Cook Out Drinks Menu 2026
Every Sip Feels Like the Best Decision of the Night
Most people walk into Cook Out thinking about burgers or milkshakes first. Then they notice the drinks menu. That is usually when the order suddenly gets bigger. The drink selection at Cook Out is surprisingly broad for a fast-food chain. You have classic fountain sodas, sweet tea, Cheerwine, lemonade, floats, and dozens of shake combinations that turn a simple combo meal into something far more satisfying.
What makes the Cook Out drinks menu stand out is not only the variety. It is the portion size, strong flavor, and pricing that still feel reasonable in 2026. Drinks are served cold, refills are generous at many locations, and several regional options give the menu a more Southern feel compared to standard fast-food chains. Whether you want something light with fries or a thick dessert-style drink to replace an entire meal, there is genuinely something worth ordering here.
This guide covers the complete Cook Out drinks menu with prices, sizes, calories, ingredients, popular picks, seasonal favorites, customization ideas, and the drinks customers keep ordering again and again.
Cook Out Drink Menu: Full Prices 2026
Quick overview before the details. Standard fountain drinks run $1.29 for a small and $2.09 for their biggest size. Milkshakes are $3.59 to $4.59. Floats are $2.49 flat. Every Cook Out Tray comes with a large drink included so you’re not paying extra for a drink when you order a tray.
The main item in that tray deal, along with two sides and a large drink, costs between $6.29 and $7.49. In 2026, when most fast food combos are $13 to $16, that price still surprises you the first time you see it.
Fountain Soft Drinks
Cook Out runs Coca-Cola products. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Fanta Orange, and Fruit Punch. Standard stuff. Cheerwine at locations in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia gets its own section because it’s worth more than a line item.
|
Drink |
Small |
Regular |
Large |
Huge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Coca-Cola |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Diet Coke |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Sprite |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Dr Pepper |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Fanta Orange |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Fruit Punch |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
|
Cheerwine |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
The giant size is 32 ounces. Most chains stop at 24 and call it a large. Cook Out gives you 32 for $2.09. Their bottled water costs $2.39. So the biggest drink on the menu is cheaper than the water. I have no explanation for that, but I appreciate it.
Banana Berry
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Diet Coke
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Sprite
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Dr Pepper
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Fanta Orange
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Fruit Punch
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Cheerwine
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Cook Out Sweet Tea
They brew the sweet tea fresh here. Not from a packet, not from a machine that has been running since early morning. Actual brewed Southern sweet tea. Cold, strong, sweetened the way it should be. If the only sweet tea you have had came from somewhere that makes it taste like brown sugar water, this one will be a different experience.
Unsweet tea is the same brewed base, no sugar added. Squeeze some lemon in and it is a zero calorie drink that does not taste watered down. Both versions have caffeine because they come from black tea. Same price as everything else on the board.
Fanta Orange
Small $1.29 · Huge $2.09
Unsweet Tea
0 cal
|
Tea |
Small |
Regular |
Large |
Huge |
Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sweet Tea |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
~210 cal (huge) |
|
Unsweet Tea |
$1.29 |
$1.49 |
$1.79 |
$2.09 |
0 cal |
Lemonade
Real lemons, no powder
Cook Out Lemonade
Real lemons. You can taste the difference between lemonade made from actual lemons and the kind mixed from a powder packet. Cook Out uses real lemons. The flavor is tangy and fresh, not fake-sweet, not aggressively sour. Just genuinely good lemonade.
Get this drink with anything Cajun from the food menu. Citrus and spice work together the same way they do in actual cooking. The lemonade tones the heat down without getting rid of it. Good pairing. No caffeine in the lemonade, which makes it a solid pick for kids, too.
|
Drink |
Small |
Regular |
Large |
Huge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lemonade |
$1.39 |
$1.59 |
$1.89 |
$2.19 |
Cheerwine
Cheerwine is a cherry soda made in Salisbury, North Carolina, since 1917. It does not taste like regular cherry soda. No artificial aftertaste, no medicinal edge. It is lighter than most sodas, and the cherry flavor tastes like actual cherries. There is nothing else like it at any other major fast food chain.
You can get it as a regular fountain drink or as a float. The float is the better call. Cheerwine and vanilla soft serve together is a combination that people from out of state specifically look up before visiting the Cook Out for the first time. If your location carries it and you skip the float, you left the best thing on the board behind.
Cheerwine
Cherry soda
Cheerwine Float
vanilla soft serve
Floats
Two floats on the menu, both priced at $2.49. The Cheerwine Float uses Cheerwine cherry soda, and the Coke Float uses Coca-Cola. Both are made with vanilla soft serve, and both have a solid ice cream-to-soda ratio. You get ice cream throughout the whole drink, not just at the top.
