McDonald's US Big Breakfast: calories, sodium and protein by portion, age and sex

Nutrition information: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

Nutrition figures are McDonald’s USA published data, per item as sold and before any optional sauces or extras. Boone converts them to the portion and age comparisons on this page. All figures derived as the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes minus Hotcakes. McDonald’s published figures (1,060 calories, 54g added sugar) include hotcake syrup with no hotcakes.

McDonald's US Big Breakfast carries a large share of a child’s daily sodium

McDonald's US Big Breakfast contains 1,540mg of sodium, which is 103% of the daily limit for a child aged 4 to 8. It is also high in saturated fat.

FDA Daily Values (2,000-calorie diet)

Where the sugar comes from: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

1g of the 3g counts as added sugar, or about 0.2 teaspoons. The other 2g is naturally occurring.

Added sugars come from

• sugar in the biscuit
• dextrose in the hash browns
• dextrose, sugar in the sausage patty

Naturally occurring sugars come from

• lactose in the biscuit
• lactose in the hash browns
• lactose in the salted butter
• lactose in the clarified butter

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030: no more than 10g of added sugar per meal from age 11 and none for children aged 10 and under. FDA Daily Value: 50g a day. Sources are read from the published ingredient list for each component.

Processing and additives: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

McDonald's US Big Breakfast is assembled from 6 separately manufactured components, combined and served at the point of sale. Reading the ingredient list closely, it contains dextrose, modified starches, emulsifiers, thickeners and gums, processed cellulose, flavourings, flavour enhancers, phosphates and raising agents, hydrogenated or interesterified oils and protein and dairy fractions. These are not there to add nutritional value. They make industrial production and distribution possible.

Boone classifies McDonald's US Big Breakfast as NOVA group 4, ultra-processed, based on the additives named above. NOVA groups foods by how far they are from their whole-food form, not by how nutritious they are. A group 4 food is not automatically unhealthy, and a group 1 food is not automatically healthy. Read from the published ingredient list, September 2026.

Ingredient count by order: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

The 24 manufactured ingredients

carrageenan, citric acid, dextrose, extractives of black pepper, folic acid, hydrogenated soybean oil, locust bean gum, modified cellulose, modified food starch, mono and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, natural beef flavor, natural flavor, niacin, nonfat dry milk, reduced iron, riboflavin, rosemary extract, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, soy lecithin, thiamine mononitrate, wheat protein isolate, xanthan gum.

The 17 raw ingredients

baking soda, bleached wheat flour, canola oil, corn flour, cream, cultured skim milk, dehydrated potato, egg, palm kernel oil, palm oil, pork, potato, salt, soybean oil, spice, sugar, water.

What those ingredients are, by type

Boone counts every distinct named ingredient on McDonald’s published component lists, including sub-ingredients, and removes duplicates, so salt appearing in four components counts once. Additive class names are dropped and the named substance kept, so “leavening (baking soda)” counts baking soda once. Ice and water added at the counter are not counted. Raw covers whole foods and basic kitchen staples such as flour, sugar, salt and oil. Manufactured covers substances that only exist as an output of industrial processing. Every figure here is a minimum. The build uses a Sweet ’n Sour sauce.

Ingredients by component: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

Ingredients taken from the McDonald’s USA product pages, retrieved September 2026, with obvious spelling errors corrected. Recipes change - always check in restaurant before ordering if you have an allergy.

Allergen information: McDonald's US Big Breakfast

The frying oil includes natural beef flavour made with hydrolysed wheat and milk, so the fries and hash browns are not vegetarian. Contains = declared by McDonald’s USA. May contain = McDonald’s states the allergen may be present. McDonald’s prepares food in shared kitchens, so no item can be guaranteed allergen free. UK rules also require barley, oats, mustard, celery and sulphites to be declared; these are shown where the ingredient list names them. Retrieved September 2026.