Which fast-food chain gives the most protein under 500 calories?

Ranking chains by their single leanest item rewards a side salad. This table ranks 28 chains by the most protein you can order in a complete meal — entrée, side and a drink — under 500 calories, with the same measure at 400 and 600. Firehouse Subs leads with 65 g under 500 (A Firehouse Chopped Salad with Grilled Chicken, a Chicken Noodle Soup, and a water); Raising Cane's is last at 13 g.

2,967 items · 30 chains · each chain's own nutrition guide · Data refreshed September 14, 2026

• 28 chains ranked
• 24 reach 30 g under 500
• 65g best full meal
• 23 chains with the garnish problem

As of September 2026, 24 of the 30 fast-food chains we track can serve a complete meal with 30 g or more of protein under 500 calories, and at 23 of the 30 the lowest-calorie item on the menu is a garnish under 100 calories.

The 500-calorie index: most protein in a complete meal, by chain

Entrée first, then a side, then a drink if there is room — the same greedy order the MinMax app uses (water unless a shake adds 10 g of protein). Protein figures link to that chain's under-cap page when it has one; the last column links its high-protein ranking.

The garnish problem: 23 of 30 chains

At 23 chains the lowest-calorie single order on the menu is under 100 calories — a side salad, a fruit cup, a single wing — which is why "lowest-calorie item" lists say so little about what you can eat. The table shows that garnish next to the lightest order that is actually meal-sized (at least 150 calories or 10 g of protein).

Browse by calorie cap

• Fast food under 300 calories
• Fast food under 400 calories
• Fast food under 500 calories

Every figure is from the chain's published nutrition guide or a cited copy of it; sources are linked on each chain's page and on the sources page. Read how the data is gathered and checked.