Do McDonald’s Smoothies have sugar in them? McDonald’s smoothies. Yes, McDonald’s makes smoothies and has done for a little while. They are the smoothies you order at McDonald’s when you want to feel virtuous (or just want a smoothie instead of a shake). But does anybody actually know how much sugar is in McDonald’s smoothies? As well as if there actually is any added sugar in McDonald’s smoothies. Also, are McDonald’s smoothies a lower or higher drink item on the McDonald’s menu? So many questions. Fear not – I will be answering all of them in this post!
So, let’s dig in – do McDonald’s smoothies have sugar in them?
Do McDonald’s Smoothies Have Sugar in Them?
Even though McDonald’s smoothies do contain sugar and fructose, it is such a tiny amount that there is still 0g of added sugar even in a large cup. There are 39g-42g of total sugar in a small cup, 49g-52g of total sugar in a medium cup and 68g-72g of total sugar in a large cup of McDonald’s smoothies.
Before we continue, if you want to learn more about the sugar content of McDonald’s food and drink make sure to check out the following posts I wrote:
Do McDonald’s Smoothies Have Sugar in Them?
Okay, so here is the McDonald’s smoothie low down. There are two smoothies on the McDonald’s menu – a strawberry banana one and a mango pineapple one. Let’s first have a look at the ingredients in these smoothies and establish if there is any added sugar in them.
Let’s start with the mango pineapple smoothie.
MANGO PINEAPPLE SMOOTHIE
Ingredients in McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie
The mango pineapple smoothie is made from mango pineapple fruit base, ice, and low-fat smoothie yogurt. The ingredients in the mango pineapple base and the low-fat smoothie yogurt are below:
Mango Pineapple Fruit Base – “Water, Clarified Demineralized Pineapple Juice Concentrate, Mango Puree Concentrate, Pineapple Juice Concentrate, Orange Juice Concentrate, Pineapple Puree (pineapple And Ascorbic Acid), Apple Juice Concentrate, Contains Less Than 1%: Cellulose Powder, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Xanthan Gum, Pectin, Citric Acid, Fruit And Vegetable Juice For Color, Turmeric Extract (color).”
Lowfat Smoothie Yogurt – “Cultured Grade A Reduced Fat Milk, Sugar, Whey Protein Concentrate, Fructose, Corn Starch, Modified Food Starch, Gelatin. Contains Active Yogurt Cultures.”
As you can see there is no added sugar in the mango pineapple fruit base – just naturally occurring sugar in the juice concentrates. There is added sugar in the low-fat smoothie yogurt in the form of sugar and fructose. However, when you look at the nutritional information for the smoothie there is 0g of added sugar – even in a large cup.
This means that even though there is some sugar and fructose in the mango pineapple smoothie there isn’t even 1g of added sugar in a cup.
Does that make sense?
There is only naturally occurring “total” sugar from the fruit juice concentrates. We will look at how much total sugar in the below.
How Much Added Sugar is in A McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie?
Although sugar and fructose are ingredients in a McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie, there is 0g of added sugar in this smoothie, regardless of the size ordered.
How Much Sugar is in McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie?
I established above that there is 0g of added sugar in a McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie, but how about the total sugar content? What is that? You know, all the naturally occurring sugar from the fruit concentrates juices? I have set out below the total sugar content of McDonald’s mango pineapple smoothie for the small, medium, and large sizes.
| McDonald’s Smoothie Cup Size | Total Sugar in McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie |
|---|---|
| Small | 42g |
| Medium | 52g |
| Large | 72g |
It is also worth noting that you can actually order a McDonald’s Mango Pineapple smoothie WITHOUT the low-fat smoothie yogurt (yes, this would be a custom order). The good news is that I personally checked that this is something you can do from a McDonald’s order kiosk. Just click on customize order and there should be an option to order without the low-fat smoothie yogurt.
The total sugar content of the mango pineapple smoothie for the different sizes is set out below:
| McDonald’s Smoothie Cup Size | Total Sugar in McDonald’s Mango Pineapple Smoothie Ordered Without The Low Fat Smoothie Yogurt |
|---|---|
| Small | 39g |
| Medium | 48g |
| Large | 67g |
This means you can save 3g of sugar in a small, 4g in a medium, and 5g in a large if you order your smoothie without the low-fat smoothie yogurt
STRAWBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE
Ingredients in McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie
McDonald’s strawberry banana smoothie is made from strawberry banana fruit base, ice, and low-fat smoothie yogurt. The ingredients of the fruit base and low-fat smoothie yogurt can be found below:
Strawberry Banana Fruit Base – “Strawberry Puree, Banana Puree, Water, Grape Juice Concentrate, Clarified Demineralized Pineapple Juice Concentrate, Sugar, Contains Less Than 1%: Natural And Artificial Flavors, Cellulose Powder, Pear Juice Concentrate, Peach Juice Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Pectin, Colored With Fruit And Vegetable Juice, Ascorbic Acid (preservative).”
Lowfat Smoothie Yogurt – “Cultured Grade A Reduced Fat Milk, Sugar, Whey Protein Concentrate, Fructose, Corn Starch, Modified Food Starch, Gelatin. Contains Active Yogurt Cultures.”
Just like with the mango pineapple smoothie, there is also sugar and fructose in the strawberry banana smoothie – from the yogurt base. However, there is still 0g of added sugar – even if ordered in a large size.
It is also worth bearing in mind that you can actually order the smoothie without the low-fat smoothie yogurt base. The good news is that (just like I did for the Mango Pineapple smoothie) I personally checked that this is something you can do from a McDonald’s order kiosk. Just click on customize order and there should be an option to order without the low-fat smoothie yogurt.
