Make A Beefy Potato Meal At Texas Roadhouse Using Only 2 Appetizers

Texas Roadhouse is a popular casual dining chain that serves anything from a ribeye and grilled salmon to chili and country-fried chicken. It's a steakhouse-meets-Southern comfort food vibe, and while the restaurant has an affordable menu, there's always room for saving a little more money if you know how to be creative. For example, if you're craving meat and potatoes but don't want to spend the money on a steak, just combine an order of chili with a baked potato side dish for a beefy, loaded potato meal.

Prices vary by location, but a baked potato costs around $3.49. Texas Roadhouse's chili is a fan favorite dish, and a side of chili is around just $4. When you pair it with a baked potato, you're getting a filling dish that costs less than any entrée. While you can order chili on top of your baked potato for an extra $1, the amount you get with a chili side is larger, so this is the better choice to make more of a meal out of the dish.

Chili over a baked potato is just the tip of the iceberg with this easy meal. There are few different ways you can customize it while still keeping it cost-effective. For just an extra $1, you can turn the side of chili into a bowl of chili for an even more filling portion. As for the potato, you can opt for the "loaded" choice, which gives you a potato topped with butter, sour cream, cheddar, and bacon. A loaded baked potato smothered with a bowl-sized portion of chili costs only around $9.50 — still cheaper than any dinner, and definitely filling. If you're not craving a baked potato, try this same trick with an order of cheese fries.

Chili and macaroni and cheese go pretty well together, right? To give this meal an extra burst of flavor, order a loaded baked potato, but go with a chili topping instead of the chili side (a total of $2.28 extra on top of the baked potato cost), then add a side of macaroni and cheese, and smother the chili potato in macaroni and cheese, too. The pasta side costs $4.48, so this version of the meal is only $10.26. While it's the priciest of the variations, the addition of mac and cheese also likely makes it the most filling — and still cheaper than an entree.