How Many Calories Are in a Regular Hamburger, Small Fries & a Diet Coke

A quintessential American favorite and staple of dates, family dinner outings and quick lunches, the hamburger, small fries and a Diet Coke is one of the top meals in this country. If you keep to the small size, a burger and fries calories won't bust your caloric daily intake.

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According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a regular-sized, plain hamburger on a bun contains 327 calories. This includes 18.2 grams of protein, 13.2 grams of total lipid fats, 34.6 grams of carbohydrates and 1.87 grams of fiber.

The USDA says that a small, 3-ounce serving size of french fries contains 130 calories, 2 grams of protein, 4 total lipid fats, 21 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber. You'll also get trace amounts of calcium and iron and 6 percent of your recommended daily intake of potassium. However, you'll pick up 280 milligrams of sodium, which is 12 percent of your recommended daily value.

A Diet Coke contains no calories, according the ingredient label. But the USDA lists a diet cola, including Diet Coke, as containing 2 calories, 100 grams of water and trace amounts of total lipid fats, protein, carbohydrates and iron.

This makes 457 to 459 calories total for this fast-food meal, with the breakdown as follows:

• Regular hamburger: 327 calories
• Small fries: 130 calories
• Diet Coke: 2 calories (or zero, according to the label, which would make the total 457 calories)

If you prefer to add condiments, your total caloric intake increases. A plain cheeseburger and fries calories number 506 with a cheeseburger and a bun totaling 376 calories (and the fries adding 130 calories), per the USDA. With the bun, you'll get the following nutrition:

• 34.2 grams of carbs in cheeseburger
• 20.1 grams of protein
• 2.44 grams of fiber

For the wet condiments, 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise adds 100 calories, 1 teaspoon of mustard adds 3 calories and 1 tablespoon of ketchup brings 20 calories.

Vegetables don't contain a high number of calories. A small leaf of lettuce has less than 1 calorie and 1 medium slice of tomato measuring one-quarter inch thick has 3.6 calories.

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Although a regular-sized hamburger doesn't present many calories, this entree also doesn't offer much in the way of health benefits. Most of the time you eat a hamburger that was cooked on a griddle at a fast-food restaurant. However, you can make a hamburger healthier by doing the following:

Grilling the meat at home. In a December 2016 review analyzing cooking behaviors and published in Preventive Medicine Reports, researchers found that eating foods cooked at home was linked to a reduced BMI, improved general health and a likelihood of achieving nutrition guideline goals for fat, calcium and fruit and vegetable intake.

Monitor serving size. According to the American Heart Association, one portion of meat is 2 to 3 ounces, approximately the size of a deck of cards.

Look for grassfed meat. In a March 2019 article from Frontiers in Nutrition, grassfed beef has improved ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids compared to other animal tissues.

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