The Best Fast Food Deals to Grab in January

Everyone is thrilled to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, including fast food lovers. Restaurants have rolled out new limited-time offers and deals to help you get a jumpstart on making 2021 better than last year. A few spots have new low-carb options, a veggie burger, and a new dollar menu to help you eat better and cheaper this year.

Related: The Most Over-the-Top Fast Food of the Past 10 Years

Fries are arguably the best thing you can order at McDonald's, and you can get a free medium fries with any $1 or more purchase through the app. If that's not enough fries, you can also get $1 large fries through the app as well. Both deals are available through June 27, making this year already better than 2020. Plus, the McRib is on offer.

Related: 25 Dishes That Show McDonald's International Flair

Every December and January, Wendy's sells key tags. The tag costs only $2 and will get you a free junior Frosty anytime you buy something at Wendy's through the end of 2021, so it pays for itself pretty quickly. The best part, besides scoring an awesome deal? The majority of your $2 purchase goes to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. You can purchase a physical key tag in a restaurant, or order on the app for a mobile version.

Related: 17 Underrated Items to Order at National Chains

Burger King has launched a brand-new value menu. For a limited time, you can get a bacon cheeseburger, chicken junior sandwich, cheeseburger, value fries and value drink for just $1 each. Also on the Your Way menu are 10-piece chicken nuggets for $1.50, double cheeseburger for $2, and bacon double cheeseburger for $2.50.

Related: 20 Fast Food Restaurants Then and Now

Fan-favorite nacho fries, coated with bold Mexican spices, are back at Taco Bell. They're served with a side of cheese sauce for about $1.50. Also back is the $1 loaded nacho soft taco and the bacon club Chalupa for $3.50.

Related: Live Más: 20 Spicy Secrets Behind Taco Bell's Success

The Arby's 2 for $6 Everyday Value menu continues this month, offering two sandwiches for a discount price. The options have been revamped, and there are four to pick from: beef 'n cheddar, roast turkey and Swiss wrap, crispy fish sandwich, and the buffalo crispy chicken sandwich.

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Great for feeding a crowd, the new $21 Triple Treat Box at Pizza Hut comes in its own triple-drawer box. It includes two medium 1-topping pizzas, five breadsticks, and 10 Cinnabon mini rolls to satisfy your family's sweet tooth. Related: Best Cheap Delivery Pizza

Right now at Domino's, you can feed a whole crowd for not much money. For $8 each, you can get large 3-topping pizzas on any of their crusts, 10-piece chicken wings, and boneless chicken. It's only available for carryout, but it's a great deal anyway.

Papa John's has rolled mozzarella cheese into their pizza crust for the new $12 Epic stuffed crust pizza. "Epic" is a little hyperbolic for a technique that's been around for a while, but no one's going to complain about more cheese, especially when you dip it into that garlic sauce.

The pandemic has brought about a new KFC family meal called the $30 Fill Up. It's the $20 Fill Up, which comes with 8 pieces of chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and biscuits, plus an extra bucket of 8 pieces of chicken or 12 tenders. The idea is that you'll have plenty of chicken leftovers, and who can complain about that?

Related: The Best Value Meal Deals at Chains Across the Country

The newest craze at Popeye's has nothing to do with chicken, but it is based on a New Orleans specialty. Beignets are doughy French pastries that are covered in powdered sugar, and in this case, they're stuffed with melted Hershey's chocolate for a little extra decadence. They're available in 3-, 6- and 12-piece.

Related: 20 Most Decadent Chocolate Desserts Across America

Subway has a new lower-carb option called protein bowls. They're essentially salads based on their popular sandwiches, including all the same meats, veggies and sauces, just without the bread. About a dozen subs are available this way, including meatball marinara, sweet onion chicken teriyaki and tuna salad.

Related: 18 Secret Menu Items and Hacks from Your Favorite Restaurants

Jack in the Box is ringing in the New Year with new bagel breakfast sandwiches. They come in two varieties, with either sausage, egg and cheese, or bacon, egg and cheese. You can get two of them for $4 for a limited time.

Related: Unhealthy Fast Food Breakfasts — and What to Order Instead

Sonic has brought back its Fritos chili cheese wraps, in regular and junior size. The junior size is only $1 and includes chili, cheddar cheese and Fritos chips wrapped in a flour tortilla like a burrito. Also new are the classic and spicy chicken Slinger sandwiches.

Del Taco is currently featuring tamales. They're filled with shredded seasoned pork and wrapped in corn husks, and are two for $4. They also come smothered with red and green chili sauce, chili cheese, and Cholula hot sauce, or a dozen in a family-sized fiesta pack.

Dairy Queen's $6 Meal Deal is a great value and comes with fries, a drink, a sundae, and your choice of entree. You can still choose the ⅓ Double with cheese and 3-piece chicken strips, but you can also choose a bacon cheeseburger now.

Known for their butter burgers, Culver's has a new vegetarian burger on the menu. The veggie burger patty is made from grains, fire-roasted chickpeas, mushrooms, peppers and corn, plus cheese is incorporated right into the mix. It's served like their beef burgers on a buttered bun.

Related: Local Burger Chains the Rest of the Country Needs

As part of a comfort food lineup for winter, White Castle has added two new sliders based on a family favorite. The sloppy joe slider is beef mixed with tomatoes, bell peppers and a sweet and tangy sauce, while the smokey joe slider includes smoked cheddar and onion crisps for even more flavor.

Related: 30 Things You Didn’t Know About White Castle

Zaxby's has a new limited time sauce: General Tso's. It's based on the popular Chinese-American favorite and it's got bright and spicy Asian flavors. You can try it in a boneless wings meal, or get it as a sauce for any of their chicken.

Qdoba has added a new low-carb alternative to rice and tortillas to its menu with Mexican cauliflower mash. It's made with roasted cauliflower that's mashed with sour cream, pico de gallo and cilantro for a creamy, flavorful burrito base.

Budget pizza chain Little Caesars has a new pizza, the Pepperoni Cheeser! Cheeser!. It's a large pizza topped with pepperoni, fresh mozzarella and basil on a toasted parmesan and asiago crust. It's $7, or you can get it in a meal deal with Crazy Bread and sauce and a 2-liter of soda for $10.

Church's may be late to the fried chicken sandwich party, but they're here now. The crispy fried chicken breast filet is topped with pickles and mayo on a toasted honey butter-brushed brioche bun. There's also a spicy version available that includes spicy mayo and comes with a jalapeno pepper on the side. 

Related: 19 Best Fried Chicken Sandwiches in America

Stay in the holiday mood at Quiznos with their new Winter Turkey Feast sandwich. It's got oven-roasted turkey, dried cranberries, honey French dressing, cheese, lettuce and tomato all on a toasty rosemary parmesan bread.

The folks at Fatburger seem to know that we're all at wit's end. Their new offering is called the Hang-in-There Burger, and it's a massive, decadent creation, because why the heck not? The burger is piled high with chili, onion rings, American cheese, bacon, and a fried egg, plus the usual "works" just in case you wanted a vegetable.