Chicken McNuggets Calories & Nutrition Facts

470 calories Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)

Protein: 22g
Carbs: 30g
Fat: 30g
Sodium: 900mg

Every published Chicken McNuggets count, from the 4-piece to the 40. There is also a good answer to the question of why they come in exactly four shapes.

McDonald's publishes 5 versions of this, running from 190 calories (Chicken McNuggets (4 piece)) up to 1,880 calories (Chicken McNuggets (40 piece)).

Every published Chicken McNuggets version

Version	Serving	Calories	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)	Sodium (mg)
Chicken McNuggets (4 piece)	2.3 oz (65 g)	190	12	12	9	360
Chicken McNuggets (6 piece)	3.4 oz (97 g)	280	18	18	13	540
Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)	5.7 oz (162 g)	470	30	30	22	900
Chicken McNuggets (20 piece)	11.4 oz (323 g)	940	59	59	44	1,800
Chicken McNuggets (40 piece)	22.8 oz (646 g)	1,880	118	118	87	3,600

How it compares

Published figures from each chain's own nutrition data.

McDonald's Chicken McNuggets (10 piece) 470 calories

Wendy's Chicken Nuggets (10 pc) 420 calories Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A Nuggets (8-count) 250 calories Burger King Onion Rings (Medium) 360 calories

Where the Chicken McNuggets came from

Introduced 1981

McDonald's first executive chef René Arend created the recipe in 1979, Keystone Foods developed the product, and it reached selected markets in 1981. Supply could not keep up at first; once that was solved in 1983 it went nationwide in the US.

There are four shapes — McDonald's calls them the bell, the bone (or bow-tie), the ball and the boot. They exist so every nugget cooks in the same time, which is a food-safety requirement rather than a design flourish.
In August 2016 McDonald's announced the nuggets no longer contained artificial preservatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories are in 10 Chicken McNuggets?

470 calories for a 10-piece.

How many calories are in a 4-piece McNugget?

190 calories.

How many calories are in 20 Chicken McNuggets?

940 calories.

Why are McNuggets four different shapes?

So they all cook through in the same amount of time. The four shapes are called the bell, the bone, the ball and the boot.

Build a full meal

Add a Chicken McNuggets to a whole order and see the running total on the McDonald's calculator, or see every McDonald's item.

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CalorieLookup.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by McDonald's. Nutrition figures on this page are McDonald's' own published data (McDonald's USA official nutrition facts (complete menu export). Live scraping of mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/* consistently timed out during this update, so figures are drawn from a McDonald's-sourced full-menu nutrition dataset (covering every published category and serving size) cross-checked against McDonald's own per-item pages where reachable.), last verified 2026-08-19. Historical details are drawn from public reference sources. Menu items and recipes change over time and vary by location — confirm with the restaurant before making dietary decisions.