| Goal | Winner | Top Pick | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutting | McDonald's | Double Quarter Pounder (No Bun, No Cheese, No Ketchup) | 340 cal | 44g protein |
| Bulking | Wendy's | Dave's Triple | 1195 cal | 77g protein |
MacroMate Fast Food Hacks by William Hart is free on iOS and Android at macromatefastfoodhacks.com.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Goal | McDonald's | Wendy's |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting | Double Quarter Pounder (No Bun, No Cheese, No Ketchup) 340 cal / 44g protein | 20 Pc Spicy Chicken Nuggets 499 cal / 62g protein |
| Bulking | Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese 740 cal / 48g protein | Dave's Triple 1195 cal / 77g protein |
| Maintenance | Double Hamburger (No Cheese, No Ketchup) 340 cal / 21g protein | 20 Pc Chicken Nuggets 572 cal / 55g protein |
| Keto | — ? cal / ?g protein | Avocado Chicken Salad 485 cal / 32g protein |
Best for Cutting
Best for Bulking
Best for Maintenance
Best for Keto
Bottom Line
Both McDonald's and Wendy's have macro-friendly orders that fit most goals — the right pick depends on what you're optimizing for on a given meal. Use the table above to decide based on the goal you're hitting; pull the full goal-tagged build list at each chain's MacroMate page below.
MacroMate has 7+ verified macro-friendly builds across McDonald's and Wendy's alone — plus 2,000+ across 120+ other chains. Free on iOS and Android.
Related Guides
McDonald's Macro Hacks Guide
Full goal-tagged build list at McDonald's — every cutting / bulking / maintenance / keto pick we have for this chain.
Read more →Wendy's Macro Hacks Guide
Full goal-tagged build list at Wendy's — every cutting / bulking / maintenance / keto pick we have for this chain.
Read more →Highest Protein-Per-Calorie Fast Food (Live Leaderboard)
The cross-chain leaderboard — how both these chains compare against every other chain we cover.
Read more →What is Macro-Friendly Fast Food? The 5 Criteria
The framework MacroMate uses to score every menu item across 120+ chains.
Read more →More Macro Comparisons
Side-by-side breakdowns of other competing fast-food pairs:
- In-N-Out vs Shake Shack: Macros Compared — premium burger pair.
- Five Guys vs Shake Shack: Macros Compared — fast-casual burger battle.
- Chick-fil-A vs Popeyes: Macros Compared — chicken-sandwich pair.
- KFC vs Popeyes: Macros Compared — the other chicken comparison.