Filet-O-Fish Calories & Nutrition Facts

390 calories

Protein: 15g
Carbs: 39g
Fat: 19g
Sodium: 590mg

The Filet-O-Fish exists because of a franchisee whose burger sales collapsed every Friday. It is also the survivor of a head-to-head contest against a grilled pineapple sandwich.

Every published Filet-O-Fish version

Version	Serving	Calories	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)	Sodium (mg)
Filet-O-Fish	5 oz (142 g)	390	19	39	15	590

How it compares

Published figures from each chain's own nutrition data.

McDonald's Filet-O-Fish 390 calories

McDonald's McChicken 360 calories McDonald's Big Mac 530 calories

Where the Filet-O-Fish came from

Introduced 1962

Lou Groen ran a McDonald's in a heavily Catholic part of Cincinnati and watched hamburger sales fall every Friday, when his customers abstained from meat. He proposed a fish sandwich in 1962.

Ray Kroc agreed to test it — against his own idea, the Hula Burger, which was a slice of grilled pineapple with cheese. The Filet-O-Fish won decisively and was on menus nationwide by 1965.
It is built with half a slice of American cheese rather than a whole one, specifically so the cheese does not overwhelm the fish.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories are in a Filet-O-Fish?

390 calories, with 15g of protein.

Why was the Filet-O-Fish invented?

A Cincinnati franchisee, Lou Groen, was losing hamburger sales every Friday because his largely Catholic customers abstained from meat. He proposed a fish sandwich in 1962.

What is the Hula Burger?

Ray Kroc's competing idea — grilled pineapple with cheese on a bun. It was tested head-to-head against the Filet-O-Fish and lost.

Build a full meal

Add a Filet-O-Fish 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.