Cookout Milkshakes — All 39 Flavors

The Cookout milkshake program is what separates the chain from every other Southeastern fast food competitor. Where most quick-service restaurants run two or three soft-serve flavors out of an automated machine, Cookout maintains 39 distinct flavors spun individually with real ice cream for each customer order. The result is dramatically thicker than what you'd get at a McDonald's, Wendy's, or Chick-fil-A — thick enough that regulars routinely use the included spoon for the first half of the cup.

Pricing is refreshingly simple: every flavor is $3.99, whether you want plain Vanilla or the cult-favorite Banana Pudding. There is no premium tier on standalone shakes. The only price variation comes when you add a milkshake upgrade to a Cookout Tray — $1.00 to swap your drink for a regular shake, $1.60 for a fancy shake (Cookout's internal classification, not always visible on the menu board).

Below is the complete flavor list, organized by category and filterable. Whether you're a Cookout regular trying to remember the seasonal eggnog timing or a first-time visitor trying to figure out what to order, this is the most comprehensive Cookout milkshake reference available.

The Six Most-Ordered Cookout Milkshakes

Across hundreds of Cookout locations, the same six flavors consistently rank as best-sellers. If you've never been to Cookout before, ordering from this list is the safest bet.

Cookout Seasonal Milkshake Flavors

Two seasonal flavors rotate through the year. They appear on the menu board when they arrive — Cookout doesn't pre-announce seasonal returns. If you see one, order it, because the window is short.

A few locations occasionally feature additional limited-run flavors based on regional ingredient availability or local manager initiative. These are rare and not consistent across the chain. Ask your local store if anything's currently rotating.

Adding a Milkshake to a Cookout Tray

The Cookout Tray includes a large drink by default, but you can swap that drink for a milkshake. This is the cheapest way to get both a meal and a milkshake at Cookout because you save roughly $2 compared to ordering them separately.

Tray Milkshake Pricing

• Regular milkshake upgrade: add $1.00 to your tray
• Fancy milkshake upgrade: add $1.60 to your tray
• Standalone milkshake (no tray): $3.99

"Regular" and "Fancy" don't refer to flavors but to ingredient density and add-ons. Most Cookout shakes (including Banana Pudding, Oreo, and the other top sellers) qualify as regular. A few shakes that include premium add-ons may be classified as fancy. The classification isn't always consistent location to location — your local manager makes the call.

The math: a Cookout Tray with milkshake upgrade comes to roughly $8.39 to $8.99 for an entrée, two sides, and a hand-spun shake. That's competitive with the cheapest single sandwich at most national chains — for a full meal with dessert.

See the full Cookout Tray menu and combo options →

Cookout Milkshake Calories — A Practical Note

Cookout milkshakes are calorie-dense. Most flavors fall between 510 and 900 calories per shake, with the heaviest being the dessert-style options (Peach Cobbler, Banana Fudge, Caramel Fudge) and the lightest being the fruit-forward ones (Strawberry, Pineapple, Fresh Watermelon).

Cookout doesn't publish per-flavor calorie counts on the menu board, and the official website doesn't break them down individually. The "510 to 900" range comes from the Tray menu disclosure where it lists "Regular Shake — 510 to 900 cal" as a beverage option. If you're calorie-tracking, the safest assumption for any standard flavor is around 700 calories.

A full Tray with a Big Double Burger, double hushpuppies, and a Banana Pudding shake upgrade runs roughly 1,400-1,500 calories. Heavy meal, but a genuine one-purchase dinner.

Ordering Cookout Milkshakes — Tips From Regulars

• Order at the window, not the drive-thru speaker. Custom blends and unusual requests get fewer mistakes when you're face-to-face with the cashier.
• Specify your blend ratio if you have a preference. "Heavy on the banana pudding, light on the peanut butter" is a perfectly normal request.
• Ask for it extra-thick. Most kitchens will spin it longer if you ask. Default thickness is already noticeable but you can push it further.
• Order a milkshake last in your sequence. Burgers and fries can wait a couple minutes; milkshakes start melting immediately. Some regulars order food first then come back for the shake — this works at most locations.
• Cookout milkshake cups don't have lids that fit straws well. The included spoon-straw hybrid is for a reason: most flavors are too thick to draw through a regular straw. Don't fight it.
• Seasonal flavors run out mid-season at busy locations. If you're chasing Fresh Watermelon in late August or Eggnog after December 23rd, call ahead.

Why Cookout Milkshakes Are Different

Most fast-food milkshake programs share the same structural shortcuts: pre-mixed shake bases, soft-serve dispensers, two or three flavors max, syrup pumps for variation. The results are thinner, sweeter, and more uniform. They're also dramatically cheaper for the chain to produce.

Cookout went the opposite direction. Each shake is spun individually in a stand mixer with scoops of premium ice cream and the actual flavor ingredients (real cookie pieces, real fruit, real candy bits). This is closer to how a 1950s soda fountain made shakes than how a modern fast food chain does. It's slower per shake, more expensive in labor, and more consistent in quality at a per-flavor level.

The structural reason this works for Cookout: their 39-flavor menu means most shakes are made from common base ingredients (vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream) plus one or two flavor-specific add-ins. The kitchen doesn't need 39 separate machines or 39 separate inventory streams — they need ice cream, milk, and a stocked shelf of mix-ins.

For diners, this means you can taste the difference between the Banana Pudding and the Cheesecake and the Heath Toffee. Each one has a distinct flavor profile rather than tasting like the same vanilla shake with three different syrups poured in.

Cookout Milkshakes — Frequently Asked Questions