How Many Calories in McDonald’s Fish McBites?

McDonald’s announced it is putting its new Fish McBites into Happy Meals today, just in time for Lent.

How many calories in the new McDonald’s offering and, possibly as importantly, how does it compare with Chicken McNuggets?

The new Happy Meal size of Fish McBites breaks down as follows:
Serving size 2.4 ounces
170 calories
8 grams protein
9 grams fat
15 grams of carbs
300 mg of Sodium

This compares with the 3.4 ounce serving of Chicken McNuggets:
280 calories
13 grams protein
18 grams fat
18 grams of carbs
540 mg of Sodium

My kids are grown, but a parent of small kids friend of mine said that she didn’t think her children would go for a change from the Chicken McNuggets because they love them so much. That is unfortunate in my view as the McNuggets have nearly double the Sodium in a single serving and most folks eat too much Sodium (salt) already. Health experts suggest no more than 2300 mg per day for an adult and 1500 mg per day for an adult over age 50. Presumably, the total is less for child-size bodies.

A couple of other observations: The Fish McBites are about a third smaller serving than the McNuggets. This might leave children feeling unsatisfied if they are used to getting the bigger serving – more to eat.

It will be interesting to see how the McBites fare in the marketplace with Mickey D’s marketing muscle being them.

There is a 3.4 ounce serving – ‘Snack Size’ – available. It breaks down as follows:
250 calories
11 g protein
13 grams fat
2 g sat fat
21 g carbs
420 mg Sodium

The Sodium picks up, but still falls short of the McNuggets.

For adults, there is a ‘Regular Size’ of Fish McBites 5.2 ounces:
370 calories
17 g protein
20 grams fat
2.5 g sat fat
31 g carbs
630 mg sodium

For my money the 17 grams of protein are positive, but I don’t care for the 20 grams of fat and I like less the 630 mg of Sodium.

They also offer a Shareable size which is just larger. You can see all you need to know about the nutrition in it from the foregoing to make up your mind about whether to order it or not.

As far as beverages go, stick with nice healthy water. You can read all about McDonald’s Drinks if you want details.

Buon Appetito!

Tony