Grabbing burgers at the local fast-food restaurant is pretty much a national pastime in the United States. A comforting and indulgent treat, these relatively inexpensive sandwiches satisfy your cravings fast, with juicy beef patties between warm, fluffy buns.
For many of us, a fast-food burger is the perfect, reliable option for an on-the-go meal, and it’s made even better when the burger is all beef, with no added fillings or additives.
After looking into the food-quality policies at many popular fast-food chains, Eat This, Not That! found a refreshingly large number that publicly commit to using nothing but 100% pure ground beef for their burger patties. Some even go the extra mile, serving pure Angus beef or chuck beef. A few never freeze their meat, either.
Read on to discover the best spots to get an all-beef, fast-food burger.
McDonald’s
With 36,000 restaurants worldwide, the famed Golden Arches has mastered the art of fast food, and you’ll be glad to know its burgers are “always made with 100% USDA-inspected beef,” according to the company’s website. “Our patties contain no preservatives or fillers, and the only thing we ever add is a touch of salt and pepper when the patties are sizzling hot on the grill.” That pure beef is formed into patties and flash frozen. Flash freezing uses extremely low temperatures to quickly freeze meat, keeping the freshness and flavor intact.
Another good piece of news? In the U.S., none of the restaurant’s classic burgers—the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Big Mac, or Quarter Pounder burgers—contain any artificial preservatives, artificial flavors, or added colors from artificial sources. Well, besides the pickles (those contain artificial preservatives).
Burger King
If you like your burgers from one of Burger King’s over 6,000 locations in the U.S., you’ll be happy to learn the chain only serves 100% ground beef patties in their burgers. Open since 1953, the chain started with a simple menu of burgers, french fries, sodas, and milkshakes. Per the company’s corporate site, the beef patties have no fillers, no preservatives, no additives, and apparently, no nonsense.
Wendy’s
With over 6,000 restaurants across the U.S., not only is Wendy’s famous for its square burger patty, but the brand’s long-term commitment to serving all-beef patties. The restaurant says it serves you the very best burger for the money, one that’s fresh, never frozen, and made from 100% real beef. “Our signature square hamburger patties have no fillers or additives because we know the beef is what matters when it comes to making the best hamburger in the game,” according to the company’s website.
To maintain the freshness of its patties, the company claims to closely monitor temperatures during shipping, and further notes that it aims to work with the most advanced cooling technology available, so you’ll get a juicy, fresh square patty every time you eat at Wendy’s.
Five Guys
This Virginia-based burger chain prides itself on its ingredients. “We only use fresh ground beef,” the company states on its website. The patties are hand formed daily, and Five Guys famously doesn’t have any freezers for storage, just coolers at its nearly 1,700 locations. The chain also specified in a tweet that it uses “80/20 ground chuck,” referring to the beef’s lean-to-fat ratio. The company further added, “Our manufacturers do not use ammoniated procedures.”
Culver’s
Famous in the Midwest and beyond for its signature ButterBurgers, Culver’s serves only pure beef patties at its nearly 1,000 around the United States. Not only that, but its ButterBurgers are made with a special blend of sirloin, chuck, and plate cuts. “All prized cuts, all well-marbled for richness and flavor with no fillers to get in the way,” according to the chain.
In-N-Out
This chef-favorite burger chain has over 400 locations, primarily on the West Coast, and some swear it’s the best fast-food burger of all time. One of the reasons? The quality of the beef. “We have always made our hamburger patties ourselves using only fresh, 100% USDA ground chuck—free of additives, fillers and preservatives,” In-N-Out states on its website.
The chain makes its own patties in facilities in California and Texas, and it touts the advantages of controlling the whole process, ensuring quality and freshness. “Each patty is made using only fresh, individually inspected, whole chucks from premium cattle selected especially for In-N-Out Burger,” according to the company. “Our team of Associates removes the bones, grinds the meat, and then makes each patty.”
Shake Shack
Another chef-favorite burger chain, Shake Shack has over 300 locations, primarily on the East Coast. While its prices are higher than some of the other restaurants on this list, the ingredients are all fairly high quality for a fast-food spot. Shake Shack’s patties are made from a “custom 100% Angus beef blend,” according to the company’s website. Moreover, the chain adheres to a strict animal welfare policy, noting that its beef products come from cattle ” humanely raised and grazed in the USA,” without added hormones or antibiotics.
Whataburger
This Texas-based chain gives Shake Shack and In-N-Out a run for the title of cult-favorite, fast-food burger. Whataburger crafts its patties from 100% pure ground beef without additives or fillers, and those patties are served on a gloriously large five-inch bun. That’s how things have been since the first location opened back in 1950, and that’s how the company still operates at its over 900 locations.
Fatburger
The self-appointed “Last Hamburger Stand,” Fatburger is known for its enormous burgers, which start at a third of a pound of ground beef. If you haven’t been to the West Coast chain, which boasts about 180 locations, you should that its most basic burger is bigger than a Whopper. All of the giant burger patties from Fatburger are made with “100% pure lean beef, fresh ground, grilled to perfection, and built-to-order,” according to its website.
Sonic Drive-In
Founded in 1953, Sonic Drive-in, more commonly known as Sonic, was originally a walk-up root beer stand selling soda, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Today, Sonic currently has over 3,500 locations in the United States. For over 70 years, all of Sonic’s burger patties have been made from 100% pure, seasoned beef, according to the company’s website.
Habit Burger Grill
Founded back in 1969 in Santa Barbara, Calif., this fast-growing chain has over 350 locations around the country, mostly in California and on the West Coast. Habit Burger uses only “100% pure ground beef with no additives, preservatives, or fillers of any kind” for its burgers, according to its website. The chain also promises that every burger uses fresh, natural ingredients that fully comply with all governing USDA and FDA standards, rules, and policies.
Mooyah Burger
This growing burger chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, has over 100 locations in 20 states. All of Mooyah‘s juicy burgers are made with “100% Certified Angus Beef Brand beef,” according to its website. This specific brand is the world’s first premium brand of black Angus beef owned by the American Angus Association and its collection of farming and ranching families. Mooyah claims its meat is better because Certified Angus meets 10 science-based specifications that are more selective than the USDA’s own grading system of Prime, Choice, and Select.
