Every McDonald's Burger, Ranked Worst To Best

The McDonald's menu options are perfect for when you're in a rush and just need a quick bite before going about the rest of your busy day. While the restaurant procures a number of notable items, burgers are the highest-quality offerings on the menu right now. This is thanks to McDonald's "Best Burger Initiative" that launched in 2025, making over four dozen tweaks to how it prepares its burgers. This includes adding white onion to all grilled patties and enhancing each sandwich's toasted buns. These changes have aided in making the most prominent menu items at the restaurant much tastier.

However, not all burgers on McDonald's menu are equal in taste. Some sport pre-cooked patties, while others use fresh, never-frozen meat, each enhanced by a multitude different toppings offered. Every burger stands out in its own way. Thus, I've taken it upon myself to rank all the burgers available on McDonald's menu I could find. From the overstuffed Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe to the simple flavor of the Cheeseburger, this list examines every burger to discover the best of what McDonald's has to offer.

Arguably the meatiest burger on the McDonald's menu, the Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese featured two ¼ pound patties, each topped with American cheese slices. The core of the burger was accompanied by the common toppings found on every version of the Quarter Pounder: sliced onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. Thick Applewood Smoked Bacon added another layer of meat, and with it, a salty, somewhat smoky taste.

Other customers have had positive experiences with this Double Quarter Pounder variant, despite reports of it currently being the most expensive item on the menu. While I can attest to the price, I found the Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese to be a mouthful in more ways than just its name. While it's plenty thick for the price, the amount of meat contrasted to veggies and condiments made the burger extremely dry. It didn't help that McDonald's bacon has a tendency to be more chewy than crispy, making it a chore to chow down on.

Still, the flavor of the patties was serviceable. The Double Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese isn't necessarily a bad burger. But, in terms of McDonald's burger offerings, it's an easy choice for the bottom of the list.

Escalating ever-so-slightly above is the Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese. The only difference between this and its double patty counterpart is the presence of one patty instead of two. It still dons the same two slices of cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard, alongside carefully the layered slices of Applewood bacon that give it its name.

I found myself sympathetic to this bacon-ized version of the burger. But, while I did enjoy the toasted bun and flavorful patty, the bacon was, once again, less crispy than ideal. Although I found it higher quality in this sandwich, McDonald's still hasn't mastered the element of delivering bacon strips that add meaningful taste to its burgers.

Yet the consistency of the meat, coupled with a balanced flavor, makes it a decent meal. The pickles and onions in particular do a good job at bolstering the burger with their crispy crunchiness. It's just a shame the bacon wasn't able to do the same.

It wouldn't be a ranking of McDonald's burgers without the simplicity of its Hamburger. Offering a self-proclaimed "Classic" feel, the Hamburger consists of a salted and peppered patty, topped with pickles, diced onions, ketchup, and mustard. It's the only item on this list without cheese. But what it lacks in dairy, it makes up for in taste.

Upon biting into the McDonald's Hamburger, I was surprised by just how strong a flavor it truly holds. The patty may be small enough to make it look like two bun halves are balanced atop each other, but the condiments are a massive compliment to the rest of its makeup. Since it's a small, affordable dish on its own, the flavoring is a massive boost to just how well it holds up to other menu offerings.

Of course, it's also the smallest burger on the menu, meaning it's suboptimal for a more filling meal. The strong taste — of the ketchup and pickles especially — also didn't compliment the meat. It felt more like eating flavored bread because of how thin it is. Although it was tasty, that taste feels subpar because it relies heavily on condiments and additional toppings.

The McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe is one of the most overstuffed burgers on this list. It comes with the same fixings as a regular Double Quarter Pounder, sporting two patties, two slices of cheese, pickles, onion, ketchup, and mustard. But, in addition to these expected additives, it also includes sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, and mayonnaise.

Despite containing almost every possible topping a burger can have, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe managed to balance out its overstuffed presentation with a strong mix of flavors. As someone who finds tomatoes on burgers hit or miss, I was blown away by how well they complimented the meat and cheese. The mayo was almost creamy, adding a taste and texture that went well with the crunch of the lettuce and savoriness of the meat.

However, while I thought the flavoring was decent, it did have some drawbacks. For one, my tastebuds were overwhelmed by having nearly every topping McDonald's offers on a single burger. For another, it was messy. The overstuffed quality makes for a somewhat difficult meal, requiring plenty of napkin-wiping and hand-washing once it's finished.