How Many Added Sugars Are in McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie?
Even though McDonald’s strawberry banana smoothie contains sugar and fructose there is 0g of added sugar in a cup regardless of the size ordered.
How Much Sugar is in A McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie?
I have set out below the total sugar content of the three sizes of the strawberry banana smoothie at McDonald’s:
| McDonald’s Smoothie Cup Size | Total Sugar in McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie |
|---|---|
| Small | 39g |
| Medium | 49g |
| Large | 68g |
If you order your strawberry banana smoothie without the low-fat smoothie yogurt, it will have the following sugar content:
| McDonald’s Smoothie Cup Size | Total Sugar in McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie Ordered Without The Low Fat Smoothie Yogurt |
|---|---|
| Small | 36g |
| Medium | 45g |
| Large | 63g |
Which McDonald’s Smoothie Has the Least Sugar?
The strawberry banana smoothie has marginally less (5%-7%) total sugar content than the mango pineapple smoothie. This equates to 3g-4g of sugar less depending on the size ordered.
A small McDonald’s strawberry banana smoothie ordered without the low-fat smoothie yogurt is the lowest sugar smoothie at McDonald’s coming in at 36g of total sugar.
A large Mango Pineapple smoothie in comparison contains 72g of total sugar.
How Many Teaspoons of Sugar Are in McDonald’s Smoothie?
As a general rule, there are the following teaspoons of sugar in the different sizes of smoothies at McDonald’s:
- Small McDonald’s smoothie – 10-11 teaspoons of sugar
- Medium McDonald’s smoothie – 12-13 teaspoons of sugar
- Large McDonald’s smoothie – 17-18 teaspoons of sugar
It is important to note that all this sugar is total sugar content (naturally occurring from the fruit concentrates) and not added sugar.
Are McDonald’s Smoothies A Lower Sugar Drink At McDonald’s?
Above I established that a McDonald’s smoothie can contain 36g-72g of total sugar. So how does this compare to the sugar content of other drinks at McDonald’s?
Well, if you want to order one of the lowest sugar drinks at McDonald’s then make sure to check out the following post I wrote – 10 Lowest Sugar Drinks at McDonald’s. This post presents you with 10 McDonald’s drinks that contain 0g-9g of sugar. But back to the smoothies, how do they compare to other drinks at McDonald’s?
Are McDonald’s Smoothies Lower in Sugar Than Soda?
The sodas at McDonald’s have the following sugar contents:
- small Coke – 39g
- large Coke – 77g
- small Sprite – 35g
- large Sprite – 69g
- small Fanta – 38g
- large Fanta – 78g
As you can see the sugar content of the non-diet sodas at McDonald’s are fairly similar to the sugar content of the smoothies. It is important to note though that there is 0g of added sugar in the smoothies whereas the soda sugar contents above are all added.
Are McDonald’s Smoothies Higher in Sugar Than the Frozen Sodas?
A small frozen Coca-Cola/Fanta Blue Raspberry at McDonald’s contains 16g of sugar and a large cup contains 29g of sugar. So, a McDonald’s smoothie is actually interestingly much higher in total sugar content than the frozen Coca-Cola and Fanta Blue Raspberry. The smoothies are, however, free from added sugar content.
Are McDonald’s Smoothies Higher in Sugar Than the Minute Maid Orange Juice?
A large minute maid juice at McDonald’s contains 58g of total sugar and a small Minute Maid juice contains 32g of total sugar. So, there is slightly more total sugar content in McDonald’s smoothies than in their orange juice.
Are McDonald’s Smoothies Higher in Sugar Than The Sweet Tea?
There are 24g of sugar in a small cup of McDonald’s sweet tea and 40g in a large cup, so the sweet tea at McDonald’s is lower than the total sugar content of the smoothies.
What Is Higher in Sugar – McDonald’s Smoothies or McDonald’s Milkshakes?
There is more sugar in a McDonald’s milkshake than in a McDonald’s smoothie. There are 51g-67g of total sugar in a small McDonald’s milkshake vs 39g-42g of total sugar in a small McDonald’s smoothie. There are 85g-107g of sugar in a large McDonald’s milkshake vs 68g-72g of total sugar in a McDonald’s smoothie, so McDonald’s smoothies are lower in sugar than their milkshakes.
Finally, now that you are so knowledgeable in the sugar content of smoothies at McDonald’s, if you want to learn about 18 food items at McDonald’s that contain 5g of sugar or less you can here: 18 McDonald’s Food Items Contains 5g of Sugar or Less.
Do McDonald’s Smoothies Have Sugar in Them? – The Final Bite
What have we learned from the above? Well, when it comes to McDonald’s smoothies you need to understand that whilst they are not the lowest sugar drink available on the menu, they do not contain any added sugars to the drink. Getting a smoothie can work out at about the same sugar level as ordering a regular soda. However, they are lower in sugar than a McDonald’s Milkshake option so if you are desperate for a lower sugar “thicker” drink then a smoothie may be your best option. Just remember that the strawberry banana flavor has less sugar than the mango pineapple. If you want to order the lowest version of the smoothies, then always ask if the low-fat yogurt base can be removed.
And Remember…
Ingredients and/or manufacturing processes may change. Always double-check ingredient lists and nutritional information before purchasing any food items.
WANT TO FIND MORE LOW SUGAR OPTIONS?
Do you want to learn about some other low-sugar options at your favorite coffee chains, fast food, or restaurant joints, or just while you are shopping for groceries? If you do, then check out some of my other articles below:
