15 Things You Can Buy At McDonald's For $5 In 2026

There was a time when you could stroll into a McDonald's and feed your entire family with a single $5 bill. Those days are long gone. McDonald's prices are surging, and in 2026, that same $5 may not even be enough to feed yourself, depending on what you're craving. The legendary Dollar Menu is officially dead, and you'll likely need at least $10 if you want the full experience of a juicy burger, fries, and a drink.

However, don't lose hope just yet. With a little strategy, $5 can still buy you something worth eating at the Golden Arches — maybe even something great. The key is knowing what to order. McDonald's menu is sprawling, and the best deals aren't always obvious. We dug through the full lineup to find 15 things you can actually buy for $5 or less. Just keep in mind that prices change frequently and can vary by location, sometimes significantly. What costs $4.99 in one city might tip over $5 in another.

A $5 budget is too slim to cover powerhouses like the Big Mac and Double Quarter Pounder. Instead, let's start with a McDonald's classic: a plain hamburger. In 1955, you could snag one for $0.15. Time (and inflation) marches on, and 2026 hamburger fans need to fork over $1.99 before they can bite into the famed meat. Skeptics have long questioned what's actually inside a McDonald's patty, but the chain has made serious efforts in recent years to be more transparent about its ingredients. And yes, the burger uses actual meat from a cow, despite persistent rumors of a filler-stuffed ingredient list.

Here's what you should expect between the bun: a 1.6-ounce meat patty, a splash of ketchup and mustard, and a few pickles and chopped onions. It could use a little more heft, but McDonald's only adds fresh lettuce and tomatoes to its pricier burgers. The plain hamburger is 250 calories, perfect for a protein-rich snack. If you need a bigger calorie splurge, get two hamburgers with your $5 or supplement the sandwich with something else on this list.

Not in the mood for McDonald's beef? Try theMcCrispy Strips. You can get three pieces for $4.99. Just like the hamburger, the strips are made with real meat, in this case, 100% white chicken meat. The chicken's rolled in a peppery breading that crisps to a rich, nut brown when fried. McDonald's released the current Strips in 2025, along with a brand-new creamy chili dip.

The cost of the strips will swallow a $5 budget, but they might be worth it because your order could potentially replace a meal. The strips are pretty large, and they total 350 calories. A packet of chili dip adds another 110 calories. You may even want to ask for extra sauce; Redditors rave about the flavor. Some prefer the sauce over the breaded chicken it debuted with. It's thick with savory oils and egg yolks and spiced with multiple kinds of peppers.

A thin McDonald's hamburger can seem like a meager treat when your stomach's growling. Adding cheese and an extra patty can seriously increase your satiation. This mixture (two patties, melty cheese, and standard Mickey D's hamburger toppings) is called a McDouble and costs $3.19. The multiple protein sources included help bring the calorie count to 390, enough to blunt raging hunger.

The McDouble may be getting bigger, too. In 2023, McDonald's introduced its "Best Burgers Ever" initiative to standardize improved cooking methods, such as rehydrating onions and grilling fewer burgers at a time. The program evolved further in 2026 when McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski announced plans for bigger, more filling burgers during a CNN interview. The move will obviously drive costs up, but Kempczinski claims McDonald's will continue to offer tasty burgers at value prices. A beefier McDouble that's still under $5 could rank as one of McDonald's better food deals.

McDonald's introduced the McCrispy with great fanfare. For a short time in 2021, eager customers could show off their chicken-sandwich love with an exclusive hoodie and a 7-inch vinyl featuring new music from producer Tay Keith. Now, the merchandise is gone, but there's still something left to celebrate: you can buy the sandwich for $4.99. It's one of McDonald's most popular menu items, and it's still cheap enough to be on this list.

The McCrispy starts with a potato bun and a large fried chicken filet. The bun gets a slather of salted butter while the chicken is topped with crinkle-cut pickles, a variation from the simpler pickle slices paired with beef menu items. It's sometimes confused with the McChicken sandwich, but the two have different patties, buns, and toppings. McDonald's claims you "can't go wrong either way," but it's worth noting the McCrispy has significantly more protein and calories.

Salty, crispy, and (ideally) piping hot, McDonald's French fries have legions of fans. Even famed chef Giada De Laurentiis can't resist McDonald's fries. If you're still unconverted, head to the Golden Arches with $5 in your pocket. A $2.99 medium fry can morph into a mini meal. The fry order has 330 calories, 17 of which come from fat, helping you stay full. If you sandwich your day with a substantial breakfast and dinner, a French fry lunch in between could be completely satisfying. A fry-based dinner is fine too, especially if you plan to top up your calories with a late-night dessert or nutritious snack.