While two patties are too much for me, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe offered a much better balance for the number of additions it includes. With one patty, one slice of cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and mayo, this burger pulls out all the stops for a more digestible Deluxe edition of the Quarter Pounder. With McDonald's offering a topping-centered version of a classic sandwich, it's perfect for anyone seeking a big meal that's satisfying.

I found the freshness of the toppings, especially the tomato, to be crucial to its taste. It was also much easier to eat than its doubled-up predecessor. The only downside is that, with just one patty, I thought the number of additions was almost overwhelming. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe is a near-perfect balance between burger and topping. But, despite how complex and additive-heavy its flavoring is, the burger succeeded at delivering a memorable taste worthy of the Quarter Pounder name.

The McDouble houses simple ingredients: a slice of cheese sandwiched between two beef patties, diced onion sprinkled atop pickle slices, and a mixed spread of ketchup and mustard. But the Bacon McDouble adds slices of thick Applewood, beefing up an already stacked, yet modest, McDonald's offering. Though this McDouble upgrade has plenty of additional flavoring, I found it to be an inferior version of the burger as a whole.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad meal (it did break the top 10, after all). The Bacon McDouble was the best of the bacon burgers on the McDonald's menu. Its thin, pre-cooked patties don't have much meat alone, making the salty, smoky taste of the bacon a complimentary addition. I found the addition to be simple yet effective, even if the McDonald's bacon isn't an incredible topping.

Still, I was somewhat disappointed by virtue of a lackluster crisp factor. While this was the crunchiest of all the bacon burgers on the menu, it was unfortunately dragged down by the occasional chewier section. Had the bacon been a bit thinner and cooked for a bit longer, it would've been more to my liking.

The Cheeseburger is a bona fide classic of the McDonald's menu — a feat made more obvious by how many versions of it there are. This includes the Triple Cheeseburger, a stacked rendition of the simple menu item. Sporting a whopping three patties and two to three slices of cheese, this monster of a cheeseburger is topped with the classic diced onions, sliced pickles, ketchup, and mustard. It offered a more potent taste for the McDonald's staple.

While some people are unlucky to receive just two slices of cheese on this burger, I was fortunate enough to get three slices to match the three patties. The flavor was immense, bursting with a meat-cheese mixture that blooms in every bite. Even the condiments and other toppings can't mute the two core ingredients. The pre-cooked patties also didn't stop the Triple Cheeseburger from tasting fresh. Its heartiness also makes it perfect for a big yet affordable lunchtime dish.

The only downside I found to the Triple Cheeseburger was just how overwhelming the amount of cheese and meat truly is. Biting into the burger, my tastebuds were engulfed by the sheer strength of its sharp offering. It's not bad, but it was potent. That, for me, wound up being a downgrade from other the cheeseburgers.

While it's easy to mistake a McDouble for a Double Cheeseburger, given the presence of two patties in both (and the similar naming), the pair are distinct due to the former's ingredient priorities. For the McDouble, that priority is the meat; the burger serving two patties with a melted slice of cheese sandwiched in between. The typical fixings of diced onion, sliced pickles, ketchup, and mustard follow, making for an impactful yet familiar taste.

Since its defining quality is having one slice of cheese between two patties, it stands out as a meatier meal than other the cheeseburger-based dishes. But the seasoning was the true star. The patties were sprinkled with just enough salt and pepper to elevate the taste. I was satisfied with how well the meat and condiments complimented each other, with the additives not overpowering the main ingredients. I'm pleased with the McDouble in both taste and presentation, making it a worthwhile substitute if you're looking for a less cheesy Double Cheeseburger.

A list about McDonald's burgers is incomplete without this well-known value item. The McDonald's Cheeseburger offers a single beef patty with a slice of cheese carefully laid and melted onto its surface. Diced onions, sliced pickles, ketchup, and mustard accompany it, though the meat and cheese are the primary focuses of this dish.

Even though it's the smallest of its kind, from my experience, the cheeseburger boasted a surprisingly tremendous flavor. I thought the presentation was perfect for what the burger set out to do. It was a simple sandwich that's easy to eat in a pinch, providing a perfectly meaty, cheesy flavor that doesn't get bogged down by its added ingredients.

Instead, the additions made the base taste soar, coalescing with the crunchy pickles and tangy ketchup. Even though it's small, the cheeseburger doesn't hold back on taste, making it easy to enjoy without worrying about price. This makes it one of the best value burgers on the menu, elevated thanks to its core elements.

