Weight Loss Tricks

Fast-food chains always seem to be duking it out for who has the actual biggest burger. In recent years the burger patties have tripled or even quadrupled while cheese slices, bacon strips, onion rings, and other toppings have been stacking up sky-high. Without actually taking out a ruler—though maybe we will one day—we are comparing the burgers at the most popular spots by calories to see which one comes out on top.

As for the big guys, Wendy's and Burger King have been triple-sizing their burgers for a while—Burger King even brought back its Quad Stacker, a four-patty beefy beast. McDonald's doesn't seem to really have too many offenders. Recently, however, McD's was spotted offering its Triple Cheeseburger for $2.79 on the app so maybe a triple Quarter Pounder could show up one day. At some of the smaller and regional chains we are seeing some big triple and quadruple burgers become fixtures on the menu. West Coast chain In-N-Out has its famous 4×4—with four patties and four slices of cheese—as a permanent part of its Not So Secret Menu.

While there is light-hearted fun to these silly-sized burgers, burger patties, and cheese slices are not the only things that are reaching uncomfortable levels in these sandwiches. Before you embark on your own food challenge and try to taste some of these, take a look at the calorie, fat, and sodium count and consider spitting one of these behemoths with a friend.

RELATED: 8 Iconic Burger Joints That Serve Old-Fashioned Recipes

McD's, which has a reputation for being caloric and unhealthy, actually has the smallest of the big burgers. That's because while this burger is stacked with three patties, the smaller hamburger patty is used. Three slices of American cheese top each patty. Stay tuned, because things are going to get crazy.

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It's when you start stacking McDonald's fresh, all-beef quarter-pound burgers that you see the calories start to creep up. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese is just what it sounds like, two of those patties with two slices of cheese. It comes topped with onions, pickles, mustard, and ketchup.

While this burger is also known by the ignoble title the "Suicide Burger," it comes up short in this list. Like the McDonald's triple, even though this burger has four patties, they are relatively small. Plus, Burger King has far worse offenders on the menu. Also, FYI, this burger tastes like char and not much else.

Dairy Queen has a Stackburger lineup, but the Loaded A.1. has a bunch of extras that put this burger over the top. It features two large patties, with A1 and peppercorn sauce, bacon, cheese, and onion rings.

If you're lucky enough to live near an In-N-Out—and can stomach the lines—you can grab one of the rare burgers stacked with four patties. You probably don't need it, but it can be fun once in a while to indulge. Plus, this burger doesn't touch some of the others on this list in terms of calories.

The Triple-Meat Whataburger features three of the chain's signature five-inch patties. By the way, the burgers are bigger than a typical fast-food burger's patties because the founder wanted people to exclaim, "What a burger!" when they saw it. This one will definitely make you do that and then make you regret your decision to consume half a day's calories in one sandwich. P.S. this is also the calorie count without cheese which will add an additional 60-90 calories per slice.

Five Guys trickery is that their regular burgers are already stacked. If you "forget" to ask for a Little Burger, you're getting a big, calorie-heavy burger stacked with extras. While delicious, be careful of those calories, and don't go swimming for 20 minutes after.

It's not widely known that Culver's gives the option of a third burger on every one of its signature butter burgers. The Culver's Bacon Deluxe is the worst offender when this option is selected. It's stacked with all the usual accouterments like cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and mayo.

If you haven't heard of Freddy's, you may see one opening by you soon. The chain is a youngster when compared to some of these other chains, opening in 2002. It now has over 400 locations. Freddy's has a few triples that all play in the 1000-calorie realm. The Freddy's Jalapeno Pepper Jack Triple features three of the chain's signature pressed steakburgers with pepper jack cheese, sautéed jalapeños, and Freddy's Spicy Jalapeño Fry Sauce.

The Bacon King features two ¼ pound patties and more calories than some of the triple burgers on this list. It skips the healthy stuff and features bacon, cheese, and mayo. Also, please note the absolutely frightening sodium level.

The behemoth of a burger wins the award for most bacon with four slices. It also has three burger patties each with its own crown of cheese, both American and cheddar, plus ketchup and mayo. No healthy stuff here! It still manages to have less sodium than the Bacon King though…

Wendy's has entered the chat and it's bringing the height. This is not the last Wendy's burger on the list and for the first, it's a serious one. It features ¾ of a pound of beef, bacon, three slices of cheese lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo, and onion.

Wendy's Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburger Triple edges out the Big Bacon Classic Triple with its sweet sauce and crispy onion rings additions. Everything else is similar.

This burger sounds dangerous—and it is—but there are worse offenders on this list. Three of Burger King's signature ¼-pound burgers are stacked on this burger with bacon, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and pickles. Of course, have it your way and leave off whatever you want. Despite this burger being stacked to the sky it has half the sodium of the Bacon King.

This Checkers burger is a mouthful to say and a potential stomachache to eat. The three beef patties are topped with Swiss cheese, two slices of bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, BBQ sauce, smoky mayo, and more bits of bacon.

In terms of stacking burgers, Wendy's seems to be so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Pub double is concerning enough, but the triple veers into scary territory. With three-quarters of a pound of beef, gooey beer cheese sauce, bacon, honey mustard, fried onions, pickles, and a slice of muenster cheese for good measure, this burger is nearly the largest on the list.

Yes, this is really a thing. And, no, you probably shouldn't eat it, but rather marvel at the cook's prowess with construction. Steak & Shake's 7×7 burger is just what it sounds like, seven burger patties and seven slices of cheese piled high on a bun.  It's the only burger on this list that beats out the Bacon King for sodium content.

The post The Most Outrageously Huge Fast-Food Burgers Available Now appeared first on Eat This Not That.