Life with kids is busy. Between school, activities, and everything else, sometimes the only option is a quick trip through the drive-thru. While fast food often gets a bad rap, it doesn't have to be synonymous with unhealthy eating. With a little planning and some smart choices, you can find healthy fast food options for your kids, even when you're short on time.
Understanding the Challenge: Fast Food Realities
It's true that fast food can be high in calories, sugar, unhealthy fats, and sodium. However, many fast-food chains are now offering healthier alternatives and customizable options, making it easier to create a balanced meal for your child.
Top Tips for Healthier Fast Food Choices
Here’s a guide to navigating the drive-thru and making nutritious choices for your kids:
Plan Ahead: Most fast-food chains post their menus and nutritional information online. Before you go, take a few minutes to review the options and identify healthier choices.
Portion Control: Fast-food portion sizes have grown significantly over the years. Opt for a kid’s meal instead of a full-size meal. Kid's meals are often better choices than full-size meals.
Read also: Healthy food access with Highmark Wholecare explained.
Choose Grilled Over Fried: Fried chicken nuggets and crispy sandwiches may be tempting, but grilled versions are usually healthier. Look for grilled chicken sandwiches, wraps, or even grilled nuggets.
Skip the Sugary Drinks: Soda and sugary drinks add a lot of extra sugar and calories without any nutritional value. Water or milk are much better choices.
Swap Fries for Healthier Sides: French fries are a classic fast-food side, but they’re not the only option. Many restaurants allow you to swap fries for apple slices, a side salad, carrot sticks, or yogurt.
Be Mindful of Hidden Calories: Some seemingly healthy choices can be packed with hidden calories. For example, a salad sounds like a great option, but a heavy dressing can add a lot of extra fat and sugar. Ask for dressing on the side and use only a little.
Balance is Key: If fast food is on the menu for dinner, try to balance it with a healthier breakfast and lunch. Make sure your child gets plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains at home.
Read also: Healthy Eating on the Run
Talk to Your Kids About Food: Instead of labeling food as good or bad, try to frame your choices as better or healthier options. Talking to your kids about why you make certain choices helps them understand that healthy eating is about balance.
Involve Your Kids in Decision-Making: One of the best ways to encourage lifelong healthy eating habits in your child is to involve them in decision-making. Let them choose between healthy options and explain why those choices are better.
Lead by Example: Kids learn a lot by watching their parents. If you make healthy choices when eating out, they are more likely to do the same. Instead of ordering a large burger and fries, opt for a grilled chicken sandwich and a side salad.
Eat Together as a Family: Eating together as a family can help encourage healthier choices. When you sit down to enjoy your meal, you can model good eating habits and make mealtime more enjoyable. This gives your kids a chance to see that healthy eating is part of a positive family routine.
Ranking Fast Food Kids Meals
Here's a ranking of several fast-food chains, considering taste, value, options available, and healthier choices:
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Chipotle: Chipotle sells a "build your own" kids meal for an incredible value. For the price, you receive a robust amount of fresh, high-quality food, all in an incredibly convenient container, as well as a sturdy bag to carry it all home in. Start by deciding if you want crispy corn or soft flour tortillas for tacos or if you would prefer a small cheese quesadilla. From there, kids choose brown or white rice, black or pinto beans and meat, as well as guacamole or queso. Each choice is scooped and placed in a well in the convenient container as you walk down the line. We appreciated the volume of fresh food, variety of choices and convenient container. It could even be used to reheat leftovers for lunch the next day if your little one didn’t finish it all the night before.
