Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

Burger King is raising the stakes in the fast-food cheap deal war.

The fast food chain says it will begin selling a five-item meal for $4 on Tuesday, a deal that marks its answer to the recently-launched McDonald's McPick 2 and Wendy's 4 for $4 deals.

The new BK promotion includes a bacon cheeseburger, small french fries, small drink, 4 piece chicken nuggets and a warm chocolate chip cookie. Burger King and its rivals all acknowledge they are aggressively pursuing value-conscious customers looking for the cheapest of the deals. Burger King officials did not say how long their promotion will last.

Alex Macedo, president for BK in North America, said the promotion builds on the company's "strategy of bringing people into our restaurants with great tasting food at an accessible price point.”

The new BK deal comes as McDonald's on Monday launched its McPick 2 promotion, which allows customers to choose two of the following items for $2: McChicken, McDouble, mozzarella sticks, and small french fries.

Wendy's beat their burger rivals to the punch last year when the Dublin, Ohio-headquartered chain introduced its 4 for $4 deal that includes a junior bacon cheeseburger, 4 chicken nuggets, small fries and a drink.

McDonald's bets McPick 2 is answer as cheap-deal competition stiffens

It's not just the fast food burger giants that are fighting for customers looking for lots of food for little money.

Pizza Hut on Monday launched a seven-item value menu in which each item is $5 if the customer purchases two or more. The menu options includes one-topping medium pizzas, eight boneless wings, pasta, double order of breadsticks, chocolate chip cookie pizza, brownies, and four Pepsi beverages.

McDonald's is initially testing its McPick 2 for five weeks, but has already expressed confidence that it will be a winner in driving sales. Company officials downplay concerns that customers will trade down for cheaper items and depress overall sales.

“So far in the tests, we have done we haven’t seen that," McDonald's chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl told reporters ahead of the launch.

Follow USA TODAY correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad