LogmaMcDonald's started selling a Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal for $8 at participating US locations on November 2, 2026, down from the usual $11 and up. The deal includes the burger, medium fries and a medium drink, and it's good through the end of a limited run.
The price is new. The food isn't. So the calories in the $8 meal are the same as the calories in the full price meal: about 1,050 for the burger, fries and a Coke, with the burger itself accounting for half of that. Here's the full breakdown, and a few swaps that keep the deal without the full total.
Quick note: I'm Batu, and I build Logma, a voice calorie tracker for iPhone. A combo meal is exactly the kind of thing that's easy to log wrong when you guess at one number for the whole tray instead of the three separate items. Numbers first.
“The eight dollar Quarter Pounder meal, medium fries and a medium Coke.”
Example: Logma splits this into the burger, the fries and the Coke, and logs about 1,050 kcal with macros. No searching, no typing three separate items.
What's in the $8 meal, and the calories in each part
The deal is simple: a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, a medium order of World Famous Fries, and a medium fountain drink, all for $8 where it's offered. Here's each piece on its own.
| Item | Calories | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese | 520 | 30 g | 26 g | 42 g |
| Medium World Famous Fries | 320 | 4 g | 15 g | 43 g |
| Medium Coca-Cola | 210 | 0 g | 0 g | 58 g |
| Meal total | 1,050 | 34 g | 41 g | 143 g |
The burger carries half the calories, and a quarter pound of beef with cheese is honestly not a bad base for a meal, with 30 g of protein. The fries and the Coke split the other half almost evenly, and neither is doing much for you besides carbs. The Coke in particular is 58 g of sugar for zero protein or fiber.
Does the $8 price mean smaller portions
No. This is the same Quarter Pounder with Cheese, the same medium fries and the same medium drink McDonald's has sold for years, just at a lower price for a limited run. McDonald's has done similar value pushes before, and the pattern holds: the deal is on the price, not on the size of what's on the tray.
That matters for tracking, because it means the calorie numbers above are the regular menu numbers, not a special lighter version. If you've logged a Quarter Pounder meal before, this is the same thing with a smaller receipt.
How this compares to other McDonald's mains
At 520 calories, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese sits in the middle of McDonald's burger lineup. It's lighter than a Big Arch, which runs 1,020 calories on its own before fries or a drink, and it's close to a McRib at 520 calories as well, just with a different macro split since the McRib carries more sauce and bread.
A plain double cheeseburger, by contrast, runs closer to 440 calories but with less protein and a thinner patty. The Quarter Pounder's quarter pound of fresh beef is what pushes its protein to 30 g, which is more than most fast food sandwiches manage at a similar calorie count.
So the burger itself isn't the heavy part of this deal. It's the full meal, fries and a full sugar Coke included, that pushes past 1,000 calories. A burger alone, with water or a diet drink, keeps this well under half that.
Is $8 for 1,050 calories and 34 g of protein a good deal
Looked at purely as cost per calorie, $8 for 1,050 calories works out to under a penny per calorie, which is hard to beat anywhere. Looked at as cost per gram of protein, it's about 24 cents per gram, mostly thanks to the burger. The fries and the Coke add volume and calories but almost no protein, so they're the part dragging that number down.
If getting enough protein in a day matters to you as much as staying under a calorie target, the practical takeaway is the same as the swap list below: the burger is doing the nutritional work in this meal, and the fries and Coke are along for the ride. Ordering the burger with a side that actually adds something, like a side salad, changes the deal's math more than any other single choice.
3 ways to keep the deal, not the full calorie count
- Swap the Coke: a Diet Coke or Coke Zero is effectively free calorie wise, and water costs you nothing. That alone takes the meal from 1,050 to about 840.
- Ask for a small fries, or share the medium: a small fries runs about 230 calories instead of 320, a 90 calorie save, and splitting a medium with someone cuts it further.
- Swap fries for apple slices: McDonald's apple slices run about 15 calories a bag. Doing that instead of fries saves around 300 calories on its own, more than any other single swap in this meal.
Combine the Coke swap and the apple slices swap and you're down to roughly 535 calories, basically just the burger, for the same $8.
Where 1,050 calories fits in a day
For a 2,000 calorie day, this meal alone is just over half. That's not unreasonable for a lunch or dinner if the rest of your day is lighter, but it's worth knowing going in rather than finding out after the fact. For a 1,500 to 1,600 calorie target, which is common for weight loss, it's closer to two thirds of the whole day in one sitting.
Neither of those is a reason to skip the deal. It's a reason to log it accurately, pick your drink on purpose, and plan the rest of the day around it instead of around a guess.
Logging the $8 meal in one sentence
The tray has three separate items with three different calorie counts, which is exactly the kind of order that's easy to log wrong as one vague number. Typing or searching for "McDonald's meal" in most apps either picks a generic average or makes you search three separate times, once for the burger, once for the fries, once for the drink, then fix the serving size on each.
Saying it out loud skips all of that. You say what's actually on the tray, swaps included, and the app does the splitting:
"The eight dollar Quarter Pounder meal, medium fries and a medium Coke."
Logma hears that, separates it into the burger, the fries and the Coke, and logs about 1,050 kcal with macros for all three in about 3 seconds. Say "small fries" or "diet Coke" instead and the total adjusts to match what you actually ordered, not the default. There's no account to make and no barcode to find, which matters here since a combo meal doesn't come with one.
FAQ
How many calories are in McDonald's $8 Quarter Pounder meal?
About 1,050 calories: 520 for the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, 320 for a medium order of fries, and 210 for a medium Coca-Cola.
How many calories are in the Quarter Pounder with Cheese alone?
520 calories, with about 30 g of protein, 26 g of fat and 42 g of carbs.
Is the $8 meal smaller than the regular price meal?
No. It's the same Quarter Pounder with Cheese, medium fries and medium drink McDonald's sells at full price, just offered at $8 for a limited time at participating locations.
How can I make the $8 meal deal lower calorie?
Swap the Coke for a Diet Coke, Coke Zero or water, and swap the fries for apple slices. Doing both brings the meal from about 1,050 calories down to roughly 535.
How long does the McDonald's $8 Quarter Pounder deal last?
McDonald's has called it a limited time offer starting November 2, 2026, without a published end date. Participation and pricing can vary by location.
How much protein is in the $8 meal?
About 34 g total, and almost all of it, 30 g, comes from the burger. The fries add about 4 g and the Coke adds none.
Sources: Indiana Daily Student (McDonald's press release, deal details) · Mac Menus (Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal nutrition) · FatSecret (Quarter Pounder with Cheese nutrition) · Dexerto (McDonald's $8 meal deal coverage). Numbers are approximate and can change; nothing here is medical advice.