McDonald's fries are particularly easy to devour because they're not quite the same spuds you fry up in your kitchen. The chain uses a few culinary tricks to make you salivate. First, while home cooks focus on salt, every McDonald's fry is also coated in dextrose, a type of sugar. The fries are then cooked in an oil that mimics the flavor of beef. A waft of that slightly beefy scent can tantalize you before you even speak to the cashier.

There's some potential confusion in the menu name here, as the Sausage McMuffin with egg actually includes cheese, too. Apparently, the cheese is assumed. Why wouldn't you add cheese to an English muffin filled with warm sausage and one of McDonald's classic round eggs? Interestingly, this McMuffin includes both salted butter and clarified butter, a fancy touch for a sandwich that sells for $4.69. All that butter makes a difference, too, as the Sausage McMuffin with egg has 480 calories.

If you have time, lightly toast the English muffin halves before biting into your sandwich. When we ranked every breakfast sausage menu item at McDonald's, we fell in love with the extra crunch the toasted bread provides. McDonald's toasts the bread, too, but it may not seem like it if the sandwich sits around for a while before reaching your hands. Toasting the food yourself gives you some control over the quality.

For less than $4.99, you can order McDonald's only fish-based entree: the Filet-o-Fish. It was added to the menu in 1965 to appease Roman Catholics who avoided meat on Fridays. The Pope actually eased the ban on Friday meat-eating the same year, yet by that time, the Filet-o-Fish was already extremely popular. The fish stuck around, and the other meatless alternative that was on the table (a pineapple patty with cheese) was abandoned.

Fast food restaurants are often associated with overprocessed factory meats. The Filet-o-Fish, however, is exclusively made with wild-caught pollock. If you've noticed that the fish tastes different, it's because McDonald's switched to pollock from cod in 2013. The basic Filet-o-Fish sandwich includes a pollock patty with fish sourced from sustainable fisheries, a smear of tartar sauce, and a half slice of cheese. The bun that holds it all together is steamed, making it extra soft and fluffy. If that doesn't sound enticing enough, there are many ways to dress up a Filet-o-Fish sandwich. A free option that we enjoy is adding mustard and sliced pickles.

Breakfast sandwiches have always been prized for their convenience. London workers in the 19th century would grab a sandwich from a street stall and eat it on the way to work. You only needed one hand, didn't have to sit down, and there's usually no saucy mess to deal with. McDonald's makes this classic breakfast even more convenient. You don't have to get out of your car or even be fully dressed to purchase and eat a McDonald's bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. The price is also reasonable. A single 5-dollar bill is enough to pay for the biscuit's $4.79 price tag.

The bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit is more satisfying comfort food than a gourmet meal. The biscuit is buttermilk, and the bacon is described as thick-cut. The egg is folded and not in the iconic round shape. Like the McMuffin, the biscuit also boasts double butter: salted and clarified.

July 10, 2025, was a glorious day for McDonald's customers. After a long, nine-year hiatus, the snack wrap was back — and still cheap. Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, told NBC News that the snack's comeback was fueled by customers. "It has a cult following, I get so many emails into my inbox about this product," he said. 2026's snack wraps are $2.99 and come in two varieties: spicy or ranch.

The spicy snack wrap features a flour tortilla wrapped around cheese, lettuce, spicy pepper sauce, and one of the thick McCrispy strips we mentioned earlier. Calorie-wise, it's hard to find a deal this good. The entire wrap has 380 calories, a decent number for a snack that's technically under $3. The ranch version has even more calories. It has all of the same ingredients except that a thick, creamy ranch sauce replaces the spicy one.

Snack wrap devotees got their desire satisfied, but there's another old McDonald's breakfast item that customers still miss: the McSkillet burrito. It's been off the menu since 2010 and may never come back. Instead, customers can try to satisfy their urge with the sausage burrito. Same family, different personality. The McSkillet burrito was bulky and spicy, while the sausage one is slimmer and contains fewer ingredients. The slim size is easier to understand when you know the sausage burrito costs $2.49.

The ingredients are quite simple. The sausage burrito is made with eggs, pork sausage, cheese, onions, and green chiles. Combined, everything totals 310 calories. It's not a lot, yet it's more than one might expect from the flimsy size. And, you can make the order more filling if you have another. The sausage burrito is on the McValue menu, and you can buy one to get another for $1.

