McDonald’s French Fries Price (2026)

World Famous Fries prices by size, calories, and how to get them free — updated October 2026

Last checked: Oct 14, 2026~13,500 US locationsIndependent guide

See fries prices

Quick answer

🍟 McDonald’s fries cost roughly $2.29–$3.99 (Small), $3.19–$4.79 (Medium), and $3.39–$5.39 (Large) in 2026, depending on location. Calories: 230 / 320 / 480.

🎉 Free Fries Friday is active through 2026: free medium fries with any $1+ app purchase, every Friday.

📋 McDonald’s publishes no national price list — franchises set their own prices, so figures below are verified 2026 ranges, not single “official” numbers.

McDonald’s Fries Prices by Size (2026)

Size Reported price range
Small $2.29 – $3.99
Medium $3.19 – $4.79
Large $3.39 – $5.39
Kids (Happy Meal) Included in Happy Meal

Ranges compiled from 2026 sources: mac-menus.com (Apr 2026: $2.49 / $3.19 / $3.39), recipeheaven.com in-store price-history analysis (Apr 2026), macmenususa.com (May 2026), GitHub menu-price tracker (updated ~Oct 2026), mcdonalds-menus.us (2026). Stale outliers ($1.89–$3.09 from mcd-menu.org) excluded.

Small, medium and large McDonald's fries

Small / Medium / Large — prices vary by franchise

Crispy fries with sea salt

Salted immediately after frying — part of the famous taste

📍 Prices vary by location. McDonald’s corporate does not publish a national price list — individual franchise owners set menu-board prices based on local costs (foodchainhub.com 2026 locations guide). Any site printing one single “official” fries price is guessing. We show verified ranges instead.

Fries Calories by Size

Size Calories
Kids 110
Small 230
Medium 320
Large 480

Official McDonald’s nutrition values, repeated verbatim across mac-menus.com (Apr 2026), mcds-menu.restaurant, eatthismuch.com, and pricelisto.com, all quoting mcdonalds.com product pages. Small fries full nutrition: 230 cal, 11g fat, 31g carbs, 3g protein, 190mg sodium, 0g trans fat. Note: some older scraped pages show Medium 340 / Large 490+ — those are outdated legacy PDFs.

Free Fries Friday (2026)

🍟 Free medium fries every Friday — active through 2026

Free medium French Fries with any $1+ purchase (excludes tax), every Friday in 2026. Terms, consistent across sources:

📱 McDonald’s app only (MyMcDonald’s Rewards opt-in) · 1 redemption per member per Friday · participating locations.

Confirmed by dealseek.com (Aug 2026: “running all year long”), wichitaonthecheap.com (Jul 2026), and a real Sep 13, 2026 in-store receipt from Alamogordo, NM showing “FREE Medium Fries with minimum purchase of $1 — Valid 1x/week.”

⚠️ Check your app’s Deals tab on any given Friday — franchise participation varies.

Fries with ketchup dip

Free Fries Friday: free medium fries with $1+ app purchase

Verified Fries Facts

🥩 Cooked in beef tallow until 1990

McDonald’s fried its fries in roughly 93% beef tallow / 7% cottonseed oil until 1990, when a campaign against saturated fat (Phil Sokolof, National Heart Savers Association) pushed the switch to vegetable oil with beef flavoring. In 2002 McDonald’s paid US$10 million to settle lawsuits accusing the chain of mislabeling its fries as vegetarian. (Wikipedia, crawled Oct 2026)

🌱 Not vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free (US)

The “natural beef flavor” in the oil blend contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk derivatives — officially listed as Contains: Wheat, Milk. (mac-menus.com Apr 2026, quoting McDonald’s ingredients)

🥔 Made from named potato varieties

US fries are cut from premium whole potatoes: Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet, and Shepody. (mac-menus.com Apr 2026)

📦 ~3.6 billion orders a year

McDonald’s says it serves about 3.6 billion orders of fries each year (company PR via iHeart, Jul 2026).

❄️ Frozen since the 1960s — that’s the consistency trick

McDonald’s partnered with J.R. Simplot to develop par-fried, flash-frozen fries, so every restaurant serves identical crispy fries — they’re only finished in hot oil in-store. (Wikipedia)

🚫 Supersize fries were discontinued in 2004

The 7-oz Supersize (vs 6-oz Large) was phased out by end of 2004, citing menu simplification — about six weeks after “Super Size Me” premiered. (QSR Magazine, Mar 2004)

McDonald’s Fries FAQs

How much do McDonald’s French Fries cost in 2026?
Small $2.29–$3.99, Medium $3.19–$4.79, Large $3.39–$5.39 in the US. There is no national price — franchise owners set prices, so your store may differ.
What fries sizes are available?
Four US sizes: Kids (Happy Meal), Small, Medium, and Large. Some locations also sell a shareable Basket of Fries.
How many calories are in McDonald’s fries?
Official nutrition: Kids 110, Small 230, Medium 320, Large 480 calories.
Why do McDonald’s fries taste so good?
Real potatoes (Russet Burbank, Shepody) that are par-fried and flash-frozen for consistency, finished in a canola/corn/soybean oil blend, salted immediately, and flavored with natural beef flavor — the successor to the pre-1990 beef-tallow recipe.
Are McDonald’s fries vegetarian or vegan?
No, not in the US. The natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and milk derivatives — officially listed as Contains: Wheat, Milk.
Are McDonald’s fries gluten-free?
No — the natural beef flavoring contains hydrolyzed wheat.
How do I get free fries on Friday?
Free Fries Friday is active through 2026: free medium fries with any $1+ purchase (excludes tax), app only, MyMcDonald’s Rewards opt-in, participating locations, once per Friday.
Can I buy just fries, without a meal?
Yes — all sizes are sold à la carte, and Small fries appear on the McValue “Buy One, Add One for $1” menu (prices and participation vary).
What happened to Supersize fries?
McDonald’s phased out Supersize fries and drinks by the end of 2004 (the 7-oz Supersize vs the 6-oz Large), citing menu simplification.
What oil are McDonald’s fries cooked in?
A blend of canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and hydrogenated soybean oil (US recipe includes natural beef flavor), with 0g trans fat per labeled serving.

See the full McDonald’s menu with prices for everything else on the menu.

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