Hardee's Hand-Scooped Ice Cream Shake

Hardee's doesn't pull this shake from a soft-serve machine. Staff scoop real ice cream, blend it with milk and finish it with whipped topping.

That makes it thicker than most drive-thru shakes. Expect to wait a minute longer, and expect a straw that struggles at first.

The core flavors are vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. All three cost the same, about $3.99.

Per Hardee's nutrition guide, vanilla has 700 calories, strawberry 710 and chocolate 730. The menu card shows a 690 to 710 range, so chocolate runs slightly above it.

Fat and protein are identical across flavors: 36g of fat, 24g of saturated fat and 13g of protein.

This is where flavor matters most. Vanilla has 66g of total sugars, strawberry 68g and chocolate 71g.

For scale, that's six times the sugar in an Apple Turnover (11g). The 24g of saturated fat is also above the 20g Daily Value used on U.S. food labels.

If you want something sweet after a burger, a single Apple Turnover at $1.00 and 270 calories is the lighter choice.

Order it with your meal, not after. Since it's scooped by hand, a separate trip to the counter means another wait.

Watch for seasonal flavors. Hardee's rotates limited-time shakes, like the Tropical Twister, that may not appear in the nutrition guide.

Splitting one between two people cuts each share to about 350 calories.