Cheerwine Float $2.49
~390 cal
Coke Float $2.99
~380 cal
The Cheerwine Float is the better one. Cherry soda and vanilla soft serve work together in a way that cola and vanilla do not match. At $2.49 in 2026, when sit-down spots charge $5 to $7 for a comparable dessert drink, these floats are the best value dessert on the Cook Out menu.
Cook Out Milkshakes
Over 40 flavors. Hand spun. The drink is so thick that drinking it through a straw is a workout. If you have never had a Cook Out milkshake and you think of fast food shakes as thin, watery things pushed through a machine, set that expectation aside. These are different.
A regular shake on its own is $3.59 to $3.99. Fancy flavors go up to $4.59. If you add one to your tray instead of the included large drink, it will cost one dollar more. That upgrade is the thing every regular does automatically.
Option
Price
|
Regular shake (separate) |
$3.59 – $3.99 |
|
Fancy shake (separate) |
$4.19 – $4.59 |
|
Tray upgrade to regular shake |
+$1.00 |
|
Tray upgrade to fancy shake |
+$1.00 to $1.60 |
Milkshake Flavors
Classic: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Banana, Cherry. Candy flavors: Reese’s Cup, Peanut Butter Fudge, Oreo Mint, Butterfinger, M&M, Snickers, Kit Kat, Cookies and Cream. Fruit and cobbler: Banana Pudding, Peach, Blueberry, Blackberry Cobbler, Apple Cobbler. Seasonal flavors like Watermelon in summer and Pumpkin Spice in fall rotate through and are not always on the main board so ask when you pull up.
Classic
Candy
Fruit & Cobbler
Fruit & Cobbler
Best Drink Pairings With Cookout Trays
BBQ tray with sweet tea. That pairing has worked in Southern cooking forever and it works here too. Cajun chicken with lemonade because the citrus handles the heat without killing the flavor. Char-grilled burger with Cheerwine if your location has it, the cherry tartness works well with grilled beef.
Fried food with unsweet tea and lemon. Cuts the grease without adding more sugar to the meal. Hot dogs or hushpuppies with the Cheerwine Float because simple food and an indulgent drink do not compete with each other. The tray includes a drink anyway so pick one that actually goes with what you ordered.
Most Popular Cook Out Drinks Ranked
Rank
Drink
Why People Keep Ordering It
|
1 |
Sweet Tea: Large or Huge |
Brewed fresh, pairs with everything, and is the best value on the board |
|
2 |
Cheerwine Float |
The one drink people specifically tell others to try |
|
3 |
Banana Pudding Milkshake |
Tastes like actual banana pudding, top seller among regulars |
|
4 |
Reese’s Cup Milkshake |
Most requested candy flavor, consistently good |
|
5 |
Lemonade |
Real lemons are underrated with spicy food |
|
6 |
Huge Coca-Cola |
32 ounces for $2.09, simple and satisfying |
Healthier Drink Options
Unsweet Tea is zero calories in every size and it still tastes like real tea. Best low calorie pick on the whole menu. Diet Coke is also zero across all sizes. Small sweet tea is about 80 calories, small lemonade around 130 calories, both taste like real drinks not like you are making a compromise.
Milkshakes average around 580 calories and floats are about 380 to 400. Worth every calorie but not the light choice. Sprite and Fanta Orange have no caffeine if that matters. The huge unsweet tea at $2.09 is also cheaper than the bottled water at $2.39 which makes it the obvious pick if you just want something cold.
Calorie Reference
|
Drink |
Small |
Large |
Huge |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Coca-Cola |
105 |
210 |
280 |
|
Diet Coke |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sweet Tea |
80 |
160 |
210 |
|
Unsweet Tea |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Lemonade |
130 |
260 |
350 |
|
Cheerwine Float |
— |
~390 |
— |
|
Coke Float |
— |
~380 |
— |
|
Milkshake avg |
— |
~580 |
— |
Best Drinks for Summer and Late Night
Cook Out stays open until 3 am most nights and 4 am on weekends. The menu doesn’t change after dark. The same banana pudding shake at noon is there at 1 am.
Summer picks: lemonade in a huge cup over ice, Cheerwine Float, and Watermelon shake when it’s on the seasonal menu. When nothing else sounds right, a Coke Float is the go-to choice, while sweet tea serves as a caffeine fix and a milkshake doubles as the actual dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Late-Night Drinks Everyone Orders at Cook Out
The food may bring people to Cook Out, but the drinks are what keep them coming back. One sip of the famous Cheerwine, a giant sweet tea, or a thick Oreo Mint milkshake is enough to understand why fans talk about this menu so much. The flavors feel stronger, colder, and way more satisfying than the usual fast-food drinks.
If you really want the full Cook Out experience in 2026, do not skip the drinks menu. Grab a tray, add a fresh lemonade or milkshake, and you will see why so many customers end up craving the drinks long after the meal is over.