5 Fast Food Chains That Actually Cook From Scratch – Like In-N-Out and Culver’s

Culver’s Butter-Forward Approach to Fresh Food

The flavor is the reason the burger is so good, with a thicker-than-average smash patty topped with a pat of butter nestled between buttered buns. From the creamy frozen custard to the crispy cheese curds, Culver’s offers comfort on every plate. The frozen custard, which is made in-house throughout the day, is another way Culver’s sets itself apart from other brands. The mom-and-pop burger joint has since grown to nearly 1,000 locations that span 26 states, with its promise of high quality in both ingredients and service remaining a priority no matter how large the company becomes.

Five Guys’ Zero-Freezer Policy

It’s true that all of Five Guys’ food is made fresh and never frozen, with the restaurants not even having freezers – not a single one – so the food couldn’t be frozen even if employees wanted to. When it comes to meat, the product is delivered fresh every few days and placed into coolers or refrigerators until it’s ready to be used or up to 30 hours total. From the early days of business in the 1980s and ’90s, the founders of Five Guys wanted the restaurant to become synonymous with fresh food. All of their toppings are prepped fresh daily with nothing frozen, and their fresh burger patties are made to order on a flat-top grill and cooked until well done and juicy.

The Habit Burger’s Chargrilled Authenticity

Originating in Santa Barbara, The Habit Burger Grill carved its place with chargrilled burgers cooked over an open flame, with the smoky flavor and balanced toppings giving each bite a homemade quality. With its emphasis on grilling perfection and fresh ingredients, it has gained loyal fans who see it as a worthy rival to more established chains. The Habit Burger Grill started in Santa Barbara, capturing the laid-back yet quality-driven spirit of the area, offering flavorful fare with a range of buns, proteins, and toppings, and everything is grilled to order. Known for its commitment to freshness, the flavors are always vibrant.

Shake Shack’s Elevated Street Food Standards

Shake Shack’s minimalist design is matched by a menu that focuses on quality over quantity, starting as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park while maintaining its commitment to quality ingredients even as it’s expanded nationwide. The Shackburger is a solid classic, a crispy patty with a meaty flavor that complements the soft and doughy potato bun. Shake Shack’s Hamburger is served on a soft, toasted potato bun with a juicy, 100 percent all-natural Angus beef patty, and the company equally boasts of using non-GMO potato buns and antibiotic-free meats.

Chick-fil-A’s Dawn-to-Dusk Biscuit Making

Chick-fil-A serves chicken made from breast meat, breaded by hand in-restaurant, but here’s where Chick-fil-A really goes above and beyond – their biscuits. Chick-fil-A’s biscuits are made from scratch every morning at each free-standing location, a labor of love well worth the effort. Employees responsible for biscuit creation get to work early in the morning to begin the process, with at least 20 handmade Chick-fil-A biscuits on deck and ready to serve at any given moment.

The Fresh Fries Revolution

When it comes to Culver’s fries, they are crinkle cut and always fried to order, while the untold truth of In-N-Out fries is that they are kind of hated across the board. On paper they sound great, as they are cut in house from fresh potatoes, but patrons’ love for an In-N-Out burger just doesn’t translate to the fries. Five Guys’ hand-cut fries are cooked in 100% peanut oil, with potatoes sourced from up north where the cool nights ensure they grow slowly and denser, ensuring a less starchy, better fry. They’re never frozen and never pre-cut.

The Morning Prep That Sets These Chains Apart

Ever wonder why some fast food tastes so much better than others? It often comes down to what happens before the restaurant even opens. Team members begin by pouring a special biscuit mix into a large mixing bowl with 32 ounces of ice water, setting the mixer to combine the ingredients for only 18 seconds on a low speed. After dusting the workspace with self-rising White Lily flour, the cook will remove the biscuit dough from the bowl and gently work until it’s flat. This level of detail in preparation separates these chains from those relying on pre-made, reheated components.

Fresh Ingredients vs Marketing Claims

While chains like McDonald’s and Burger King focus on speed and uniformity, these five restaurants have chosen a different path, willing to sacrifice some efficiency for quality, and that shows in everything from their cooking methods to their ingredient sourcing. What matters is the actual preparation methods and ingredient quality, which is where these five chains truly shine – they’re not just slapping together pre-made components, they’re actually cooking. Not everything at these chains is as fresh as their marketing suggests, with even chains that pride themselves on freshness still using preservatives and processed ingredients in some items.

The Price Point of Quality

According to some reports, the average price of a meal from Five Guys in 2024 was approximately $20.84, with Jack in the Box, Wendy’s, Burger King, and McDonald’s staying under the $14 mark. One survey by Preply analyzed the language of restaurant reviewers to determine which establishments consumers thought were too expensive – Five Guys, along with Shake Shack and Sugar Factory, were the most overpriced chains. It seems that the reason customers are paying more at Five Guys is because its business model relies on investing in better ingredients and cooking techniques. All of these restaurants use fresh, never-frozen beef, and if price is an indicator of quality, then Five Guys is competing with steakhouse chains rather than the leagues of Burger King and McDonald’s.

Future of Fresh Food in Fast Casual

As consumers grow more mindful about what they eat, freshness has become a priority, with these five chains proving that fast food doesn’t have to sacrifice quality for convenience. While prices may be higher and wait times a bit longer, the reward is a meal that feels real – cooked that very day, not reheated from storage. For many, that difference is worth every bite. The success of these chains suggests that consumers are increasingly willing to pay premium prices for authentic food preparation and quality ingredients over speed and convenience.

The movement toward scratch cooking in fast food represents more than just a trend – it’s a fundamental shift in what customers expect from their dining experience. These chains have proven that it’s possible to maintain quality while scaling operations, creating a new standard for what fast food can be.