This Viral Chick-fil-A Order Lets You Feed a Family of 5 for Under $25—Yes, Really! Here’s How to Do It
If you’ve ordered fast food lately, you’ve probably done a double take at the total. I certainly have. I swear, every drive-thru visit feels like it costs a little more than the last. Chick-fil-A is one of my favorites, but those prices can add up fast, especially when you’re feeding a whole family.
And the numbers back it up. While consumer prices have risen about 30% over the past decade, Chick-fil-A menu prices have increased by an average of 57% since 2014. That’s why one dad’s order has everyone talking: He managed to feed his family of five for under $25. Yes, you read that right—under $25! It sounds almost impossible these days, but his simple ordering strategy is something any family (or group of friends) can try.
Read on to see how he did it and how it could save you money on your next Chick-fil-A run.
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What is this Chick-fil-A ordering hack?
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Instead of ordering five separate chicken sandwiches, Jeff Johnson came up with a simple way to stretch his Chick-fil-A order: He bought a 30-count order of Chick-fil-A nuggets for just over $17 and buttered buns for 25 cents apiece ($1.25 total, for himself, his wife and their three kids). Then, the family turned the nuggets into their own Chick-fil-A-style chicken sandwiches. Each person had the chance to add as many nuggets to their buns as they liked, creating a sandwich that’s surprisingly similar to the classic Chick-fil-A order.
Double-checking your mental math? Yes, those makeshift sandwiches cost them less than $20.
Pro tip: To make them taste even more like the real deal, you can add a side of Chick-fil-A sauce for just 25 cents per packet. You’re welcome!
How much would it normally cost to feed a family of five at Chick-fil-A?
Johnson spent around $18.25 for his chicken sandwiches, but if he had purchased them individually, they would have cost around $5 to $6 apiece, depending on the restaurant’s location. That would have put him in the neighborhood of $25 to $30—before adding sauces, sides and drinks. So Johnson’s hack saved him—and could save you—roughly between $7 and $12 (again, depending on where you live).
If you use fewer nuggets for your sandwich, you could stretch those savings even further. It depends on how big your family members like their sandwiches—and how hungry everyone is!
How much extra would the meal cost with sides?
Of course, most people aren’t stopping at just the sandwich or the nuggets. Once you start adding Chick-fil-A’s famous waffle fries and a drink for everyone, the bill can climb pretty quickly.
Waffle fries usually cost between $3 to $4, depending on whether you get a medium or large order. So that could add another $15 to $20 to your order. Drinks for each person could add another $2 to $3.50, so that’s an additional $10 to $17.50. Don’t worry—we’ll do the math for you. You’re basically looking at about $50 to $70 for your entire Chick-fil-A order. (And in case you were wondering, a combo meal with the sandwich, fries and drinks for five people is equally pricey, as Johnson notes when referring to the $45 or so he’d normally spend.)
Our suggestion? Get two or three sides and drinks and split ’em up! You’re already getting scrappy, so keep it going to extend the savings. Because let’s be honest—who’s not ordering fries at Chick-fil-A? And that shared order will still land you under the $25 mark.
What are people saying?
Johnson’s video earned more than 23,000 likes and plenty of comments, with parents chiming in about their own fast-food hacks. Some people said they’d already been doing the same thing for years. One commenter wrote, “My husband does this (gets a smaller nugget count for just him) if he ever has to go out for lunch for work and it’s awesome.” Another shared, “My mom did this in the ’90s.”
For families trying to stretch their dining-out budget, many agreed it’s one of those ideas that’s so simple, you can’t help but wonder why you didn’t think of it first.
Sources:
- Instagram: @jeffejohnson
- The Street: “Chick-fil-A Keeps Quietly Raising Prices”
- U.S. Bureau of Statistics: “Consumer Price Index”
The post This Viral Chick-fil-A Order Lets You Feed a Family of 5 for Under $25—Yes, Really! Here’s How to Do It appeared first on Reader's Digest.
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