Burger King Chicken Burger: Is It Healthier?

Burgers can be pretty darn tasty. Unfortunately, a big, juicy burger usually comes at a high nutritional cost. The red meat in a burger patty is greasy, fatty, caloric and full of cholesterol. But what if we swapped out the beef for white meat? That's exactly what Burger King has done with their new limited time offering, the Chicken Burger. But is the Chicken Burger actually healthier than a good old fashioned beef burger? Let's find out!

Here's how Burger King describes the Chicken Burger:

Savory? Fresh? Brioche? How fancy of you, Burger King!

This isn't the first time that Burger King has experimented with a poultry burger. Back in 2013, Burger King sold a Turkey Burger as a limited time offering. We compared the nutrition of the Turkey Burger to the Whopper and found it was a mixed bag. In some ways the Turkey Burger was healthier, but in other ways the Whopper was healthier. Will it be a different story with BK's new Chicken Burger?

In a word: Yes! When compared to a Whopper without cheese, the Chicken Burger has fewer calories, less fat, less saturated fat and less cholesterol. Some of the differences are quite stark. For example, the Chicken Burger has a whopping (pun intended) 93% less cholesterol than the Whopper.

The only area that the Chicken Burger falls short in is salt content. The Chicken Burger contains over 1,100 mg of sodium. That's about 18% more sodium than you'll find in the Whopper, and represents nearly half of the daily recommended value of sodium!

The Verdict: Even though the Chicken Burger contains more sodium than the Whopper, it is still the healthier choice.

View the full nutrition facts for the Burger King Chicken Burger