What's the cheapest fast food by weight?

Ever wonder what's the beast deal when going for the most mass for the money? I always just assumed that Subway had the most healthy sandwiches, but cost the most per pound, while my favorite, the Taco Bell fiesta burrito, was just the opposite.

Turns out, neither is true. My opinions were completely smashed by the darn facts.

(Note: I haven't weighed items from all fast food joints yet, it's a weight-gaining work-in-progress.)

(Note: I ate the skin of the 2 piece meal at KFC, but not the bones or cartilage, so that weight I subtracted.)

(Note: Baking a Papa John's pizza is free in Winter when you're furnace is on. In Summer it costs more than double if your A/C is on. So, take the electricity cost noted to the side and double it in Summer.)

(Note: Your electricity costs vary. I used 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, and used an electric 5000 watt oven.)

Taco Bell . . . . .Chicken burrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.11 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .Bean burrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .$2.12 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .Cheesy Bean and Rice burrito . . . . . . .$2.17 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .Burrito Supreme, beef . . . . . . . . . . . ..$2.65 / pound
Burger King . . .Whopper Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.67 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .7 layer Burrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.69 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .Grilled stuffed burrito, beef . . . . . . . . .$2.82 / pound
Mcdonald's . . ..McDouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.82 / pound
Burger King . . .Double Cheeseburger . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3.07 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .Fiesta Burrito, beef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3.18 / pound
Papa Murphy's . .family size Cowboy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3.57 / pound
...................................................... plus 12.5 cents electricity for baking
Taco Bell . . . . .1/2 pound Beef n somethin' burrito . . . $3.75 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .1/2 pound Cheesy Potato burrito . . . . .$3.75 / pound
Taco Bell . . . . .1/2 pound Nacho somethin' burrito . . . .$3.75 / pound
Donatos . . . . . .free medium w/ large (see below) . . . .$3.80 / pound
Hardees . . . . . .Big Hardee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.07 / pound
Dominos . . . . . Extra Large 15" sausage & cheese . . . .$4.15 / pound (with $9.76 coupon)
Burger King . . .Whopper w/ cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.52 / pound
Subway . . . . . .$5 footlong, 12" ham,cheese,veges . . .$4.44 / pound
Hardees . . . . . .$6 Thick Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4.73 / pound
Hardees . . . . . .Original Thick Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4.75 / pound
Hardees . . . . . .Little Thick Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4.78 / pound
Papa Murphy's . .large Murphy's combo . . . . . . . . . . . .$5.00 / pound
........................................................... plus 8 cents electricity for baking
Burger King . . .Whopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.26 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Arby-Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5.04 / pound
McDonalds . . .Angus 1/3 lb, regular, no bacon . . . . . . .$5.32 / pound
Chipotle . . . . .chicken burrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.44 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Market Fresh Chicken Ranch . . . . . . . . $5.47 / pound
Hardees . . . . .Big Chicken Fillet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5.67 / pound
Donatos . . . . .14" large Chicken, Jalapeno thing . . . . . $5.72 / pound
Subway . . . . .12" turkey,provo,tom,cukes,olive . . . . . $5.78 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Gyro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5.80 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Market Fresh Deli Turkey . . . . . . . . . . .$6.00 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Patty Melt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6.60 / pound
Donatos . . . . .12" Medium 1 topping (sausage) . . . . . .$6.75 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Roastburger - any of the 3 . . . . . . . . . .$6.68 / pound
White Castle . .cheese burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6.76 / pound
Chick-Fil-A . . .chargrilled chicken sandwich . . . . . . . . .$6.78 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Toasted Sub - Classic Italian . . . . . . . . $7.09 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Beef-n-Cheddar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7.44 / pound
Chick-Fil-A . . .chargrilled chicken club sandwich. . . . . . $7.45 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..Roasted Chicken Club Sandwich . . . . . . $7.51 / pound
Burger King . . .Original Chicken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.66 / pound
KFC . . . . . . . .2 piece grilled meal, grn bnz, slaw . . . . .$8.05 / pound
Burger King . . .Double Stacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$8.77 / pound
Arby's . . . . . ..regular Roast Beef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$8.80 / pound
Chick-Fil-A . . .chargrilled cool wrap no dressing. . . . . . $9.36 / pound


The cheapest item per pound that has meat is the chicken burrito at Taco Bell. But, that has an introductory price for now. The burrito supreme at Taco Bell is the cheapest regularly priced item with meat (and a variety of legumes as well).



Subway seems like a great deal if you don't want calories. I ordered ham, provolone, tomato, cucumber, banana peppers, black olives and mustard all on some fancy, tasty bread, yet cost under $4.50 a pound.



Can you believe this huge Chipotle burrito is only 17.5 ounces? I was being generous, the scale would stop at 17 ounces if lowered slowly. The foil weighs enough to move the scale the thickness of the blue hash mark, about 5 grams (or .176 ounces, 5/28.4 th of an ounce).



Arby's regular roast beef sandwich is the most expensive of the "meat only" items.



Chick-Fil-A has the most expensive item so far, their chargrilled chicken cool wrap. However, I have yet to try similar items from other restaurants.