What's the most genius innovation that McDonald's has championed so far? Hard to say, but Tom Ryan's big idea must be in the running. Ryan created the McGriddle in 2003, figuring out how to make a hand-held, syrupy griddle cake that didn't stick to fingers or make a mess. Two of these cakes, paired with sausage, eggs, and American cheese, essentially make a complete breakfast that you can buy for $4.89 and eat while on a walk or in your car.

The McGriddle is a fairly hefty sandwich considering its compact size. It has 550 calories, compared to the 300-500 calories many people aim to consume at breakfast. The sausage, egg, cheese, McGriddle isn't the only version on the menu. Bacon McGriddles are common, and some locations serve steak McGriddles as well. Both variations have fewer calories than the sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle, however.

Salty food dreams aren't the only ones McDonald's can satisfy. When you crave something sweet and want to keep your spending low, the $4.49 Oreo McFlurry is exactly what you need. Not quite a milkshake, not exactly plain soft serve, a McFlurry is a cold and creamy concoction studded with toppings like Oreos.

According to McDonald's, the McFlurry name is supposed to capture the essence of a "cool, crisp, catch-a-snowflake-on-your-tongue moment..." It was created in Canada by a franchise owner. Oreo was the very first flavor, and it's still quite popular. A regular-size Oreo McFlurry has 410 calories; a mini one has 240. If you can't make it to McDonald's to try one, you can make your own Oreo McFlurry with three simple ingredients that may already be in the pantry: ice cream, cream, and Cool Whip. The Cool Whip helps create a velvety texture.

One underrated perk of ordering a McFlurry is how customizable it feels. You can ask for extra Oreo pieces, mix in another topping, or pair it with hot fries for a sweet-and-salty contrast.

At this point, McDonald's chicken McNuggets are iconic. Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt said he ate about 1,000 nuggets over 10 days during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The fast food didn't hurt his performance, and the cost likely didn't hurt him too much either. Today, a six-piece chicken McNugget order costs just $3.99. Each nugget is made with white meat chicken and a golden breading. It may appear as though the shapes crowding the box are random, but take a closer look and you'll see the same four shapes reappear: the bell, the ball, the bone, and the boot.

McDonald's commitment to producing superior nuggets is so strong that the company relies on a custom, large-breasted chicken breed called Mr. McDonald's – created by Tyson Foods to provide extra meat. To make chicken McNuggets, some of that meat is eventually ground up with a bit of the skin. The McNuggets are then formed and partially cooked in the factory. Your local McDonald's will finish cooking your chicken.

The McDonald's breakfast menu is characteristically meat-heavy, yet vegetarians aren't forgotten entirely. The chain's fruit and maple oatmeal is a hearty, high-fiber meal that can fuel your day, whether you're a committed vegetarian or a pronounced meat lover. Note, the oatmeal isn't vegan-friendly as it includes a dose of light cream. It's also not sugar-free. The plentiful apples, cranberries, and raisins that are included push the oatmeal's sugar content up to 18 grams.

Perhaps the best part about the oatmeal is its cost. You can have breakfast sorted for $3.29. McDonald's recommends enjoying a cup of coffee with your oatmeal to make it even more satisfying. You can stick to the $5 budget if you make the coffee at home and bring it with you to McDonald's.

Registered dietician Lisa Moskovitz, founder of the NY Nutrition Group, recommended an additional at-home hack to Reader's Digest. Enjoy McDonald's oatmeal with "a side of amino acid–rich eggs and/or Greek yogurt" to boost your protein intake, or increase your fiber with a sprinkle of chia seeds or nuts.

Sometimes, you want a simple breakfast. Just a bit of good, chewy bread to start the day. That's what you get when you order the plain bagel at McDonald's. The bagel comes toasted with plenty of cream cheese, though you can have it another way. Do you want to add jelly instead? Leave it soft and untoasted? Whatever you do, it will cost you $1.99. The bagel shares the title of cheapest menu item on our list with the hamburger. Surprisingly, the bagel might be the more satisfying option. A single McDonald's hamburger has 250 calories, compared to the 370 in a plain bagel with cream cheese.

The additional bagel sandwiches on the menu all contain protein and are much more expensive. Ordering the plain version can make you feel like you're getting away with a steal. A bagel and shmear at Einstein's Bagels costs $4.29, over twice as much as McDonald's version.