High-Protein Breakfast Options at Carl’s Jr. (Under 500 Calories)
Reality check: Carl’s Jr. breakfast is big
Carl’s Jr. (and sister brand Hardee’s) lean heavily into “big, hearty breakfast” territory—biscuits, loaded omelets, and even a full-on Breakfast Burger. That’s great for flavor, not so great for a high-protein, under-500-calorie plan.
From recent nutrition info and third-party breakdowns, typical Carl’s Jr. breakfast items look like this:
Breakfast Burger: about 790 calories, with roughly 42 g protein.
Loaded Omelet Biscuit: around 540–550 calories, with a significant chunk of calories from fat and a good protein dose.
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: about 590 calories.
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Carl’s / Hardee’s style): typically 600–640+ calories.
Beyond Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: about 660 calories.
Pattern:
Almost all classic biscuit and burger-style breakfasts at Carl’s Jr. land above 500 calories—sometimes way above—despite offering good protein.
So if you want high protein and under 500 calories, you mostly have to:
Hack the breakfast items (ditch the biscuit / skip parts), or
Use non-breakfast menu items like grilled chicken salads as your first meal.
What “high-protein breakfast” actually means
For most people, a high-protein breakfast means aiming for roughly 20–30 grams of protein in the first meal of the day. That amount is commonly used to help with:
Better appetite control and fewer cravings later
Muscle maintenance, especially if you work out
More stable energy instead of a sugar crash
Given that target:
Carl’s Jr. breakfast does deliver plenty of protein…
But the calories from biscuits, cheese, and sauces make it hard to stay under 500 unless you’re strategic.
Why there are basically no standard Carl’s Jr. breakfasts under 500 calories
Looking at the numbers:
Loaded Omelet Biscuit: ~540–550 calories
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: ~590 calories
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: ~640 calories
Beyond Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: ~660 calories
Breakfast Burger: ~790 calories, 42 g protein
You can see the problem:
Pretty much every biscuit or burger-based breakfast sits above 500 calories straight out of the box.
So if you walk in and order any biscuit or the Breakfast Burger “as is,” you’ve already blown your calorie budget for this article’s premise—even though the protein might look great on paper.
Strategy 1: “De-construct” the breakfast items
The first way to make Carl’s Jr. breakfast work under 500 calories is to strip out the heaviest parts: mainly the biscuit and some of the cheese/sauces.
Registered dietitians analyzing sister chain Hardee’s point out that, nutritionally, you’re better off just getting the eggs and meat and skipping the biscuit and gravy when you want a lighter breakfast.
You can apply the same logic at Carl’s Jr.
Option A: “No biscuit” hack
For any biscuit sandwich (bacon, sausage, loaded omelet, Beyond, etc.) you can:
Ask for the sandwich without the biscuit, or
Order it as usual and simply eat the egg, meat, and cheese, leaving most or all of the biscuit behind
Since a big, buttery biscuit often contributes 200+ calories by itself, skipping it can dramatically lower total calories while keeping a big chunk of the protein.
For example:
Loaded Omelet Biscuit: ~540–550 calories total.
Omelet (eggs + meat + cheese) contains most of the protein.
Ditching the biscuit can realistically drop you toward the 300–350 calorie range, still with a strong protein hit (likely 20+ g; inference based on similar egg/meat portions in Hardee’s nutrition tables).
Do you get perfect macro numbers? No. But you move from “over-the-top heavy” to “pretty solid high-protein, under-500-ish” very quickly.
Option B: Ask for eggs and meat only
Staff can usually ring in:
Scrambled eggs or folded eggs
Bacon or sausage
Maybe cheese on the side
Similar guidance exists for Hardee’s (just eggs and bacon, skip the biscuit and sides) as a way to drastically lower calories while keeping protein.
If you can get, say:
2 eggs + bacon or sausage on a plate
you’re likely around 250–350 calories with 15–25 g of protein, which is absolutely workable for a high-protein breakfast, especially if you add some fruit or a high-protein snack later.
Strategy 2: Use non-breakfast items as your “protein breakfast”
Because the official breakfast menu is so calorie-dense, the best truly under-500, high-protein options at Carl’s Jr. are actually salads and grilled chicken items from the regular menu.
1. Original Grilled Chicken Salad
Third-party nutrition breakdowns for Carl’s Jr. Original Grilled Chicken Salad show:
Calories: about 270–280
Protein: about 25 g
Extras: around 4 g fiber and a reasonable mix of carbs and fat
Why it’s a star:
25 g of protein at under 300 calories is great for a “breakfast” if you’re okay with salad in the morning.
You can add a light dressing portion and still stay under 400 calories, leaving room for coffee.
Paired with black coffee or unsweet tea, this is an excellent high-protein under-500 breakfast.
2. Charbroiled Chicken Salad (no dressing)
Another breakdown for the Charbroiled Chicken Salad without dressing gives:
Calories: about 238
Protein: about 28 g
That is ridiculously efficient:
About 28 g of protein for under 250 calories.
This lines up with how dietitians often talk about grilled chicken salads in general: lean protein, low saturated fat, plus veggies and fiber.
If you:
Keep dressing light, or
Use half a packet
you’re still very likely under 350–400 calories total, with mid-to-high-20s protein. That is textbook high-protein breakfast territory.
3. Charbroiled Chicken Sandwich (modified)
Carl’s Jr. is known for charbroiled burgers and chicken sandwiches. Even without the exact current nutrition line for each build, most grilled chicken sandwiches across fast-food chains tend to land around:
~380–450 calories with sauce and bun
20–30 g protein
And Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. low-carb guides generally recommend grilled options without the bun or mayo when you’re trying to cut calories and carbs.