Chick-fil-A: Chick-fil-A sells three different kids meal options, all featuring their namesake chicken in kid-friendly ways. There is a 5-piece chicken nuggets meal, a 2-piece chicken strips meal and a 5-piece grilled nuggets meal for those who want to skip the deep-fried fare. Each meal includes a small side, a small drink and a prize. Side options include waffle fries, a fruit cup or cinnamon applesauce. Mac and cheese was also available for an additional $0.70 charge. We ordered the 5-piece chicken nuggets meal with a fruit cup and milk. We noticed on the menu it was posted that they even offer special prizes upon request for kids ages 3 and under. Since we have a 2-year-old at home, this was a wonderful option. Instead of a toy with small parts we received a delightful board book that will certainly become part of our bedtime reading routine. Besides the lovely toy, Chick-fil-A had the most impressive fruit option by far. The cup was not skimpy in size and was filled with a colorful variety of fresh cut fruit.
Popeyes: Though we didn’t see it posted on the digital menu at the drive-thru, Popeyes does offer kids meal options. After speaking with the attendant, she told us we could choose from a 1-piece tender meal, a 1-piece leg meal, a mac and cheese meal or a 4-piece boneless chicken meal. We chose the 1-piece tender meal and had the option of either classic or spicy. The chicken was perfectly crisp, tender and juicy. Exactly what we expect from Popeyes! If you swoon for its top-notch and top-ranked chicken sandwich, your kids will likely beg for the Popeyes tender kids meal. The meal came with a sheet of stickers as well as a series of puzzles printed on the bag.
Culver’s: Culver’s offers a robust kids meal menu for those 12 and under with a wide variety of choices. Options include the original ButterBurger (with or without cheese), chicken tenders in either original or Buffalo, a grilled cheese and even a corn dog. Sides include applesauce, crinkle cut fries or steamed broccoli (for an additional charge). Drinks include white milk or apple juice.
Subway: Subway offers a special menu called the “Fresh Fit for Kids Meal.” This includes a mini sub, applesauce and a choice of either juice or white milk. For the mini sub, there are three options: Veggie Delite, Oven-Roasted Turkey or Black Forest Ham. There’s also an option for the sandwich to come on either white or whole wheat bread. We chose the Veggie Delite sub on whole wheat bread with applesauce and milk. While the Subway kids menu doesn’t come with a toy, we really appreciated the fresh and healthy choices that could be made at this chain. It is also nice that every sandwich can be personalized as it’s being assembled. The veggie-packed sandwich came piled high with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers and red onion. There was a slice of cheese and some mayo as well. The applesauce came in a squeeze packet, which is convenient and easy for kids to handle in the backseat of the car.
McDonald's: A kids meal ranking wouldn’t be complete without the iconic Happy Meal. The entree choices include a hamburger, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets or 6-piece Chicken McNuggets. We opted for the McNuggets and white milk. The other beverage choices included organic apple juice or bottled water. Each Happy Meal comes with a tiny kids fries and apple slices as well. Since this ranking was done near Halloween, the Happy Meal arrived in a special Boo Bucket. This was definitely the best kids meal delivery method of all the fast-food joints! In addition, there was a sheet of stickers to personalize the bucket. Even though the Happy Meal ranked tops when it came to fun aspects, the chicken nuggets were the least impressive of the chicken options we tasted. The milk is Disney for the kids, and the apple juice is Honest Kids for the parents.
Burger King: Burger King offers a variety of kids meal options. They can choose from a burger, cheeseburger, 4-piece chicken nuggets or 6-piece chicken nuggets. Then there is an option of fries or applesauce as well as plain milk or chocolate milk. We ordered the hamburger meal with applesauce and plain milk for $4.99. The burger was adequate in terms of flavor, and it arrived with ketchup, mustard and pickles already on top. The drive-thru attendant didn’t ask how we wanted the burger, so if you have a picky eater it might be important to specify how you want your burger topped. However, the toy options were fun at Burger King, and that might skew your kid’s opinion of their favorite meal. Our order came with a light-up Addams Family toy. In addition, the bag itself was a puzzle kids could play with later.
