How to Get Free Fast Food

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What’s better than fast food? Free fast food. We’ll show you how to get free fast food coupons every time you order and even free fast food delivery deals, so you’ll never pay full price for fries or a burger ever again.

But the best way to get free fast food? Download the KCL app, and we’ll update you on all the dining deals as soon as possible.

Related: Find Out What Hours McDonald’s Serves Breakfast.

1. Get free fast food from restaurant apps.

women holding cellphone with mcdonalds app and the free fast food french fries special

Many restaurants will give you freebies and cheapies just for signing up. Get double the savings by downloading the same fast food app on a family member’s phone and making two separate purchases. Here are a few deals that we’ve seen on fast food apps:

McDonald’s: Free Fry Fridays (with a $1 purchase) — up to $3.89.
Burger King: Free Whopper (reg. $5.49) with a $3 purchase
Chick-fil-A: Free Chicken Biscuit (reg. $3.49)
Sonic: Half-off all drinks every day

2. Get free fast food from restaurant loyalty programs.

A person's hand holding a cell phone displaying the Dairy Queen app next to two Blizzard cups sitting on a table at Dairy Queen. Blizzards are some of the free fast food options available.

When you use participating stores’ fast food and restaurant reward programs, you can score bonus points, good toward freebies, and cheaper food, which includes McDonald’s and Burger King:

Dairy Queen: 27.9% cashback when you use your points for Onion Rings (reg. $4.19)
Wendy’s: 15.9% cashback when you use your points for a Small Frosty (reg. $2.39)
Taco Bell: 8.76% cashback when you use your points for a medium fountain drink (reg. $2.19)

3. Get free fast food on your birthday.

A free fast food Birthday snack size plater of boneless buffalo wings with a plastic Happy Birthday tag on top of it.

When it’s your birthday, restaurants want to spoil you a little bit! Simply join their email clubs or input your birthday into the app, and you’ll get birthday freebies all day long:

Applebee’s: Free dessert (up to $6.99 in value)
Buffalo Wild Wings: Free snack-size wings (reg. $10.29)
McDonald’s: Free birthday pie (reg. $1.69) or ice cream cone (reg. $1.59)

4. Get free fast food from joining email or text updates.

a hand holding a cell phone with carls jr app and a bag of fast food

Tons of companies are happy to give you freebies when you allow them to visit your email inbox. A few companies piling on the greatness include:

Arby’s: Free roast beef classic (reg. $3.29) with any purchase when you sign up for Arby’s Deals
Chili’s: Free chips and salsa, guacamole, or skillet queso — up to $5.29 value
Dunkin’: Get a free medium beverage (reg. $1.89)

Another great way to be updated on every dining deal? Text HOT DEALS to 57299 and be the first to know about the hottest deals each day.

5. Get free fast food coupons with your receipt.

Check your restaurant receipt; tons of places now offer BOGOs and freebies in return for taking a short, online customer service survey. McDonald’s gives BOGO Egg McMuffins and Quarter Pounders; Krispy Kreme gives you a free doughnut; Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s get you BOGO sandwiches.

We’ve got a lot more to say about how to get free food with receipts.

Related: Find out what hours Chick-fil-A serves breakfast.

6. Get cheap fast food (up to 20% off) with Raise.com gift cards.

a hand holding a cellphone with the raise app held in front of a rack of gift cards

I refuse to pay full price for fast food (duh), so I keep my eye on Raise.com for the best deals possible.

Saving $20 for every $100 spent at McDonald’s is huge savings, especially when I can stack those gift cards on top of my McDonald’s app.

7. Get cheap fast food with discounted gift certificate vouchers.

a woman at table in olive garden holding a cellphone with restaurant website on screen

Yeah, yeah. Survey sites, schmurvey sites. But spend just a few minutes a day answering questions while you’re watching TV, and you can score up to $25 in gift certificates to restaurants like Starbucks, Domino’s, and Olive Garden.

Not sure which sites are worth it? We know all the best paid survey apps for your side hustle.

8. Get cheap fast food if you’re a student, member of the military, teacher, or senior.

A student wearing a mask, holding up her ID card for Boise State University.

Are you a student, senior, teacher, or part of the military? Make sure to carry your ID with you to get discounts of at least 10% at your favorite fast-food restaurants.

Not sure where you can get your discount? We know all the student discounts, senior discounts, teacher discounts, and military discounts you can get with your ID.

9. Get free fast food delivery from Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub.

A man standing on a front porch, delivering food in a doordash bag.

It’s rare, but third-party delivery apps often give out free fast food or don’t charge you the delivery fee based on your area and the promotions that they are running.

For example, if you order delivery for the first time at a restaurant on DoorDash, you’ll always get your delivery fee waived.

Of course, before you order, check out all the DoorDash tips, Grubhub tips, and Uber Eats tips for the best deals on fast food delivery.

10. Get free fast food as a mystery shopper.

When you sign up and grab an assignment, you basically get a free dinner whenever you’re willing to spend about an hour afterward answering questions about the experience.

Through sites like iSecretShop, I recently made $50 eating at Cheesecake Factory, but I’ve also been paid to eat at Bahama Breeze ($50), Wahooz Fish Taco ($8), and Tucanos ($60).