10 Fast Food Spots Where You Can Score a Meal for $5
Remember when every restaurant had a dollar menu?
At the risk of sounding like an old-timer, it wasn’t too long ago that you could leave the house with five bucks and easily come home with a full belly. These days, it’s hard to find a decent sandwich for $5, let alone a whole meal – and it’s getting harder by the day.
With elevated food prices here to stay, restaurants have been trying to lure customers back with new value menu items, cheap meal deals, and other promotions. But many of the $5 fast food meal options we’ve come to love are starting to disappear.
While they’re harder to find these days, there are still some opportunities to grab a fast food meal for around five bucks – especially if you’re willing to order from the value menu or kids’ meals!
*Note that these deals and offers can vary quite a bit by region. Be sure to check with your locations for these savings options.
Here are the best fast food meals you can buy for around five bucks:
McDonald’s $5 value meal is still available nationwide.
McDonald’s launched a $5 Meal Deal in June 2024, and the restaurant recently confirmed that this deal has been extended at participating locations for a limited time!
This new $5 value meal includes four items: your choice of a McChicken or a McDouble, a four-piece order of Chicken McNuggets, small fries, and a small drink.
Get a kids’ meal from Arby’s for just $5.29.
Arby’s has several kids’ meal options for just $5.29. They come with your choice of entrée (chicken tenders or a ham, roast beef, or chicken slider), a side (crinkle fries, curly fries, or applesauce), and a drink.
Order a $4.99 King Jr. Meal from Burger King.
Burger King has several King Jr. Meals on the menu for just $4.99. They come with an entrée (hamburger, cheeseburger, or 4-piece chicken nuggets), kids’ french fries, applesauce, and your choice of a juice box or milk. You can even swap out the applesauce for a second order of kids’ fries at no additional cost!
Score a $5 Double Combo meal at Checkers and Rally’s.
For a limited time, you can get a $5 Double Combo meal at Checkers and Rally’s! The meals come with your choice of a Cheese Double Burger, a Sourdough Double Melt, or a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, plus small fries and a small fountain drink.
Assemble a meal from Dairy Queen’s 2/$5 menu.
Dairy Queen has a 2/$5 menu that allows you to mix and match two of its most popular menu items. Pair a cheeseburger, chicken strips, or a hot dog with fries, soft pretzel sticks, a drink, or dessert!
Build your own affordable meal from Sonic’s $1.99 menu.
Sonic Drive-In has a $1.99 menu featuring 7 popular items. Pair a Junior Double Cheeseburger or a Wrap with a Float for just $3.98!
Grab a Taco Bell Luxe Cravings Box for as low as $5!
For a limited time, you can order Taco Bell’s Classic Luxe Cravings Box, which includes a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and a medium fountain drink for just $5!
If you’re craving more, Taco Bell has $7.50 and $9.50 Cravings Boxes available for a limited time, too.
Taco Cabana has $4.99 meal deals all day long.
Taco Cabana has several popular $4.99 Meal Deals, and there’s even a breakfast option!
The $4.99 Breakfast Taco Meal Deal includes two breakfast tacos, a crispy golden hashbrown, and one freshly brewed coffee or 20 oz. drink (available during breakfast hours only). The breakfast taco options are Chorizo & Egg, Bean & Cheese, or Potato & Egg.
The $4.99 Loaded Taco Meal Deal comes with your choice of two Loaded Tacos and a 20oz drink.
The Bean & Cheese Nacho Meal Deal includes tortilla chips served with refried beans and queso with a side of sour cream and guacamole. It’s served with a 20 oz. drink, too – all for just $4.99!
Taco John’s $5 Meal Steal
Taco John’s $5 Meal Steal includes a Beef Crispy Taco, a Bean Burrito, Potato Olés, and a small Fountain Drink for just five bucks!
Grab a Biggie Bites combo from $4 at Wendy’s.
One of Wendy’s current Biggie Deals is a Biggie Bites combo that lets you build your own bundle with two of the following menu items:
- Jr. Cheeseburger
- Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- 4 PC. Chicken Nuggets
- 4 PC. Spicy Chicken Nuggets
- Jr. Natural-Cut Fries
- Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger
Lately we have been going to Dairy Queen. I’ve had enough points lately to get great rewards. $5 off my order or free banana split or free double stack burger. (And many more options) Can use one reward or coupon per order/account. Always good to save a few dollars.💵 Also points do expire eventually if they aren’t used.
Thanks for sharing your experience with DQ’s rewards! 🙌 Love hearing how you’ve been able to score free treats and save a few bucks at the same time, hip2trade! 💓
Qdoba! Split a veggie burrito in half and it’s less than $5 — DH and I do this often on Saturdays when we’re running errands. It’s enough food for two normal-sized adults — truly! We also always do the survey on receipt and get a coupon for free chips and salsa. The entire meal for two, with a tip for the counter crew, is $10. The veggie burrito is awesome — even if you’re not a veg, it is an easy way to do a one-off plant-based meal get a lot of delicious fiber (brown rice! black beans! fajita veg! fresh veg!) in a meal–and they give free guac on veggie burritos.
Thanks a bunch for sharing, Maggie! Such a great tip! 🙌🩷
Also: Taco Bell! The value menu never went away there — $1 for a nacho-cheesy bean and rice burrito and another $1 spicy potato soft taco. One of each, and I’m full for $2.19 with tax.
Curious where you live? Both are $1.69 in Arizona.
Prices vary. I can go 2 towns down the road and get lower prices. Crazy.
So interesting! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Good to know the price differences you’ve spotted in your area!
To really save money on fast food, start thinking of it as a snack, not meals. A cheap burrito, or a cheap Burger, just enough to get you through the next few hours until you get home.