Condiments and sauces: the great unifiers, eh? We love to dip, slather, and dunk in this country, but the most beautiful thing is that we all do it differently. Want to know about some of the most beloved regionally specific condiments, spreads, and sauces across the U.S.?
Here are 25 big ones.
Red Onion Hot Dog Sauce
The classic East Coast hot dog condiment is at carts all over New Jersey and beyond. This is a lot like sweet and sour sauce with sautéed onions.
Giardiniera
Chicago is the king of the popular pickled condiment, usually made with cauliflower, carrots, and other veggies. A good giardiniera has tons of crunch, tons of vinegar, and just the right amount of heat, and goes perfectly with an Italian Beef sandwich.
Marionberry Jam
Oregon is chock-full of marionberries, which are basically just better versions of blackberries. Spread some tasty marionberry jam on a biscuit and you’ll see why Oregonians can’t stop talking about it.
Comeback Sauce
Comeback sauce, named as such because you’re going to keep coming back for more, is creamy, tangy, and made for fried food. This Mississippi specialty is usually made out of ketchup, mayo, chili sauce, and more.
Grab some fried shrimp and get to dipping.
Duke’s Mayonnaise
Duke’s Mayo is the one true North Carolina religion. If Duke’s isn’t on the menu here, there’s probably some merch on the wall. And nobody’s wrong to worship it; it’s the best American mayo by far. Its egginess echoes Kewpie in the best way.
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Baltimore Tiger Sauce
Baltimore’s take on horseradish mayo is meant for a classic Maryland pit beef sandwich. It’s made with mayo, sour cream, horseradish, and mustard flour.
Jus
California is known for its tri-tip. California is known for its French dips. There is no greater dip or condiment for these two iconic California sandwiches than a gravy of their own drippings.
Corn Butter
Grab some corn. Grab some butter. Blend it until it’s smooth. This Iowa classic belongs on everything from biscuits to cornbread to corn itself.
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Shoyu
This sweet soy-based poke sauce has become popular nationwide, but nobody holds a candle to how it’s done in Hawaii. This is where poke came from before it became the trendy lunch sensation it is today. On the islands, the shoyu is simple and perfect.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup exists everywhere, but if you want the real stuff, you need to be in the magical woodlands of the northeast. Vermont is the place to be for the best maple syrup, so don’t expect to be able to return to Denny’s after tasting from the mountaintop.
Alabama White Sauce
Tangy and peppery, ‘Bama white sauce is a specialty white barbecue sauce that thrives in Alabama and loves to cling to ribs. It’s a beautiful thing when spread on a fried chicken sandwich, too.
Spiedie Sauce
Binghamton, New York is all about Spedies, a kabob-esque sandwich made of grilled, marinated meat. The sauce these meats are marinated and cooked in is much like Italian dressing, and caramelizes like a charm on the outside of chicken.
Cranberry Relish
Cranberry relish has roots in New England and Wisconsin, but the mixture of cranberries, sugar, and orange is beloved in many places — especially around the third Thursday in November.
Halal Cart White Sauce
If you’ve been to a Halal cart in New York and walked away with a steamy box of lamb and rice, you know the meal isn’t complete without the signature garlicky white sauce that Halal food does so well.
Hot Pepper Jelly
You don’t only have to make jelly out of sweet things, you know. Many parts of Texas and Louisiana know it, that’s for sure because you find hot pepper jelly everywhere around there. The stuff is wonderful on fried chicken and even better on a biscuit or a roll.
Hatch Green Chile Salsa
New Mexico is known for its Hatch green chiles — for good reason. The smoky, earthy peppers are soulful and make a phenomenal salsa verde.
Benne Seed Dressing
Benne seeds are huge in South Carolina, and though they are essentially the heirloom ancestor of sesame seeds, they tend to be lighter and help make things greater than the sum of their parts. Any southern salad dressed with benne seed dressing is a great thing.
Moxie Mustard
Moxie soda, a popular bittersweet soda in Maine, is also quite popular as a condiment, mixed with mustard. Lather it onto a Smashburger.
Pimento Cheese
It’s a dip. It’s a spread. It’s a sauce. It’s a condiment. In the South (especially Georgia), it’s everywhere.
Cherry Mustard
Michigan has found a way to stick cherries in just about everything, so it’s not uncommon to see cherry mustard everywhere you look. Mostardas are great for charcuterie and, in my opinion, hot dogs.
Beer Cheese
You already know that Wisconsin is the land of beer cheese, but the reason you know that is because it’s true. Nobody does full, rich, umami-laden beer cheese like Wisconsin. Keep soft pretzels stocked.
Lutefisk Sauce
Lutefish, which is big in Minnesota, is Scandinavian in origin. It’s a dried whitefish dish cured in lye, rehydrated, and steamed until it becomes jelly-like. The sauce that accompanies it is equally chilling, made mostly of butter and mustard.
Honey Dill Sauce
Because of the Dakotas’ proximity to Manitoba, the classic Canadian condiment of honey dill sauce has spilled over to our side. It’s exactly what it sounds like: honey, mayo, and dried dill.
Chow Chow
Any version of the incredibly diverse, ingredient-spanning pickled relish that is chow chow will be found on any good Southern table. It’s everywhere in the Carolinas and Georgia especially.
Mumbo Sauce
Mumbo Sauce, a D.C. specialty, is outstanding. The flavor is big and robust, full of tomato, Worcestershire, and acid. It’s almost like barbecue sauce and sweet and sour sauce combined, and you’d do well to smother some wings in it.
