Top 10 Cheapest Fast Foods [How to make the most of your $5]

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If you had $5 and wanted the most bang for your buck, which fast food would you go to? Naturally, we were also curious and decided to dig into this ourselves to see what options were available.

It’s not as clear-cut as one would think, but we do our best to be as objective as possible. Remember, taste isn’t taken into account in this list, so just keep that in mind. Also, it won’t exactly come out to $5 either, but if we think it’s a great value for the money, we’ll include it on this list. In the end, we’ll let you know which of the options our favorite is and which we think would best suit most people.

Let’s get right into it!

#10 Cheapest Fast Food – Arby’s Two for $7

Cost per 100 calories: $0.55

For Arby’s Two for $7 deal, you get to choose any two of the following:

• Classic Beef ‘N’ Cheddar (440 calories)
• Premium 9 piece Chicken Nuggets (470 calories)
• Greek Gyro (710 calories)
• Roast Beef Gyro (550 calories)
• Roast Turkey Gyro (470 calories)

To get the most calories for your $7, you would go for the Greek Gyro at 710 calories and the Roast Beef Gyro at 550 calories for a total of 1,260 calories, which puts you at 55 cents per 100 calories.

#9 Cheapest Fast Food – Wendy’s Four for $5

Cost per 100 calories: $0.51

This deal is basically the same as Wendy’s Four for $4, except that you get to upgrade your Jr. Cheeseburger to one of the following:

• Junior Bacon Cheeseburger (380 calories)
• Double Stack (416 calories)
• Crispy Chicken BLT (410 calories)

You get the above in a Biggie Bag which includes 4-piece Chicken Nuggets (170 calories), Junior Fries (220 calories), and a Value Drink (170 calories).

To get the most of your money, you’d go for the Double Stack at 416 calories plus the rest of the goodies in your Biggie Bag at 560 calories for a grand total of 976 calories. This brings you to 51 cents per 100 calories.

#8 Cheapest Fast Food – Wendy’s Four for $4

Cost per 100 calories: $0.47

You get the following:

• Junior cheeseburger (290 calories)
• 4-piece Chicken Nuggets (170 calories)
• Junior Fries (220 calories)
• Value Drink (170 calories)

All that comes out to 850 calories and will set you back 47 cents per 100 calories.

#7 Cheapest Fast Food – $5 KFC Famous Bowl

Cost per 100 calories: $0.45

In this combo, you get the following items:

• KFC Famous Bowl (740 calories)
• Chocolate Chip Cookie (120 calories)
• 20 oz Medium Drink (250 calories)

In this one, we assume a Pepsi for your medium drink which gives you the most calories out of the soda choices. Pick and choose as you please, results may vary.

Also, don’t bother getting the Famous Bowl by itself. You don’t save money by excluding the chocolate chip cookie and drink as it’ll still come out to $5 anyways. KFC’s rules, not mine.

Totaling all the calories together comes out to a total of 1,110 calories. On a per calorie basis, that comes out to 45 cents per 100 calories. Not bad at all. And the mash potatoes are super filling as well.

#6 Cheapest Fast Food – Burger King 10 Pc. Chicken Nuggets

Cost per 100 calories: $0.41

This one used to be a much better deal as it was $1 per 10 pieces of chicken nuggets, but alas, inflation. Still, it makes the list at a cost of $2.49 for 602 calories total, which comes out to 41 cents per 100 calories. If only this were still a dollar.

#5 Cheapest Fast Food – Little Caesar’s Hot-N-Ready Pizza

Cost per 100 calories: $0.36

Little Caesar’s Hot-N-Ready Pizza is the most expensive item on this list at $8. Still, it’s a steal, as it also has the highest calorie content out of all the choices on this list. The pizza itself packs a whopping 2,208 calories. That’s 276 calories per slice.

Another way to look at it is that the pizza is $1 per slice. Anyhow, $8 for 2,208 calories comes out to 36 cents per 100 calories. Plus, who doesn’t love pizza?

#4 Cheapest Fast Food – Jack In The Box Regular Tacos (2)

Cost per 100 calories: $0.29

This one’s quite self-explanatory. You get two tacos for $1, and the tacos are about 172 calories each, so you get a total of 344 calories. That’s 29 cents per 100 calories.

It isn’t the best in terms of what a taco should be, but some people swear by these tacos, so we’re including it on this list anyways. Do you like these tacos? Let us know if you’re a fan of these.

#3 Cheapest Fast Food – Taco Bell My Cravings Box

Cost per 100 calories: $0.29

Why does this one beat out the previous one if it’s the same price? Simply due to variety.

With the Jack in the Box tacos, you’re eating 100% tacos to get that price. With the Taco Bell My Cravings Box, you get a variety of food and drink, and a great number of combinations to choose from.

However, since we’re going for the biggest bang for the buck, we’ve curated the items you should choose when ordering the Cravings Box. In order to do so, you should order the following items:

• Crunchwrap Supreme (540 calories)
• Beefy 5-layer Burrito (490 calories)
• Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes (240 calories)
• Large (for an additional $0.10) Mountain Dew or Mountain Dew Baja Blast (420 calories)

That’s $5 for up to 1,690 calories, which sets you back 29 cents per 100 calories. Quite the steal.

#2 Cheapest Fast Food – Taco Bell Beefy Fritos Burrito

Cost per 100 calories: $0.23

These Beefy Fritos Burritos cost $1 for 430 calories.

That’s 23 cents per 100 calories.

Simple pricing for a simple item.

#1 Cheapest Fast Food – Taco Bell Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito

Cost per 100 calories: $0.23

Even though this comes out to the same cost as #2, we feel the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito beats out the Beefy Fritos Burrito because it’s less oily and gets tiring less easily. It’s got a more classic taste that’ll be sure to stand the test of time much better.

These cost $1 for 420 calories, which is slightly less calories, but quite negligible for most intents and purposes. Comes out to 23 cents per 100 calories.

In conclusion

As you can see, Taco Bell dominates the top three spots on this list. They know what they’re doing and they do it well. Personally, we like #3, the My Cravings Box from Taco Bell, as it feels like a complete meal with good variety. And we’ll recommend this one to most of you out there. However, if you’re trying to get the best bang for the buck, dollar for dollar, the Taco Bell Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito and the Taco Bell Beefy Fritos Burrito are your best bets. We hope you’ve found this list to be somewhat useful, if not at least interesting.

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