10 Fast Food Spots Where You Can Score a Meal for $5 or Less!
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.
With elevated food prices here to stay, many people are cutting back on their fast food consumption to save money. Restaurants are now trying to lure customers back with new value menu items, cheap meal deals, and other promotions.
While the days of a true dollar menu may be in the rearview mirror, there are still some opportunities to grab a fast food meal for around five bucks.
Here are the best fast food five-dollar meals you can buy:
Checkers & Rally’s $5 Pretzel Pubster Combo is here!
For a limited time, you can get Checkers & Rally’s new Pretzel Pubster Burger as part of a combo for just $5. This meal comes with the chain’s Famous Seasoned Fries and a small soft 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 seven of its most popular menu items. Pair a cheeseburger, chili dog, or chicken strips with fries, soft pretzel sticks, a drink, or dessert!
Del Taco’s Clásico El Big Box is only $5!
For a limited time, Del Taco has big box meals for $5, $7, and $9. For just $5, the Clásico El Big Box meal comes with a Del Combo Beef & Bean Burrito, a Mini Quesadilla, value-sized Crinkle Cut Fries, and a 16 oz. fountain drink.
McDonald’s $5 value meal is now 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.
Build your own affordable meal from Sonic’s $1.99 menu.
Sonic Drive-In has a $1.99 menu featuring 6 popular items. Pair a Junior Double Cheeseburger or a Wrap with Salted Caramel Toffee Croissant Bites and a Slush for just $5.97!
Steak ‘n Shake has 4 meal deals for $5 – $6.
Steak ‘n Shake offers 4 meal deals that will get you a juicy burger and fries for between $5 and $6, depending on your location. Choose from the Original Double Steakburger with Cheese, Garlic Single Steakburger, Butter Single Steakburger, or Bacon ‘N Cheese Single Steakburger.
Grab a Taco Bell Luxe Cravings Box for as low as $5!
For a limited time, you can order Taco Bell’s $5 Classic Luxe Cravings Box, which includes a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and a medium fountain drink for just five bucks!
If you’re craving more, Taco Bell has $7 and $9 Cravings Boxes available for a limited time, too.
Taco Cabana has $4.99 meal deals all day long.
Taco Cabana is bringing back its popular $4.99 Meal Deals, and there are even breakfast options!
The $4.99 Rise and Grind 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.
Taco Cabana’s Monster Breakfast Burrito Meal Deal comes with a 10″ tortilla loaded with refried beans, chorizo & egg, bacon, hashbrowns, shredded cheese, topped with chipotle ranch dressing. It’s served with a 20 oz. drink or coffee – all for $4.99!
The $4.99 Crunch & Quench comes with one Double Crunch Pizza (choose shredded chicken or ground beef) and a 20oz drink.
Wendy’s Meal Deals start at just $4!
Wendy’s has several Meal Deals on its menu starting at just $4! The Junior Cheeseburger 4 for $4 Meal includes a Junior Cheeseburger, 4-piece chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink for just four bucks.
Wendy’s also has several Biggie Bags, which come with one of five sandwich choices along with a 4-piece order of chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink. Wendy’s Biggie Bags are priced at $5 – $7, depending on your choice of sandwich.
Burger King’s $5 Your Way Meal is still available at many locations!
Burger King’s $5 Your Way Meal is still on the menu at select locations! This value meal includes one of three sandwich choices, along with nuggets, fries, and a drink.
Note that the $5 Your Way Meal is no longer available at all Burger King locations, so you may find a $5 Duo or a $7 Trio at your location instead.
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! 💓
Wendy’s $4 meal has a Jr Cheeseburger……not a Jr Bacon Cheeseburger. But the Jr Bacon Cheeseburger bag is still just $5!
Also, my Wendy’s will add lettuce and tomato, at no charge, but check with your local one.
Buy the $3 keychain (starts in Nov or Dec) and you can get a FREE Jr Frosty from then thru 2026, with any purchase. (Chocolate or Vanilla…..not the new fancy flavors, though).
My sister and her husband take their four grandkids to Wendy’s once a week. The kids LOVE it, and everyone gets well fed for $25. Although, the two boys are growing and eating more, so she may bump them up to a $5 meal LOL
Thanks so much for pointing that out, Jodi! I’ve updated the details on the meal. Love the extra tips you shared too about the free add-ons, the Frosty keychain, and your sister’s weekly Wendy’s trips with the grandkids. 🥰 Such a fun tradition, and sounds like an awesome way to keep everyone happy and fed without spending a ton!
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.