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A Quarter Pounder with Cheese costs $6.29 and carries 520 calories. It is the only McDonald's burger cooked from fresh beef rather than frozen — though not in every state.
A Quarter Pounder with Cheese is 520 calories with 30g of protein, at $6.29. Without cheese it drops to 420. The Deluxe version, which adds lettuce, tomato and mayo, is 630.
Al Bernardin created this burger at a Fremont, California restaurant in 1971, and it went national two years later. It remains the only sandwich on the McDonald's menu built from beef that arrives fresh rather than frozen, cooked to order on a flat iron grill. This page covers the price, the calorie difference between the plain and cheese versions, the Deluxe, and the one detail about fresh beef that McDonald's states quietly in its own small print. Prices for the rest of the range are on our McDonald's burgers menu, and the full board is on the McDonald's menu with prices.
Our surveyed national midpoint is $6.29 for the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Franchisees set their own board, so the real spread runs from about $5.49 to $7.79. The plain version without cheese is not always listed separately, but every restaurant will make one.
520 calories with cheese, 420 without. That 100 calorie gap comes from two slices of American cheese, and it is the single biggest modification you can make to this burger. McDonald's publishes both figures.
30g for 520 calories is 5.8g per 100, which beats a Big Mac at 4.2g and roughly matches a McDouble at 5.6g. The Double version is stronger still at 6.5g per 100, though the McDouble wins comfortably on protein per dollar.
A quarter pound of beef seasoned with salt and pepper only, cooked to order on a flat iron grill, with slivered onions, pickles and two slices of American cheese on a sesame seed bun. Six things, and the beef is the one that makes this sandwich different from every other burger McDonald's sells.
The company advertises this burger as containing no artificial flavours, preservatives or added colours from artificial sources, then adds a caveat on its own page: the pickle contains an artificial preservative, so skip it if you like. That is an unusually candid piece of labelling, and it means a Quarter Pounder ordered without pickles genuinely does meet the claim.
Contains milk, soy, wheat and sesame. Full ingredient detail on McDonald's own product page.
The Deluxe takes the standard build and adds crisp shredded lettuce, three Roma tomato slices and creamy mayonnaise. Everything else stays: same fresh beef patty, same two cheese slices, same slivered onions and pickles. It comes to 630 calories.
McDonald's expanded this into a full range in 2013 when it discontinued the Angus line. The Double is the protein leader on the entire menu at 48g, and the name changes completely in countries that do not use pounds.
In markets where the pound is not a customary unit, the name makes no sense, so McDonald's sells it as a Royal instead. That is where the Pulp Fiction line about a Royale with Cheese comes from. Menus and pricing for every market we track are on our McDonald's international menu page.
Prices are a national midpoint recorded from restaurant menu boards in August 2026 and vary by location. Nutrition figures are McDonald's published US data. Every item's calorie count is on our calorie list, and the full board with current pricing is on the McDonald's menu with prices.
520 calories, with 30g of protein, 28g of fat and 39g of carbohydrate. That is McDonald's own published figure. Without the cheese it drops to 420.
420 calories. Removing the two American cheese slices takes out 100 calories, 4g of protein, 5g of saturated fat and 360mg of sodium. Most restaurants charge the same price either way.
$6.29 at the national midpoint for the version with cheese. Rural restaurants run closer to $5.49 and airport locations to $7.79. The Deluxe is $7.29 and the Double with Cheese $8.99.
Yes, at most restaurants in the contiguous United States — it arrives fresh and is cooked to order rather than held. But McDonald's states on its own page that fresh beef is not available in Alaska, Hawaii or US Territories, where the patty is frozen like every other burger.
A quarter pound of fresh beef seasoned with salt and pepper, two slices of American cheese, slivered onions and pickles on a sesame seed bun. There is no sauce as standard — no ketchup or mustard unless you ask.
630 calories. The Deluxe adds shredded lettuce, three Roma tomato slices and mayonnaise. Almost all of the extra 110 calories are the mayo, so ordering it without takes you to roughly 540 at no extra charge.
Before cooking, yes — and slightly more since 2015, when McDonald's raised the raw weight from 4oz to 4.25oz without changing the name. Cooking loses moisture, so the patty that reaches the bun weighs closer to three ounces.
Because the pickle is the only component containing an artificial preservative. McDonald's advertises the burger as having no artificial flavours, preservatives or added colours, then flags that one exception on its own product page.
The Quarter Pounder has more beef and more protein — 30g against 25g — for 70 fewer calories. The Big Mac has the sauce and the third bun. On nutrition the Quarter Pounder wins; on flavour it depends what you are after.
Because the pound is not a customary unit of weight in many markets, so the name would mean nothing. McDonald's sells it as a Royal instead. Menus for every country we track are on our international menu page.
Prices shown are based on typical U.S. McDonald’s menu prices as of August 2026 and may vary by location. Check your local restaurant or McDonald’s app for the latest prices.