Animal style is a popular way to order burgers and fries at the fast food chain In-N-Out Burger. The animal style preparation adds extra sauces and ingredients to the regular burger and fries, which likely adds more calories. In this article, we will analyze the nutritional information for In-N-Out’s menu items to determine if animal style significantly increases the calorie count.
What is Animal Style?
Animal style is a signature order at In-N-Out Burger that originated in the 1960s. It includes the following modifications:
- Burgers are cooked with mustard grilled onto each meat patty.
- Extra In-N-Out sauce is added.
- Pickles are added to the top of the burger patties.
- The buns are toasted with extra butter.
- Fries are topped with extra In-N-Out sauce, cheese and grilled onions.
The animal style preparation adds a lot of extra flavor and ingredients. But does this indulgence also mean you are getting a lot more calories with an animal style order?
Calories in In-N-Out’s Burgers
Let’s start by looking at the calorie counts for In-N-Out’s burgers, with and without animal style:
| Burger | Calories (regular) | Calories (animal style) |
|---|---|---|
| Hamburger | 240 | 270 |
| Cheeseburger | 390 | 420 |
| Double-Double | 670 | 700 |
| Double-Double Protein Style | 620 | 650 |
Based on the nutrition data, animal style adds approximately 30 calories to each burger order. This makes sense given the additions of mustard grilling, extra sauce and pickles. The difference is fairly minimal.
For example, a regular hamburger has 240 calories, while the animal style preparation has 270 calories. So animal style adds just 12% more calories to the hamburger. The Double-Double sees only a 4% calorie increase with animal style.
Calories in Fries
Now let’s compare regular versus animal style fries:
| Fries | Calories (regular) | Calories (animal style) |
|---|---|---|
| Small Fries | 210 | 390 |
| Medium Fries | 320 | 500 |
| Large Fries | 440 | 620 |
For fries, going animal style increases calories significantly. The additions of cheese, sauce and onions adds about 180 calories to each order of fries. That’s an 86% calorie increase for small fries, 56% for medium fries, and 41% for large fries.
Clearly, animal style preparation impacts fries more than burgers when it comes to calories. The extras added to animal style fries include cheese and sautéed onions, which add more calories than the mustard grilling and extra sauce on the burgers.
Does Animal Style Increase Fat and Sodium?
Beyond calories, does animal style also increase the fat and sodium content of In-N-Out’s food? Let’s check the nutritional data:
| Item | Fat (g) (regular) | Fat (g) (animal style) | Sodium (mg) (regular) | Sodium (mg) (animal style) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburger | 9 | 10 | 440 | 460 |
| Cheeseburger | 15 | 16 | 750 | 770 |
| Double-Double | 28 | 29 | 960 | 980 |
| Small Fries | 11 | 19 | 270 | 440 |
The animal style preparation does slightly increase the fat content of burgers by 1 gram of fat. For fries, animal style preparation adds a more significant 8 grams of fat to small fries.
When it comes to sodium, animal style again leads to small increases for burgers (20-30mg higher). But sodium increases by 170mg for animal style small fries compared to regular.
So in terms of fat and sodium, animal style fries see larger boosts than burgers. But the increases are still fairly small overall.
Protein Content
One area where animal style does not make a difference is protein content.
Since animal style involves adding extra condiments and cooking styles, it does not change the protein content of In-N-Out’s burgers or fries:
| Item | Protein (g) (regular) | Protein (g) (animal style) |
|---|---|---|
| Hamburger | 14 | 14 |
| Cheeseburger | 22 | 22 |
| Double-Double | 28 | 28 |
| Small Fries | 4 | 4 |
So while animal style changes the calorie, fat and sodium content, it does not alter the protein you get from In-N-Out’s regular menu items.
Should You Avoid Animal Style Due to Calories?
Based on the nutrition numbers, animal style does result in slightly higher calories, fat and sodium compared to regular preparations of burgers and fries. However, the increases are fairly modest overall.
For example, animal style only adds 30 calories and 1 gram of fat to burgers. While the calorie and fat increase is more significant for fries, a small order of animal style fries still provides less than 400 calories and 20 grams of fat.
These amounts are quite reasonable for one meal. For most people, the slight calorie and fat increase of animal style is not enough to make a significant dent in their overall diet.
Of course, individuals managing their weight or other health conditions like diabetes or hypertension may want to take the extra calories and sodium into account. But for the average healthy person, indulging in animal style only occasionally is unlikely to be an issue.
Moderation is key – going animal style every time you visit In-N-Out would start to add up over time. But enjoying it as an occasional treat is perfectly fine nutrition-wise for most people. So unless your doctor advises otherwise, you do not need to avoid animal style simply due to the minimal impact on calories, fat and sodium.
Tips for Making Animal Style Healthier
If you want to reduce the calorie hit of animal style even further, there are some tweaks you can make:
- Order a protein style burger – this replaces the bun with lettuce wrap and saves about 50 calories and 10g carbs.
- Get grilled onions instead of raw – grilled uses less oil.
- Ask for light or no spread on the buns.
- Request easy or light sauce.
- Skip the cheese and sauce on the fries.
- Opt for a small size fries.
- Share your fries with a friend.
- Substitute a side salad instead of fries.
Implementing some of these tweaks allows you to cut back on calories while still enjoying the signature animal style flavors.
Healthier Menu Options
Beyond animal style, In-N-Out does offer some healthier alternatives:
- Protein style burgers wrapped in lettuce
- Grilled chicken sandwich
- Veggie sandwich
- Salads with low-fat dressing
- Low-carb “flying Dutchman” burgers
- Hamburger or cheeseburger with no spread
- Fries lightly cooked
- Smoothies made with nonfat milk
Choosing these options allows you to reduce calories, fat, carbs or sodium compared to In-N-Out’s standard burgers and fries.
Key Takeaways on Animal Style Calories
So in summary, here are the key facts on how animal style impacts calories, fat and sodium:
- Animal style adds around 30 calories to burgers.
- It adds significantly more calories (180+) to fries.
- Fat and sodium also increase slightly for burgers and moderately for fries.
- But the amounts are quite modest overall.
- Occasionally enjoying animal style likely won’t impact your diet significantly.
- Those limiting calories or sodium should account for the increases.
- You can tweak animal style orders to make them healthier.
- In-N-Out also offers lower calorie options on the menu.
So go ahead and indulge in animal style fries or burgers occasionally if you like the taste. Just be mindful of the slight calorie and sodium increases, and balance it out by choosing healthier options at other meals. With moderation and smart choices, you can still enjoy animal style as part of an overall nutritious diet.
Conclusion
Animal style preparation at In-N-Out Burger does result in increased calories, fat and sodium compared to the regular options. However, the increases are fairly modest, especially for burgers. Occasional enjoyment of animal style is unlikely to have a major impact for most healthy individuals. Those limiting sodium or calories for health reasons may want to account for the extra amounts or modify their orders. Overall, with sensible portions and moderation, animal style can be part of an overall balanced diet.