So a smart play is:
Order a charbroiled chicken sandwich
Ask for no mayo or special sauce
If you’re really strict, you can eat it open-face (one bun half) or wrap it in lettuce
Realistically, that puts you somewhere in the 300–400 calorie range, still with 20+ g of protein—a decent, sandwich-style breakfast that fits under 500 calories when paired with a zero-cal drink.
High-protein Carl’s Jr. “breakfast” combos under 500 calories
Because the official breakfast sandwiches are so heavy, your best under-500 combos almost always use salads or de-constructed breakfasts. Here are practical combinations that fit the bill.
Combo 1: Original Grilled Chicken Salad + Black Coffee
Original Grilled Chicken Salad: ~270–280 calories, about 25 g protein
Black coffee / unsweet tea / water: ~0–5 calories
Total: roughly 275–285 calories, 25 g protein
Why it’s great:
Classic “healthy fast-food” move that works perfectly as a breakfast if you’re okay with salad in the morning.
Leaves a lot of room later in the day for more carbs and fats while keeping you full thanks to a strong protein base.
Combo 2: Charbroiled Chicken Salad (no dressing) + Coffee
Charbroiled Chicken Salad without dressing: ~238 calories, ~28 g protein
Black coffee / unsweet tea: ~0–5 calories
Total: about 238–243 calories, 28 g protein
Why this is a macro cheat code:
This hits the 20–30 g protein sweet spot at barely over 200 calories.
You can tack on a small piece of fruit later and still be under 400 calories for the morning.
If you’re cutting weight or trying to get a lot of protein with very few calories, this is easily one of the best Carl’s Jr. “breakfast” options, even though it’s from the regular menu.
Combo 3: Eggs and Meat Only (No Biscuit) + Zero-Cal Drink
Using the biscuit numbers as a baseline, where full sandwiches run 540–660+ calories with 19–25+ g protein:
Biscuit + egg + meat + cheese: ~540–660 calories
Biscuit alone often contributes 200+ calories
If you ask for:
Eggs with bacon or sausage, no biscuit, or
Eat just the egg and meat and leave the biscuit
you can realistically drop that meal into the 300–400 calorie ballpark with most of the protein intact (likely 18–25 g, based on Hardee’s/Homestyle egg-and-meat nutrition lines).
Add:
Black coffee / unsweet tea: ~0–5 calories
and you have a simple, diner-style high-protein breakfast that stays under 500 calories.
Combo 4: Charbroiled Chicken Sandwich (light) + Coffee
If you prefer a sandwich:
Charbroiled chicken sandwich (no mayo, maybe no cheese): estimated ~350–400 calories, 20+ g protein based on typical grilled chicken sandwich macros and low-carb guides.
Black coffee / unsweet tea: ~0–5 calories
Total: about 350–405 calories, 20+ g protein
Why it’s useful:
More “traditional fast-food” feel than a salad, still reasonably macro-friendly.
Fits comfortably under 500, so you’re safe even if your sandwich comes in at the upper end of the range.
What to avoid if you’re serious about staying under 500 calories
For this specific goal (high protein, under 500 calories), the following Carl’s Jr. breakfast items are basically no-go unless you’re sharing or only eating part of them:
Breakfast Burger – ~790 calories, even though it offers 42 g of protein.
Loaded Omelet Biscuit – ~540–550 calories.
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit – ~590 calories.
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit – often ~600–640 calories.
Beyond Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit – ~660 calories.
They all provide good protein, but they break the 500-calorie rule on their own.
If you really want one of these occasionally, your best bet is to:
Eat half now, half later, or
Strip off the biscuit and treat it more like a plate of eggs, meat, and cheese.
General tips to keep Carl’s Jr. breakfast high-protein and under 500
Even if you don’t remember exact numbers, these rules will keep you in the right zone:
Biscuit = trouble
Assume a biscuit breakfast sandwich is over 500 calories unless you modify it.
Either skip the biscuit, eat only part of it, or treat those options as a rare treat.
Order eggs and meat “naked” when you can
Eggs + bacon or sausage, no biscuit, is a tried-and-true low-carb/low-cal approach dietitians already recommend at Hardee’s (same parent company).
Use salads as stealth breakfast
Original Grilled Chicken Salad or Charbroiled Chicken Salad without heavy dressing give you 25–28 g of protein for 240–280 calories, which is honestly better than almost any biscuit combo on the board.
Keep drinks calorie-free
Almost none of your protein comes from drinks at Carl’s Jr.
Stick to black coffee, unsweet tea, or water so all your calories go toward actual food.
Think of Carl’s Jr. as your protein anchor, not the whole breakfast
Grab a salad or egg-and-meat combo for protein.
Add fruit, oats, or a protein snack at home or work to round out the meal.
Quick Carl’s Jr. high-protein breakfast cheat sheet
If you’re at the counter (or drive-thru) and want to stay under 500 calories without doing math, here are simple “just say this” orders:
Leanest, highest-protein option
“Original Grilled Chicken Salad and a black coffee.”
≈ 270–280 calories, about 25 g protein.
Ultra-lean salad play
“Charbroiled Chicken Salad, no dressing, and an unsweet iced tea.”
≈ 240 calories, about 28 g protein.
Modified breakfast special
“Loaded Omelet Biscuit, but please serve the omelet portion without the biscuit,” plus black coffee.
Realistically around 300–350 calories, ~20+ g protein (varies by portion, but much lighter than the full 540–550-cal sandwich).
Simple egg-and-meat plate
“Eggs with bacon (or sausage), no biscuit, and a black coffee.”
Roughly 250–350 calories with 15–25 g protein, depending on portions.
Use these as your default moves and you’ll get high-protein breakfasts at Carl’s Jr. that actually stay under 500 calories, instead of accidentally turning your morning into a 700–800-calorie blowout.
