McDonald’s Is Adding A New $5 Meal Deal To The Menu This Summer

If you’ve noticed fast food has gotten way more expensive in recent years, you’re not imagining things. Indeed, prices have shot up whopping 28% from 2019 to 2023 due to a variety of factors such as inflation and labor costs. Needless to say, families looking for a quick budget meal haven’t been thrilled or have simply had to cut back on drive-thru dinners to save money. Now, McDonald’s has responded with some good, affordable news. Starting next week, McDonald’s will have a new $5 meal deal on the menu that includes three food items and a drink.

“We heard our fans loud and clear — they’re looking for even more great value from us, and this summer that’s exactly what they’ll get,” Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s USA, said in a press release. “Value has always been part of our DNA. We’re focused on living up to that legacy and offering delicious, affordable options customers can enjoy any time they walk through our doors, go through our drive thru or place an order through our app.”

There had been chatter about this $5 meal deal back in May, but now the details have been confirmed. The new combo meal will be available starting on Thursday, June 25 for a limited time and includes your choice of a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, a four-piece order of Chicken McNuggets, and a small soft drink.

You can also snag an order of fries for free by using the McDonald’s app. Every Friday — aka “Free Fries Fridays” — you can get a free medium order of fries with any purchase of at least $1 on the app.

For a totally free fries, you’ll need to wait until Saturday, July 13. On National French Fry Day, you can get a free order of fries — small, medium, or large, your choice — when you order it in the McDonald’s app. No purchase is necessary for this promotion next month.

McDonald’s isn’t the only fast food chain to respond to customer complaints about affordability. This week, Burger King also announced a new “$5 Your Way Meal” that includes your choice between a Whopper Jr., Bacon Cheeseburger, or Chicken Jr. sandwich with fries, a four-piece chicken nuggets, and a soft drink.

We all have a bit of nostalgia when it comes to fast food, whether we’re thinking about those TY Teenie Beanie Babies (that are selling on eBay for $2,000 right now) we got in our Happy Meals or shaking the hell out of a McSalad Shaker (RIP) like the Kardashians do with every salad ever featured on their reality shows. Perhaps the new Inside Out 2 Happy Meal toys will follow a similar path for our kids, but thankfully you won’t have to break the bank on a drive-thru dinner to find out.