🍔 High Protein📖 Guide

Five Guys High-Protein Guide: Top Picks, Ranked

By Smoothie Nutrition Calculator · Updated 2026 · 8 min read

Five Guys High-Protein Guide: Top Picks, Ranked — Five Guys Nutrition nutrition illustration with the key numbers from this guide

Five Guys Nutrition Calculator: The Short Answer

The highest-protein item at Five Guys is the Bacon Cheeseburger with 54g of protein for 1060 calories.

But total grams can mislead: a huge item can win on protein while costing twice the calories. That is why this guide ranks the Five Guys menu both ways — by total protein, and by protein per 100 calories, the number that matters when you are fitting protein into a calorie target. 6 items here reach 30g of protein or more.

The 8 Highest-Protein Five Guys Items

Ranked by total protein per item, using the same data as the Five Guys calculator. The last column is the one to watch if calories also matter to you.

ItemCaloriesProteinProtein / 100 calFatSodium
Bacon Cheeseburger106054g5.1g72g1310mg
Bacon Burger92050g5.4g64g740mg
Cheeseburger98047g4.8g65g1050mg
Hamburger84043g5.1g57g430mg
Little Bacon Cheeseburger69036g5.2g45g1000mg
Little Bacon Burger62033g5.3g39g690mg
Little Cheeseburger61029g4.8g38g690mg
Bacon Cheese Dog67028g4.2g45g1750mg

Protein per Calorie: The Real Winner

On efficiency, the Grilled Mushrooms beats everything else on this menu: 1g of protein for 10 calories works out to 10g of protein per 100 calories. The Bacon Cheeseburger still wins on total grams (54g), but at 1060 calories its efficiency is 5.1g per 100 calories.

Start from the Grilled Mushrooms (1g protein for 10 calories) and add flavour around it, rather than starting from the heaviest item and trying to lighten it. If your goal is a protein target inside a calorie budget — the usual situation for anyone training while leaning out — efficiency should decide your default order, and total grams should decide your biggest meals.

  • Most protein overall: Bacon Cheeseburger — 54g (1060 cal)
  • Most protein per calorie: Grilled Mushrooms — 10g per 100 cal
  • Highest fibre among the top protein picks: Large Fries — 18g fibre

The Trade-Offs: Fat and Sodium

High-protein fast food usually charges you in sodium rather than calories. The saltiest item on this menu, the Bacon Cheese Dog, carries 1750mg, and several of the top-protein items sit well above 1,000mg. That does not make them bad choices — it means the rest of the day should run lighter on salt, and water beats a sweetened drink alongside them.

Fat is the second watch-out. Compare the top picks in the table: the leanest high-protein items keep fat in single digits or the low teens, while richer cuts and cheese-heavy builds push it far higher for the same protein.

  • Check sodium whenever you order two high-protein items together
  • Prefer grilled over fried versions of the same protein where the menu offers both
  • Use the calculator to test a double-protein version before ordering it — the sodium often doubles too

Five Guys Nutrition Calculator: Full Nutrition Table

For reference, here is the wider Five Guys picture in one table — the highest-protein items and the lightest items from the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator, side by side. Every figure matches the calculator exactly, so you can cross-check any row by building it above.

ItemCaloriesProteinCarbsFatSodium
Bacon Cheeseburger106054g40g72g1310mg
Bacon Burger92050g39g64g740mg
Cheeseburger98047g40g65g1050mg
Hamburger84043g39g57g430mg
Little Bacon Cheeseburger69036g40g45g1000mg
Little Bacon Burger62033g39g39g690mg
Hot Sauce00g0g0g180mg
Bottled Water00g0g0g0mg
Lettuce50g1g0g0mg
Tomato50g1g0g0mg
Pickles50g1g0g260mg
Raw Onion50g1g0g0mg

Inside the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator: Category by Category

Menus make more sense category by category than item by item, because each section of the Five Guys menu plays a different role in the meal. Here is what each part contributes, with the numbers that define it.

Burgers: the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator tracks 8 items in this category, averaging about 783 calories each. The lightest is the Little Hamburger at 540 calories, and the protein pick is the Bacon Cheeseburger with 54g of protein for 1060 calories. If you only remember one number from this category, remember the average — it is what an unplanned pick will cost you.

