Top 15+ hacks for ordering at Burger King everyone should know

Sign up for the Royal Perks scheme

Laying claim to exclusive perks that the rest of the masses don't have access to? That's what we call royalty. In a bid to make you feel truly majestic, Burger King offers the Royal Perks scheme for scoring enticing freebies off the menu. In their own words, "What's better than BK? Free BK."

The process is straightforward enough: after signing up for the Royal Perks scheme, you can earn "crowns" for every $1 that you spend at Burger King. If you live in a dormitory or have a large family, be sure to encourage them to place their orders through your membership to quickly rack up points that can be redeemed for free food and drinks. To sweeten the pot, Burger King also offers double the 'crowns' during your birthday month.

If you aren't sold yet, consider this: you can also lay claim to a free upsize on fries, fountain drinks, hash browns, and coffee every single day. Fun sweepstakes, challenges, and games also offer the chance to clock in additional points.

Unlock secret deals on the app

Looking for a filling meal for two at the price of one? You'll want to make space on your phone for the Burger King app. In addition to the Royal Perks membership, the app also offers the chance to snag some sweet deals for cutting back on your food bills.

While downloading yet another app may not be topping your everyday to-do list, Burger King throws in secret deals and app-only discounts to make it worth the effort. Before placing your order at the counter, it helps to pull up the app to quickly glance through the deals available. A wide array of combination meals and discounted bundles are usually available, but the buy-one-get-one free offers on the Whoppers tend to be a popular crowd favorite as of this publication. Wednesdays are also a fortuitous day for snagging a standard Whopper for as little as $3.99.

Make your order gluten-free by swapping the bun for lettuce

With gluten increasingly camping out in unlikely places — such as soy sauce and certain types of flavored coffee — attempting to order a gluten-free meal at fast food restaurants can seem like an impossible task. However, it is possible to make gluten-free choices at Burger King by simply customizing your order smartly. The next time those Whopper cravings kick in, ask the staff to skip the bun and wrap any burger of your choice in lettuce instead.

Burger King's TENDERGRILL® chicken breast filet is also listed as being gluten-free and makes for an ideal swap for any burger — when ordered without the bun, of course. Dining at a fast food restaurant with a gluten sensitivity is a personal choice, but if you are looking for some peace of mind, you can inform the staff of your allergy and politely request them to change gloves when preparing your order.

Team a value-sized drink with free refills

Scorching days of summer and bottomless drinks sound like a match made in heaven — especially when you know how to hack the menu to get endless refills for less than $2. If value-sized drinks don't usually feature on your typical Burger King order, you'll want to change that. Value-sized cups of Coke are priced at $1.59 and many outlets across the country offer endless free refills, making it maximum value for money.

While free refills are generally provided without any additional charges, it does pay to remember that they are only available for dine-in customers, and not for drive-through and takeaways. You will also not be able to find specialty milkshakes and bottled sodas as part of this offer. Certain outlets may also choose to impose restrictions on excessive refills during rush hour, so you might want to file this hack in the back of your mind for when you're visiting during non-peak hours.   

Swap the toy in a kids' meal for a dessert

From Super Mario figurines to SpongeBob SquarePants cups, Burger King's kids' meals have played host to some highly coveted collectibles over the years. However, if you are swinging by sans kids and without a big appetite to fill, it helps to still order one of the King Jr. Kids Meals. Apart from the standard combination of burgers, nuggets, and apple juice, the meals also come with the option of collecting a toy. Upon request, the toy can be swapped for a small dessert, such as an ice cream.

With growing environmental concerns over single-use plastic, the toys might, however, may have a short future. In the United Kingdom, Burger King has pulled out plastic toys from kids' meals and offered up a free King junior meal to entice customers to bring in their single-use plastic toys for recycling. Across the globe, the fast food chain has vowed to pull all non-biodegradable toys from its kids' meals by 2025 — so the time to claim your free dessert may be now.

Bring back the Whopperito by requesting your Whopper in a tortilla

A classic Burger King Whopper wrapped in a tortilla — what's not to love? This is the question that Burger King execs likely asked themselves while introducing the Whopperito back in 2016. After an initial launch in select locations in Pennsylvania, widespread social media demand catapulted the Whopperito into a nationwide sensation. While the limited-time offering failed to attain permanent menu status, you can still create your own by requesting any Whopper of your choice to be wrapped in a tortilla.

With ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, you have all the makings of an unforgettable Whopperito. All that remains is to swap the traditional sesame seed bun for a tortilla that the restaurant generally keeps at hand for its breakfast burritos. While the creamy touch of queso may be missing, this DIY concoction is a handy way to revive memories of the Whopperito.

Ask for jalapeños for a kick of spice

Heat lovers rejoiced in the return of the Jalapeño Cheddar Bites to the Burger King menu in 2025 after a brief two-year hiatus. But if all the spicy dips and sides on the Burger King menu are just not cutting it for you, you can always take matters into your own hands by asking for a special addition to your Whopper: spicy jalapeños.

You won't generally spot jalapeños if you pry apart a Whopper, but you can always choose to ask your server to pile some on your burger to add some fire power to your meal. The chain restaurant tends to keep jalapeños at hand for the spicy items on its menu, and a polite request is generally obliged. As of this publication, you can round out your meal with other spicy additions: Fiery Chicken Fries, a limited-edition guest on the menu, as well as Fiery Buffalo Nuggets.

Add fries to your milkshake order for an oddly satisfying end to your meals

You love the crunchy fries, you love the creamy milkshakes — so why not bring them both together? Combining fries and a milkshake at Burger King may sound odd at first glance, but hear us out. The science is solid on this one: when you dip fresh-from-the-fryer French fries into an icy milkshake, the contrasting temperatures work in tandem to light up different parts of the human brain. This contrast is said to create a more intense eating experience, and explains the immense popularity behind cult-favorite dessert items, such as hot fudge sundaes and apple pies topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

While vanilla shakes are a popular choice on the internet for creating this combination, those feeling experimental will want to flex their culinary muscles with the other flavors available on Burger King's milkshake menu as of this publication: chocolate, strawberry, classic Oreo, and chocolate Oreo.