Wendy’s: Coming in at the bottom of our list for the best fast-food kids meals was Wendy’s. This chain has several options to choose from when building the meal. There are 4-piece nuggets (classic or spicy) as well as a hamburger or cheeseburger. We opted for the cheeseburger, and it was delivered with ketchup already on the top bun. The meal arrived with a Frosty-themed Halloween toy, which was certainly on-brand. These toys also come in different collectible colors, which might make kids beg to come back for more throughout the promotion. The main complaint we had with this kids meal was the fact that the cheese was hardly melted at all on top of the burger. This seems to be an ongoing issue since it was the same beef (pardon the pun!) we had when ranking the best fast-food burger. All it had was cheese and ketchup, while a decade ago, it came with pickles and onions, too. The junior patty was skinny and warm but not hot; it was firm and minimally seasoned, its meat flavor overshadowed by the American cheese, which was not fully melted but still rich. The bun wasn’t toasted, but it was warm, fresh, kept its shape, and felt more prominent than the meat. The fries that came with it were thick and salty with crispy edges and soft insides, stuffed in a chicken nugget-sized container and for once, filled to the brim. Seven ounces of Shamrock brand 1% milk in a bottle came with the meal; you can opt for Simply Orange juice as well.
A Closer Look at Specific Meals
To provide a more detailed perspective, let's consider a tasting experience of cheeseburger kids' meals from various fast-food chains:
Culver's: The name of the burger gives away what makes it special. The unmistakable steak-able flavor of the meat. Every burger is made custom and as you order; I forgot to ask for mustard (native New Yorker that I am) but got ketchup, pickles, and onions to match the standard. Red onion was the default, but sauteed is also an option (note to self). The pickles were crinkle cut and extra sour, reminding me of Roy Rogers’ salad bar pickles, and held in uneven place by strongly cheesy American. The fries-also crinkle-cut-were partners worthy of the burger: fresh fried golden, simultaneously crunchy and fluffy, and simply salted. The thickness of them helped them hold onto their temperature, and even packed as densely as they were, they didn’t get soggy on the drive home. You can opt for Mott’s unsweetened applesauce instead, or save the sweets for chocolate milk or Mott’s apple juice. The white milk I got was a standard 8 ounces of reduced-fat ultra-pasteurized. Culver’s kids’ meal bags are printed with two coupons on the seam: one that you can collect ten of to redeem for a kids’ meal or prize a la Dave & Buster’s, and another for a custard scoop that you can redeem now or later. This gives kids (or you) the flexibility to come back for a treat on another day instead of scarfing down your meal before dessert melts or ruining their appetites with dessert first.
Dairy Queen (DQ): For authenticity of experience, I would have left it at that and tested only the first attempt. The advantage it started with, even before it was festooned with gooey, creamy American, was in its size and its bun. The latter was absolutely delightful, a pleasant dip into grown-up premium sandwich territory, all plush, soft, brioche-like, and toasted sweet. With jagged, misshapen edges that gave the meat the crisped borders of a smashed patty, it took up the entire excellent bun, plus a slight lip for slips. It was evenly topped with thick-cut, bold pickles that were kind of hard to bite through-an awkwardness easily forgiven since there was, for once, plenty to take its place. The generosity of the chips is why the burger’s first impression veers in that direction, but the cheese is what smooths it all out. The type of fries they serve are akin to Wendy’s before they went thicker-cut and natural; they’re fluffy, crispy, and clean-tasting, free of extra oil. For even less oil, you can opt for a banana or Musselman’s unsweetened applesauce pouch, but unless you ask for it, you’ll be getting their very good fries. The milk was 1% in a TetraPak, which kids who drink Horizon might find familiar. An extendable straw that punches through the foil seal is included for easy sipping and minimal spilling, but parents looking for juice will have to be satisfied with applesauce.
