Are there more than seven great fast-food dipping sauces? Yes, but I want to stick to fast-food chains in multiple states. If not, Pollo Tropical‘s Cilantro Garlic sauce would have made this list.
Also, something like Big Mac’s special sauce doesn’t count. I love Big Mac’s special sauce as much as the next person, but it’s not a dipping sauce.
Sure, you can ask for some, and you might even get lucky with a helpful employee, but McDonald’s only squirts it on the Big Mac. If I had been loose with the dipping sauce rules, the Burger King stacker sauce was another contender for the list.
These are my seven best fast-food dipping sauces; what are yours?
7 Best Fast-Food Dipping Sauces
Burger King Zesty Sauce
I first made the acquaintance of Burger King‘s Zesty Sauce with an order of their onion rings. Although initially, it felt like they were trying to knock off Outback‘s Bloomin’ Onion sauce.
I don’t blame them at all; that’s another delicious sauce. Whether I’m ordering Burger King’s mozzarella sticks, nuggets, or jalapeño cheddar bites, Zesty Sauce is exactly what you need.
I’ve also used it on the original oblong chicken sandwich.
Chick-fil-A Sauce
On my first try, it was hard to figure out precisely what Chick-fil-A Sauce was. Then it hit me: the highly addictive sauce is a smokey honey mustard.
Hats off to Chick-fil-A on their creation; it’s worth its weight in gold. My wife and I were hoarding all our new mini tubs of the condiment at my house.
That behavior only ended when Chick-fil-A made the Chick-fil-A Sauce available online and in supermarkets nationwide. Those 16-ounce bottles and their 8-ounce equivalent only at restaurants are highly coveted, so stay away from mine.
Freddy’s Fry Sauce
Arctic Circle, a burger chain out of Utah, claims to be the originator of the pink sauce, as it’s known to some. The main ingredients are ketchup, mayonnaise, garlic, and other spices.
While Freddy’s didn’t invent the fry sauce, they have a solid lock on an excellent version. Like the Chick-fil-A sauce, you can buy a bottled version of Freddy’s Fry Sauce at the restaurant or online.
Little Caesar’s Buffalo Ranch
Here’s a sauce you won’t find on any lists: the Buffalo Ranch from Little Caesar’s. It appears the intended use is for their chicken wings.
However, any sauce expert will tell you it’s the perfect replacement for their marinara Crazy sauce. Once I dipped my Crazy Bread in the Buffalo Sauce, I never looked back.
McDonald’s Hot Mustard
If we were numbering this list, McDonald’s Hot Mustard would be number one. Remember the great hot mustard scare of 2012, when it was discontinued for a little while? I do.
McDonald’s even went as far as to print a list of their dipping sauces with our beloved hot mustard omitted. Luckily, they came to their senses after the uproar online.
As for the hot mustard sauce itself, it’s enough heat to let you know it’s there. There is no other quite like it, truth be told.
Popeyes Mardi Gras Mustard
The Mardi Gras Mustard is not the best-known Popeyes sauce. Yet, I’m telling you, it’s the best of the bunch.
A friend of mine swears by the buttermilk ranch, and I enjoy it occasionally. But that grainy mustard with a hint of horseradish and honey is highly addictive.
Whataburger Spicy Ketchup
Whataburger‘s fancy ketchup was the first fast food condiment with a Facebook fan page. So naturally, I was intrigued, and once my path crossed with a Whataburger in Jacksonville, they had a new fan.
Then Whataburger introduced their Spicy Ketchup; I was a man on a mission. A few weeks later, it confirmed my suspicions: Hello spicy, goodbye regular ol’ fancy ketchup.
The Spicy ketchup has the same flavor profile as the original, with a jalapeño pepper bite sealing the deal. If you haven’t dipped your fries in Whataburger’s Spicy Ketchup, you can’t live your fast food life to its full potential.
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