What's The Cheapest Fast Food Kids Meal? We Did The Research So You Don't Have To
One of the beauties of fast food restaurants is that they make feeding the kiddos quick, easy, and affordable. In fact, it's such a reliable choice when you don't want to overextend your budget that you've probably thought very little about which restaurant has the cheapest kids meal. Luckily, we dove into that research for you.
After scouring through menus from some of the most prolific fast food chains, we found that Burger King has the cheapest kids meal out of thirteen popular restaurants. More specifically, the Cheeseburger, Hamburger, and 4-piece Crown Nuggets King Jr. meals are the three options that are the lowest-priced at a grand total of $3.99. Each option comes with a drink, a choice of apple sauce, fries, onion rings, or a half-and-half mix of the latter two, and a toy. Most fast food chains follow this kids meal formula, with a few slight variations. The restaurants we looked into for this research were McDonald's, Burger King, Culver's, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, Wendy's, Subway, Popeyes, Chipotle, Sonic, KFC, Panda Express, and Panera Bread. All prices are pulled from Chicagoland area locations for each of these restaurants, so they may vary a bit depending on the state and area you are in.
In terms of overall value and not price alone, is Burger King the best for kids meals?
Wendy's and Popeyes both came in a close second place for the most affordable fast food kids meal options. Both spots have meals for little ones that cost $4.39. At Wendy's, it's the Kids' Hamburger meal which comes with a choice of side, a drink, and a toy. Popeyes offers a 4-piece Boneless Kids Meal that comes with a drink, a GoGo Squeez brand apple sauce pouch, and some kind of kid-friendly activity.
Being the cheapest kids meal doesn't necessarily equate to being the best value. And, while most of the kids meals we checked out when doing this research were very similar, a few stood out. Several even made it onto our list of the eleven best fast food kids meals for adults. Culver's had the most expensive kids meal of any that we looked at, with the cheapest option being the $7.39 grilled cheese, corndog, or ButterBurger meals. However, these meals all come with fries, a drink, and a scoop of Culver's Fresh Frozen Custard, and what kid doesn't love that? Another kids meal that may not have been competing for affordability but certainly deserves some recognition is Chipotle's. For $5.20, kids can get a quesadilla with their choice of meat, a side of rice and beans, a side of either fruit or chips, and a drink. If you're trying to feed a mini foodie, this spread might be more appealing and filling than one of the more typical burger or nugget choices, ultimately making it a better value. But, when talking strictly dollar amounts, Burger King comes out on top for this one.