Arby's Vs Hardee's: Who Serves The Healthier Classic Roast Beef Sandwich

Roast beef is not a sandwich filling found at every fast food restaurant. It is, of course, the specialty of Arby's, alongside the chain's famous curly fries and jamocha shakes — which are hands down the best fast food milkshake. Over at Hardee's, though — also known as Carl's Jr. — customers can pick up a very similar roast beef sandwich. As it turns out, Hardee's may be primarily a Southern burger and breakfast chain, but it can sling a decent roast beef.

The sandwiches at the two chains look remarkably similar and bear similar monikers. At Arby's it is called a Classic Roast Beef Sandwich, and at Hardee's it's the Original Roast Beef Sandwich. Ordered straight off the menu board, both sandwiches are relatively spartan, featuring a pile of thinly sliced roast beef on a bun — no veggies, no sauce, just meat and bread. The nutritional differences, though, are apparent in the numbers.

The Hardee's roast beef sandwich is the winner has 300 calories compared to the 360 in the Arby's sandwich. Hardee's sandwich also contains 31 grams of carbs and 30 milligrams of cholesterol, compared to the 37 grams of carbs and 50 milligrams of cholesterol in the Arby's sandwich. As for the sugar content, the Hardee's sandwich has 4 grams compared to the 5 grams found in the Arby's offering. However, things take a turn when you start considering other numbers.

 The Arby's Classic Roast Beef Sandwich scores its first win when you take sodium into account, coming in at 970 milligrams — 60 milligrams less than the Hardee's offering. Fat content, though, reverses course, giving Hardee's a huge advantage. The Arby's roast beef sandwich contains 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of which are saturated fats, and a ½ gram of which is trans fat. The Hardee's sandwich, on the other hand, has only 4 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 0 grams of trans fat.

While those nutritional categories come out looking pretty rough for the Arby's sandwich, there are a few areas where it comes out on top. For example, the protein content in Arby's roast beef sandwich is considerably higher, at 23 grams per sandwich compared to just 17 grams for Hardee's. The Arby's sandwich also has twice as much dietary fiber, with 2 grams to Hardee's 1 gram. Nutritional decisions are always personal and come down to individual dietary goals and requirements. 

Both of these sandwiches can be a perfectly healthy part of a balanced diet, and it is important to note that even the comparatively high fat content of the Arby's roast beef sandwich is still considerably lower than, say, a McChicken or McDouble, which have 21 and 20 grams of fat, respectively. That said, looking at the numbers, the Hardee's roast beef sandwich is likely a healthier option for most people.