sodium, and 16 grams of sugar. Clearly sodium is the wild card when comparing each of these drinks, but in such low quantities it's barely a factor, even at 15 grams. Sodium concerns aside, the lemonade option that's the least unhealthy is Chick-fil-A's diet lemonade.

In the immediate wake of trying my McDonald's premium lemonade and Chick-fil-A lemonade, my pick for the superior product flip-flopped a few times. I appreciated the former's comforting sweetness and the latter's complexity in nearly equal measure. Accordingly, each chain's lemonade won three of six total categories in my breakdown. What helped me isolate a winner was envisioning a hypothetical scenario in which I wanted lemonade and was forced to choose between a McDonald's premium lemonade and a Chick-fil-A lemonade. Simply put, the McDonald's lemonade sounded better to me.

To give the Chick-fil-A lemonade its flowers, there are absolutely times I would prefer, for example, a seasonal flavored Chick-fil-A lemonade to the basic alternative from McDonald's. It also has a daringly bold flavor for something from a fast food restaurant. But, taking into account the fact that a sugary drink should be a bit of a treat, the McDonald's lemonade feels like more of an indulgence, without completely sacrificing its all-important tangy lemon flavor. Plus, the fact that it's not even nutritionally worse than the full-sugar lemonade at Chick-fil-A is, honestly, a point in its favor — that sense of indulgence, it turns out, doesn't even come at a major cost. McDonald's didn't change its lemonade recipe for nothing, then, delivering a product capable of competing with the best lemonade chains in fast food.

To carry out this lemonade experiment, I visited my nearest McDonald's and nearest Chick-fil-A successively, both of which are located in the suburbs of Las Vegas. I picked up a medium lemonade from both chains. While most of my analysis happened at home, I made sure to take a few sips of each lemonade in my car to establish a baseline for each product while it was as fresh as possible.

Once they made it home, I alternated sips from both cups of lemonade. Sometimes I was tasting them with my flavor-based categories in mind. Otherwise I was attempting to determine which one I enjoyed most overall. I also made sure to compare them visually to help determine which cup held more liquid. Eventually I finished both lemonades in full, within about a 10 minute window, dedicating the entirety of the tasting experience to my analysis. Neither chain had any indication that my orders were for the sake of an article and not just my own personal enjoyment.