Why The McDonald's Happy Meal Menu Options Don't Include A Cheeseburger Anymore

McDonald's is always changing its menu with shifting tastes, but the Happy Meal seems like it will be a stalwart forever. Introduced in 1979, the kids meal has become an iconic part of McDonald's cultural impact. With its playful red and yellow box and the McDonald's Happy Meal toys calling out to children, the company sells a reported 2.7 million kids meals a day worldwide. For years, the meal options remained the same — including the choice between either a burger, cheeseburger, or Chicken McNuggets, with small fries and a small drink. But in 2018, McDonald's announced some of the biggest changes to the Happy Meal menu: the removal of cheeseburgers as an option.

The move came about because of the pressure on the burger chain to improve the nutrition of the kid's meals. This involved swapping out soda for reduced-sugar juice and milk — but one the biggest targets was the overall calorie count. As part of the changes, McDonald's committed to getting all of its Happy Meals under 600 calories, with no more than 20% of those calories coming from saturated fat and sugar, and no more than 650 mg of sodium. The changes were intended to result in a 50% reduction in added sugars and a 17% reduction in sodium on top of the reduced calorie count. Ultimately, the cheeseburger's added calories and sodium made hitting those targets impossible, and so one of McDonald's top ranked food items was decidedly axed from the Happy Meal menu options.

It may seem wild to think a single slice of American cheese can make such a difference, but it really does. Looking at the nutritional differences between a classic McDonald's hamburger and a cheeseburger, the cheese alone adds 210 mg of sodium, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, and 50 calories. That's an almost 10% jump in sodium and a 12% jump in saturated fat from that cheese slice. However, even if it isn't listed on the menu, you can still ask for a cheeseburger if your kid is dead set on having one.

The cheeseburger is only the most noticeable of the ways McDonald's has changed its Happy Meal over time. The first big move it made to improve nutrition was adding apple slices to the meals in 2012. Then, after it removed soda in 2014, it also switched its juice to an organic variety and added bottled water as an option in 2018. McDonald's even created a special smaller kid size of fries for the meals. When ordered with apple juice and a hamburger in 2025, a Happy Meal is 475 calories total. 

In fact McDonald's has also carried other, more behind-the-scenes changes to win over parents. As of 2020, the chain said 93% of all Happy Meal menu items had no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors added to them. So, while it may not be health food — it is something.