Of every burger I tasted, the Daily Double was the underdog of this list. At first, I wasn't sold on the makeup of this doubled-up offering. With cheese pressed between both patties, topped with sliced onions, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and mayo, it stands out for its lack of biting toppings. And yet, when I ate one for the first time in making this list, I was blown away by how delicious it was.

The Daily Double is an understandable customer favorite, with particular praise given to its fresh-tasting veggie and tomato toppings. I found these toppings to be complimentary to the meat, while the mayo gave it a softness that helps it stand out from other burgers. Be forewarned, though: My Daily Double order was strong in the onion department. While I adored how sharp it was, this may be off-putting to some.

Luckily, even without onion, the sandwich stands on its own as an underrated gem of the McDonald's menu. This flavor combination is unique to the Daily Double alone, boosting it higher on the list as a result. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, meaning I'll be feasting on another one sooner rather than later.

Arguably the biggest burger on the McDonald's menu, the Big Mac is a staple center of the restaurant. Two beef patties were buffed by an extra bun slice in the center, complimented by shredded lettuce, sliced pickles, and diced onions. The burger was made tastier thanks to its zingy Big Mac Sauce, a unique topping that adds a dash of tangy uniqueness.

Although the Big Mac has gotten noticeably smaller and more squished-down over the years (a pro to some and a con to others), it still held a high spot on this list for its classic taste. In my experience, the Big Mac is a go-to order, thanks to just how much the sauce complimented every other aspect of the burger.

The crunchiness of the pickles and lettuce helped it stand out, too, offering a crispy texture that was rooted in the toppings. Without these additions, the Big Mac wouldn't be as impressively tasty as it was. The tanginess, thickness, and unique combination of ingredients made it a sizable meal that scored near the top of the restaurant's offerings.

The Double Cheeseburger is McDonald's at its best when it comes to the small, yet tasty, options on the value menu. Sporting two patties with two slices of cheese, the burger comes equipped with the typical diced onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard found on the restaurant's other cheeseburger menu items. But while the Triple Cheeseburger was too much, and the Cheeseburger was too little, the Double Cheeseburger was just right.

I found the equilibrium of its flavor to contrast with that of its predecessors. The Double Cheeseburger's thin, pre-cooked patties offer the same thickness as a regular-sized Quarter Pounder patty. But, with two slices of cheese, the beef flavor is balanced out by a mild creaminess complimented by the added toppings.

Despite its simplicity, it offers a surprising level of flavor that puts it high on the list. I was satisfied by how much it managed to find a flavorful balance between meat, cheese, and topping. No one ingredient was too overpowering, giving everything a chance to stand out. The Double Cheeseburger is a perfectly simple dish furthered by the savory nature of its combination.

In the case of McDonald's burgers, simplistic yet beefed-up triumphs over everything else. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese is a go-to meal that delivers on the core promise of its name. A single, ¼ pound beef patty is sandwiched between two slices of melted cheese, topped off by sliced onion, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. The Quarter Pounder is cooked fresh, with meat that's never been frozen, a fact that shows thanks to its succulent, meaty taste.

Though other variants of the burger promise bigger and better, I find simple and smaller to work much better at McDonald's. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese was a top contender for me, thanks to a classic burger taste accentuated by its thickness. The lack of fancy additions helped elevate the taste of the meat. As for the two slices of cheese, they further accentuated the burger's temperament, as if making a statement on how a less topping-centered meal is better than one that's too extravagant. Because of how classic and easy-tasting the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is, it boosted right to the top, making it the second-best burger on the McDonald's menu.

There was only one burger that could outshine the Quarter Pounder — the Quarter Pounder, but bigger. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese was the best burger McDonald's has to offer. While it maintains the same two slices of cheese, sliced onion, pickles, ketchup, and mustard as the original, the freshly-cooked burger adds an extra patty to the mix. This bulkier rendition of the Quarter Pounder keeps the same effective flavor of the original, but bumps it up by offering an even bigger serving size.

Comparing the original to the double version, the Double Quarter Pounder's offering of extra meat helps dampen any possibility of the condiments and veggies overpowering its natural taste. In just one bite, I could tell this would be the top burger at McDonald's, proliferating a simple but strong, classic burger flavor that exceeded expectations. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese is a meaty, cheesy, satisfying choice, and the best burger McDonald's has to offer.

The placement of burgers on this list was decided via my personal experiences, both as a long-time regular at McDonald's and by purchasing and trying every burger for this ranking. I looked at taste, texture, overall quality, flavor profile, burger quality, value for price, and more to determine this ranking. Items are ranked from worst to best.