Hardee's: The burger patty was slightly bigger than the regular-sized toasted sesame-seeded bun and had delightful crispy edges that made up for the interior being dry. This burger tasted like real meat, salty with a tinge of iron, and enough of both to make you need the extra ketchup packets they throw in the bag. They hide the pickles (stop laughing!) on the bottom and put the ketchup and mustard on top, over the nondescript unmelted cheese, which was bland enough that I honestly wouldn’t have missed it. As for sides, your only option at Hardee’s is their skinny skin-on fries, so it’s a good thing that they’re done well and in a way that will appeal to kids used to cafeteria fries. They’re crunchy on the outside with some soft, smushy parts (kind of like Wendy’s old fries) and fresh-tasting, free from excessive grease. Best of all, the size is closer to a small, even partially filled up as it was.
Burger King: There’s no mistaking a BK burger for anything but a BK burger, its signature flame-kissed smokiness doing wonders to elevate otherwise mediocre meat. However, as a whole package, the King Jr. conducted itself like a prince. It gave off block party barbecue vibes, reinforced by the untoasted but fresh, firm, and slightly sweet petite sesame-seeded bun. The fries left more to be desired; they’re thicker than the extra-crispy ones of my own childhood Burger King kids’ meals. They retained a noticeable fried-at-home oiliness in that it tasted like oil, not grease or chemicals. The milk was 30 cents more, an ultra-pasteurized nonfat iteration that tasted like both traits; Simply Orange juice and an unnamed brand apple juice are your other traditional alternatives. If the kids’ meal at McDonald’s is geared toward tiny tots, the double version of the King Jr. is built for bigger ones. And the fact that BK gives you an intermediate option before graduating into adult meals is a thoughtful detail. You lose some of the flame-broiled char flavor in the extra meatiness, and some cheese notes since it’s laid on top instead of between the patties. That would have helped it melt and open up. However, the flavors throughout remain assertive, with the pickles, mustard, and ketchup cutting in to add acid and moisture. Not that the bun needed too much support, though. Because I’d already tasted the fries, I went for the onion rings this time, which were heavily breaded and kind of flavorless, unless you count grease as a flavor. The other differences between this and the Cheeseburger King Jr. meal tested, however, were not of my own doing.
Wendy's: The cheeseburger itself has been downgraded and stripped of all but the bare minimum. All it had was cheese and ketchup, while a decade ago, it came with pickles and onions, too. The junior patty was skinny and warm but not hot; it was firm and minimally seasoned, its meat flavor overshadowed by the American cheese, which was not fully melted but still rich. The bun wasn’t toasted, but it was warm, fresh, kept its shape, and felt more prominent than the meat. The fries that came with it were thick and salty with crispy edges and soft insides, stuffed in a chicken nugget-sized container and for once, filled to the brim. Seven ounces of Shamrock brand 1% milk in a bottle came with the meal; you can opt for Simply Orange juice as well.
Sonic: The dry, slightly rubbery meat was unquestionably a very junior “Jr. patty,” barely covering up three-quarters of the bread. And yes, I do mean bread. It may be bun-shaped, it may have been toasted, but no amount of toasting could have saved it from tasting like the heel of a common white bread loaf, with that slightly metallic, dark flavor and flake-off texture. While the hot and crispy tots I was given were a unique offering and I appreciated the availability, they had a weird chemical after-smell. Again, not a typo-it tasted fine, but left a lingering chemical aroma on your breath, kind of how Checkers’ cooking oil does. The texture was fantastic and ketchup goes a long way to clean out the feeling. I’d imagine, cooked in the same oil, their skinny fries might suffer the same problems. Alternatively, you can opt for Tree Top applesauce in a pouch. The milk was their own brand: 8 ounces of ultra-pasteurized 1%, bottled in plastic.
The Importance of a Balanced Diet
Choosing to eat at home as often as possible is the best way to ensure a balanced, nutritious diet for children. However, we understand that life is busy and sometimes fast food is the most convenient and headache-free option. With some planning, smart swaps, and thoughtful discussions with your kids, you can make healthier choices that work for your family’s lifestyle.