Satisfy Your Fish Sandwich Craving Without Breaking the Bank at McDonald’s

For many, the fried chicken sandwich wars are the World Cup of alternative fast-food sandwiches. But the lesser-known fish sandwich wars are equally competitive with an even longer history for many restaurants. Unfortunately, not every restaurant offering fish sandwiches keeps them on the menu year-round. As spring comes around and the Lenten season starts in February, many restaurants start serving fish sandwiches. McDonald’s said that they sold 25% more Fillet-O-Fish sandwiches during the 40-day liturgical season in 2015 because many Catholics tend to eat more fish on Fridays and in the spring. So if you fall in love with a fish sandwich at Popeyes or Arby’s in March, you might not have as many options in November. This is why McDonald’s and Burger King are smart to plan ahead.

The fish sandwiches at both restaurant chains are available all year and have been for many years. This makes them the first choices for people who want an alternative to a beefy cheeseburger. I tasted the McDonald’s and Burger King fish sandwiches next to each other to see which one was better, even though it was winter. I also looked at the price, nutritional information, and other menu items that went well with the sandwich to decide which one was the winner. I enjoy a cheeseburger from both McDonald’s and Burger King just as much, so I didn’t bring any major biases or expectations to this taste test. Heres which fast-food fish sandwich is the best.

McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish was the first to come out. It was made in 1962 to serve Catholic customers who ate fish on Fridays during Lent. Since then, it’s been on McDonald’s menu all the time, and it’s the only fish dish the fast food chain serves right now. When it first came out in 1965, each sandwich only cost 29 cents. The price has gone up, but the basic structure of the sandwich hasn’t changed. There is still a square fried fish patty and tartar sauce in the Filet-O-Fish, but now there is also a steamed-to-order bun that is softer than most burger buns. The current sandwich also includes half a slice of American cheese.

Other fast food chains have made their own versions of the fried fish sandwich in the past few years, but the Filet-O-Fish is still the most popular, selling about 300 million sandwiches a year. To give you an idea of how big of a deal that is, McDonald’s sells about 550 million Big Macs every year. They are the second most popular item on their menu, after fries. With sales like that, its no wonder the Filet-O-Fish is on the menu year-round.

The fried fish patty

At first glance, the fish patties in both the Filet-O-Fish and the Big Fish sandwiches look mostly identical. Both patties are made from Alaskan Pollock and cut into similarly sized, crisp, and slightly rectangular pieces. Neither is quite as big as they look in the pictures of the sandwiches on the restaurants’ websites, but that wasn’t really a surprise. Where the patties start to diverge is with the breading. If you’ve had McDonald’s or Burger King chicken nuggets before, you may notice that the fish sandwich patties are breaded in a way that looks a lot like those. The breaded crust on the Filet-O-Fish patty is thinner and smoother, while the breaded crust on the Big Fish patty is more dense and crunchy. The breading at Burger King is called a panko crust, but they don’t list all of the ingredients like McDonald’s does.

The different breading seems to make the fish filet in the Burger King sandwich a little thicker and crunchier, while the fish filet in the McDonald’s sandwich is a little thinner and less crunchy. When it comes to the fish itself, the pollock on both sandwiches tastes the same—not too “fishy,” but still clearly a white fish sandwich. Ultimately, the differences between the fish patties are minimal and would be hardly noticeable if switched. If you really love chicken nuggets from either of these two places, though, the unique ways they bread their nuggets might be the most important thing for you here.

It may not seem important, but a bad bun can ruin the whole sandwich. Luckily, neither of these sandwiches is made with what Id consider a bad bun. They were both tender and fresh-tasting, not too dense or airy. The amount of bun to fish and toppings was just right. I never got too much bread or fillings, and the bun never got too soggy. McD’s says the Filet-O-Fish bun is a soft, steamed regular bun, and the Big Fish bun has a toasted brioche-style bun. The diameter of the Burger King buns is a little bigger than the McDonald’s buns, but the height isn’t really different. The color of the bread is yellow, like a brioche bun. The McDonald’s bun, on the other hand, looks more like white bread.

There isnt a current itemized ingredient list available for the Burger King bun. On the other hand, a nutrition facts sheet from 2015 says that the main ingredients are water, high fructose corn syrup, yeast, dried honey blend, and soybean oil. When compared with the current McDonalds regular bun ingredient list, there are only two differences. The McDonald’s bun has sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, but it doesn’t say that the sugar is cane sugar. It also doesn’t have the dried honey blend. Everything else about them is the same, and it looks like the extra dried honey blend gives the Burger King bun its yellow color.

There are a few things that are different about the fish sandwiches at McDonald’s and Burger King that I didn’t know there would be. There is tartar sauce on both the top and bottom buns of the Big Fish sandwich from Burger King. There are also pickles and lettuce on the sandwich. The Filet-O-Fish from McDonald’s was a little different. Each sandwich had only tartar sauce and half a slice of American cheese.

When I opened the Filet-O-Fish to look at all the ingredients, I was a little shocked. There was cheese on the sandwich, which I wouldn’t mind (I’ll eat cheese on almost anything), but there was only half a slice of cheese, and it wasn’t even center on the bun. Even though I double-checked the menu to make sure my restaurant wasn’t just short on American cheese, I couldn’t help but think that the sandwich looked a little plain and, well, cheap.

