Summer solstice savings: Free Wendy's Frosty, Instacart ice cream discounts and more

Get ready for a summer of savings with food companies dishing out deals, discounts, and freebies on popular menu items.

McDonald's and Burger King recently announced dueling $5 meal bundles in an effort to drive customer retention, and other fast food competitors -- plus now more chain restaurants and even grocery services -- are plating up seasonally timed promotions to entice eaters as well.

Here's a snapshot of spots offering up summer savings.

Wendy's free Frosty and new value menu

Starting Thursday to celebrate five years of the Wendy's Biggie Bag, the fast food chain is offering a free small Frosty with the purchase of it's $5 meal deal exclusively in the Wendy's app.

The free app-only deal is available through June 30 at participating Wendy's restaurants nationwide.

Wendy's also recently launched a $3 English muffin meal combo on its breakfast menu that comes with a small portion of seasoned potatoes and choice of either a bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin sandwich or a sausage, egg and cheese English muffin sandwich.

Plus, the fast food chain has another longstanding value offer, the $5 Biggie Bag -- a meal deal that includes a choice of one of three sandwiches, spicy or classic chicken nuggets, fries, and a small soft drink.

Instacart Summer Solstice

On Thursday, Instacart is offering 50% off a purchase of at least $10 of ice cream and popsicles -- with a maximum $10 discount -- at select retailers on the grocery shopping platform.

Summer freebie at Krispy Kreme

On June 20, randomly selected customers will get a free original glazed dozen doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.

Plus, the doughnut chain is offering a bogo deals for $1 dozen of original glazed with the purchase of another regular-priced dozen at participating shops. The offer is available in-store and online when using the code SUMMER.

Starbucks new pairing menu, $6 breakfast combo

The popular Seattle-based coffee chain introduced a new drink and breakfast combo starting at just $5.

Customers can order any tall, 12-ounce iced or hot coffee or tea with a butter croissant for $5, or upgrade to any savory breakfast sandwich -- sausage, cheddar and egg sandwich; bacon, gouda and egg sandwich; turkey bacon, cheddar and egg white sandwich; or chicken, maple butter and egg sandwich -- for $6.

Plus, customers can opt for a larger beverage size, or customize the beverage or food, in each pairing for an additional charge.

Burger King $5 value meal

The Miami-based burger chain confirmed last month to ABC News that it was accelerating value offers with its $5 Your Way deal launching in June.

The deal includes a choice of one of three sandwiches, a Whopper Jr., Chicken Jr. or Bacon Cheeseburger, with chicken nuggets, fries and a soft drink for just $5.

KFC deals: $10 Tuesdays, free delivery on Sundays

The Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chain is adding a new flavor to its saucy nuggets summer lineup and rolling out everyday deals for more seasonal savings.

Customers can try a 10-piece order of Saucy Nuggets for just $5.99, which come in Honey BBQ, Korean BBQ, and Honey Sriracha.

KFC has extended its $10 Tuesdays deal, when customers can order a bucket full of eight pieces of chicken -- drums and thighs -- for just 10 bucks.

New this summer, and taking aim at fried chicken competitors who are closed on Sundays, KFC will offer free delivery on orders made online or via their app.

McDonald's $5 value meal

The Golden Arches will soon roll out its new bundle offer that includes four items: a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, small soft drink and a four-piece Chicken McNuggets for just $5, starting later this month on June 25 for a limited time.

A representative for McDonald's did not confirm the exact duration of the deal.

TGI Fridays all-day happy hour for 1st Friday of summer

TGI Fridays is ready for summer, rolling out two new seasonal deals to help consumers cool down on the first official Friday of the summer.

On Friday -- in tandem with the first official day of summer -- the restaurant chain is offering its $5 Happy Hour all day long that includes hand-crafted cocktails, spirits, and bar bites.

TGI Fridays also launched a social media-native sweepstakes that offers the chance for 21 people to win free Fridays for a year.

An earlier version of this story was first published on June 7, 2024.