Hot Dogs & Sandwiches: the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator tracks 7 items in this category, averaging about 543 calories each. The lightest is the Veggie Sandwich at 440 calories, and the protein pick is the Bacon Cheese Dog with 28g of protein for 670 calories. The gap between the lightest and the typical pick here is where most of the day's quiet calories hide.

Fries: the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator tracks 5 items in this category, averaging about 882 calories each. The lightest is the Little Fries at 530 calories, and the protein pick is the Large Fries with 19g of protein for 1430 calories. Treat the lightest item as the default and the richer items as deliberate upgrades, not accidents.

Toppings (Free): the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator tracks 17 items in this category, averaging about 24 calories each. The lightest is the Hot Sauce at 0 calories, and the protein pick is the Extra Bacon (2 strips) with 7g of protein for 80 calories. This is also the category where portion choices matter most, because the calculator's portion buttons scale these figures directly.

Shakes & Drinks: the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator tracks 8 items in this category, averaging about 158 calories each. The lightest is the Bottled Water at 0 calories, and the protein pick is the Milkshake (base) with 13g of protein for 670 calories. If you only remember one number from this category, remember the average — it is what an unplanned pick will cost you.

Lightest vs Heaviest: The Real Gap

Put the two ends of the Five Guys menu next to each other and the stakes become obvious. The Hot Sauce is 0 calories; the Large Fries is 1430 — a gap of 1430 calories, wider than many entire meals. Neither number makes the other wrong: the lightest item is a tool for light days, the heaviest is a tool for hungry ones, and most people get into trouble only when they pick the second while planning for the first.

Sodium shows the same spread. The Lettuce carries 0mg while the Bacon Cheese Dog carries 1750mg, and sugar runs from almost nothing in the savoury core of the menu to 78g in the Milkshake (base). A balanced Five Guys order is mostly an exercise in mixing the ends deliberately instead of stacking one end by default.

The Ordering Playbook

Everything in this guide condenses into a four-step routine that works at the counter, in the drive-thru and in a delivery app. It takes about twenty seconds once it is a habit, and it uses the same numbers the calculator uses, so what you plan is what you get.

  • Step 1 — Anchor on protein: start with the Grilled Mushrooms (1g protein, 10 calories) or another top protein-per-calorie pick.
  • Step 2 — Add volume before calories: the Large Fries (18g fibre) and the menu's vegetables and salads fill the tray cheapest.
  • Step 3 — Spend extras deliberately: one sauce, cheese or dessert — chosen, not accumulated. Remember the Milkshake (base) alone is 78g of sugar.
  • Step 4 — Check sodium before you commit: if the build passes roughly 1,500mg, swap one component for a lighter one — the Lettuce shows how low the floor is at 0mg.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most disappointing Five Guys orders fail in predictable ways, and none of them is the main item. The first is judging by the headline item alone: an average main is about 359 calories, but the tray is the sum, and sides, sauces and drinks regularly add half as much again. The second is assuming "grilled", "fresh" or "house" wording means light — the table above, not the adjective, is the evidence.

  • Mistake: ordering the Large Fries (1430 cal) on a day planned around 500-calorie meals.
  • Mistake: pairing two mid-sodium items and discovering the total passes 1,800mg — the Bacon Cheese Dog effect, doubled.
  • Mistake: skipping the protein anchor and wondering why a light order left you hungry within the hour.
  • Mistake: never rechecking — menus and portion habits drift, and a 60-second calculator check catches it.

Planning a Full Day Around a Five Guys Order

A restaurant meal does not happen in isolation, and the healthiest way to use these numbers is at the level of the day. If Five Guys is the big meal — say a build in the 700–900 calorie range — the rest of the day simply runs lighter and more protein-led: eggs or yogurt at breakfast, a salad or soup at the other meal, water as the default drink. Nothing needs banning, and the Five Guys order itself does not need shrinking; the day absorbs it by design.

The reverse also holds. On a day when the other meals are the occasion, Five Guys can be the light one: the Hot Sauce at 0 calories plus a high-fibre side is a genuinely satisfying small meal, and knowing it exists — with its exact numbers — is what makes the plan stick instead of collapsing into guesswork.

Build This Meal in the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator

Every number in this guide comes from the same data as our free Five Guys Nutrition Calculator — open it, build your exact order, and check your totals live.

Open the Five Guys Nutrition Calculator →

Frequently Asked Questions

The highest-protein item at Five Guys is the Bacon Cheeseburger with 54g of protein for 1060 calories. The runner-up is the Bacon Burger at 50g of protein for 920 calories.

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