8 Strategies for Making Takeout More Budget-Friendly and Healthier, According to Reddit

Reddit user wooden_skirt suggests this tip for Chinese takeout, though it can be applied to many different dishes. If your meal is mostly protein, you can stretch it (and boost its health benefits) by pairing it with budget-friendly frozen vegetables. Peas, carrots, and corn are simple and great options.

If you can find a place with an abundance of soups, salads, or bread, take advantage of those to fill up while seated. Then, take half of your entree (or the whole thing, if you're really dedicated to this tip) and save it for another meal at home.

At Chipotle, order your 'burrito' as a bowl and ask for the tortilla on the side. We’ve raved about this hack before since it usually results in a larger portion than ordering the burrito already assembled.

Reddit users have expanded this hack by pointing out that you can also get an extra serving of most non-meat items at no additional charge. So, request double beans and double rice (and pay extra for double meat, if preferred). The outcome: Two generous meals, essentially.

This is the reverse of a classic hack, so we advise checking the prices and portion sizes to figure out which approach will get you the most for your money.

The older wisdom is that if a restaurant offers both a lunch and a dinner portion of the same meal, the lunch portion is the better deal: it’s a bit smaller, and significantly cheaper. But as redditor oregonchick points out, the sides on the dinner portion are often better, and you’ll get more of them. So getting the dinner and splitting it into two meals may be the smarter move.

I get parmesan crusted chicken or a lovely steak, then select 2 baked potatoes for my side. One potato, half of my entree, and possibly the soup are reserved for future meals, while I still have a filling meal that first round.

Many redditors agree that if you can grab silken tofu on sale, it’s an excellent way to stretch soups and sauces affordably while boosting the protein content. DeerBunniesExist advises adding the tofu before storing your leftovers in the fridge: “The tofu will soak up the sauce or soup flavor quite a bit until you reheat it later.”

And if your meal lacks a bit of extra sauce? Just ask for more, suggests thriftedqueer. They might give you extra for free or sell you a large portion for just a dollar or so.

What’s the appeal of an order from KFC? The chicken, naturally—which isn’t so simple to replicate at home. But mashing a few potatoes or opening a box of potato flakes is much easier. Reddit user southernlights22 recalls that their grandmother would order the chicken and pair it with homemade sides.

Likewise, you could load up your takeout box with dishes from a Chinese buffet and complement it with your own rice at home. At a non-buffet restaurant, rice is usually inexpensive enough that you might as well ask for an extra serving, leading us to the next tip...

Taco Bell offers a My Cravings Box exclusively for online orders. For about $5, you can select a specialty item like a chalupa, a classic taco, a side, and a drink.

The McDonald’s app “often provides free sandwiches or fries with a $1 (small drink) order,” says redditor Inevitable-Place9950, and you can also add condiments like butter, creamers, and jelly for free. Dipping sauces are complimentary, and you can use them to enhance basic foods at home, whether dipping veggies or mixing them with canned chicken. Other redditors point out that you can take advantage of these deals multiple times daily, sometimes just 15 minutes after your first order, allowing you to grab a second order as soon as you've finished the first.

Panera’s “sip club” is $11 per month, giving you unlimited drinks. Inevitable-Place9950 highlights that, in addition to lemonades, coffee, tea, and soda, this is a great option for travelers and unhoused individuals: stop by the bathroom, get some hot water for your ramen, and rack up visits in their reward system, which you can trade for free food and discounts later.