For an extra charge, you can add bacon, pickles, lettuce, tomato, or an extra half slice of cheese to the Filet-O-Fish. You can also change the other ingredients on either sandwich. On the Big King sandwich, you can add cheese, bacon, onion, and tomato. Both restaurants also offer additional sauces, like ketchup, mustard, mayo, and BBQ sauce, for no extra charge. So, if you’re willing to pay for it, you can dress your sandwich up or down however you like at either place.

A quick glance at the nutritional information for both fish sandwiches shows just how different they really are. The Filet-O-Fish has fewer calories overall, 390 calories in all, whereas the Big Fish sandwich has 570 calories. Since the Fillet-O-Fish has 18% fewer calories, it’s not a surprise that many of the other nutritional values are also lower. There are 39 grams of carbs, 16 grams of protein, 30 mg of cholesterol, and 580 mg of sodium in it. In comparison, the Big Fish sandwich has 30 grams of fat, 58 grams of carbohydrates, 19. 2 grams of protein, 50 mg of cholesterol, and 1,270 mg of sodium.

I was surprised and mildly impressed to see double-digit protein numbers for each sandwich but less enthusiastic about the amount of sodium in the sandwiches — especially for the Big Fish sandwich. If 1,270 mg of sodium sounds like a lot, its because it is. According to the American Heart Association, 2,300 mg of sodium should be the maximum amount of sodium intake for adults per day, with an ideal limit of just 1,500 mg for the best heart health and blood pressure. That means that one Big Fish sandwich is a little over half of the maximum sodium intake for an adult each day and nearly the entire ideal daily amount. Sure, the salt is part of what makes it taste so good, but not so good that Im planning on making it a daily meal choice.

The cost of one of these fish sandwiches may be different where you live, but I ordered each one in person to get a sense of what the average cost is in New York City, where I live. At Burger King, a single Big Fish sandwich costs $6. 39 before taxes, and the regular Big Fish meal costs $9. 99. Over at McDonalds, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich costs $5. 49 before taxes, and the medium Filet-O-Fish meal costs $9. 59. Each meal includes french fries (or onion rings at Burger King) and a fountain drink. So, generally speaking, there isnt a huge price difference between the two sandwiches and fish sandwich meals. When you see how much smaller the McDonald’s sandwich is than the Burger King sandwich, the lower price at McDonald’s seems like a fair discount.

The prices of the individual items will probably be higher when you order from either restaurant online through a delivery service like Uber Eats or Seamless. There will also be extra fees. A Big Fish sandwich from the same restaurant location costs $7. 99 through Uber Eats, and the regular meal costs $13. 59—all before taxes, delivery fees, service fees, and a driver tip. If ordering from the same McDonalds through Uber Eats, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich costs $6. 89, and the medium combo meal costs $11. 99 before taxes and additional delivery charges. Naturally, ordering larger-sized meals will be an additional cost when ordering online and at a restaurant in person.

Burger King’s Big Fish sandwich

The fish sandwich from Burger King didnt really make a splash until the 1980s, although its first appearances are said to have been sometime in the 1960s and into the 70s, according to The Retroist. At the time, it wasnt referred to as the Big Fish sandwich, but The Whaler — which was later reintroduced in the 80s. One commercial even shows a Whaler box playfully swimming through the fog and scaring off a much smaller Filet-O-Fish sandwich. In the video, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich looks nearly identical to how it looks now, while the Whaler sandwich is large, with a sesame seed bun and filled with lettuce and tartar sauce.

The sandwich itself has changed several times in the last four decades, including the name. “Premium Alaskan Fish Sandwich,” “Ocean Catch Fish Fillet,” and “Extra Long Fish Sandwich” are some of the other names for it. It has all the same ingredients but is longer. The current version of the sandwich, called the “Big Fish,” first appeared on restaurant menus in the 2000s. It hasn’t changed much in the ten years since then. The sandwich is no longer served on a sesame seed bun but still includes tartar sauce and lettuce. It also now includes pickles, which previous versions didnt have. The Big Fish sandwich is available at all Burger King restaurants. You can order it by itself or as a meal with a drink and a side.

McDonald’s copycat filet O fish sandwiches!

How much does a fish fillet sandwich cost at McDonald’s?

A fish fillet sandwich meal at McDonald’s costs between $6-8 on average. This meal includes the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, medium fries, and medium soft drink. Meal prices vary a bit by location. An all-day value meal with a Filet-O-Fish can sometimes be found for around $5.

Does McDonald’s have a fish sandwich?

If you’re in the mood for a fish sandwich at McDonald’s, you have a few options to choose from: Filet-O-Fish: The classic fish sandwich, with a fried fish patty served on a bun with tartar sauce. Double Filet-O-Fish: For those who want a heartier sandwich, the Double Filet-O-Fish has two fried fish patties.

How much does a fish sandwich cost?

On average, a McDonald’s fish sandwich costs around $3.79, depending on location. In comparison, Burger King’s fish sandwich is priced similarly at around $3.99, while Wendy’s fish sandwich is slightly more expensive at around $4.19. If you’re looking for a cheaper fish sandwich option, Arby’s may be the way to go.

How many calories are in a fish sandwich at McDonald’s?

The most popular fish sandwich at McDonald’s is the Filet-O-Fish. This sandwich has a calorie count of 380, which is lower than many of their other menu items. The sandwich also contains protein at 15 grams and fat at 18 grams. The sodium count comes in at 590 milligrams. What about the ingredients?