Popeyes is known for its Louisiana-style chicken, but no fast-food chicken experience is fully complete without a sauce or two (or three) (or four) for dipping. That isn’t a problem at Popeyes, where your dip options are tenfold.
How do they stack up? Which ones should you grab at the drive-thru? I tried all of them, including the two “Wing” sauces, and ranked them based on pure flavor. Here are all 10 Popeyes dipping sauces, ranked from best to worst.
Best: Blackened Ranch Sauce
Dang, this is good. I’m a huge ranch fan. Generally, I don’t think it’s a dip that needs improvement, but I am quite wrong. This is tasty as can be; it’s ranch-forward, but there’s a lot going on here. I taste garlic, onion, and red pepper, and it looks like there might be chives floating around in here. Green onion? The ingredient list is no help. If you think the idea of ranch dressing mixed with a bunch of paprika sounds good, pick this sauce up immediately.
2. BoldBQ Sauce
Popeyes’ BBQ sauce unmistakably lives up to its name. Bold is probably the first word I’d use. There is so much vinegar and Worcestershire sauce flavor in each bite, but there’s also a heavy, thick smokiness to match. It almost feels like A.1.’s weird cousin. This is great barbecue sauce, and it’s more than different enough from the new wing sauce to warrant its own spot in the roster.
3. Honey BBQ Wing Sauce
This is far sweeter than BoldBQ, so if you’re looking for vinegar, smoke, and spice, stick with the above. If you want something sweet and sticky, like honey, this is for you. I’m a huge fan of this with the spicy tenders; this sauce brings out the heat in a beautiful way, and then once it’s paired with the sweetness from the honey? Forget about it.
4. Sweet ‘N Spicy Wing Sauce
If you know Popeyes’ Sweet Heat sauce, you’ll like this. Sweet Heat isn’t always available at Popeyes (though you can order it), but right now you can get something very similar with Sweet ‘N Spicy wing sauce.
This guy is adjacent to an Asian sweet and spicy chili sauce, though thicker and more jammy than Pop’s classic Sweet Heat. Much like the other wing sauce, this goes an even longer way on a spicy tender, with those sweet and spicy counterpoints working wonders.
5. Buttermilk Ranch Sauce
This is an unfortunately forgettable sauce, but a fine ranch. I see no reason to get involved with this while blackened ranch exists, so consider this if they’re out of stock that day.
Trending on Cheapism
6. Popeyes Signature Sauce
Popeyes’ Signature sauce is odd, but good. It’s like a bloody Mary or something. We’re talking celery salt up the wazoo. It’s thick and eggy, somewhere in the neighborhood of a California-style special sauce, but the aggressive amount of celery salt holds this back from true saucy greatness. Here’s a little tip, Pop. If you’ve been around for over 50 years, I don’t think a sauce that you put out this year can be considered your signature sauce. Trust me, you don’t want it to be this one.
7. Wild Honey Mustard Sauce
This is a strong showing from Popeyes. Honey mustard can almost be a throwaway in a lot of other restaurants, but not here. Popeyes hasn’t forgotten its roots; this is unmistakably Creole, full of sweet richness and mustard seeds. It’s custardy and decadent in the best way. Tip of the cap to you on this one, Pop.
8. Tartar Sauce
Tartar sauce? Over Mardi Gras Mustard? Am I out of my mind? Perhaps I am. No matter. It’s not that I hate mustard and I’m a big fan of tartar sauce; in fact, it’s the opposite. This particular tartar sauce is more full of flavor than most I’ve had. It’s thick and loaded with a dilly relish of cucumbers and pickles.
I’ve never really had tartar sauce with chicken tenders before, but it works better than I’d expect. This is normally meant for Popeyes’ popcorn shrimp, or when they seasonally offer fried catfish. In another world, this might have even cracked the top five, but it’s incredibly rich. After two or three bites, it’s hard to soldier on.
Sign up for our newsletter
9. Mardis Gras Mustard Sauce
I feel bad sticking Mardi Gras Mustard all the way down here, because I love that Popeyes even offers it. I just want to grab it and say, “it’s not your fault” over and over.
This is a classic, stone-ground mustard, chock-full of seeds. It’s a bang-on complement to Popeyes’ spicy tenders, but I have to admit I’m missing the familiar sting of horseradish. I know this is a dipping sauce meant for a large consumer pool, but if it were up to me, I’d make it just a little bit more intense. Without it, it just feels a little bit incomplete.
10. Cocktail Sauce
It’s a bummer to stick this all the way down here, because Creole Cocktail Sauce is a hit. I don’t even usually like cocktail sauce, but Popeyes has swirled lots of horseradish into it, the same way I do when I eat oysters. I wish they gave some of that horseradish to the Mardi Gras Mustard.
Unfortunately, it never stood a chance against the rest of the chicken-based dipping sauces. Go with this if you’re getting shrimp, but it’s not necessary otherwise.
More Fast-Food Sauce Taste Tests
- The 8 Best Chick-fil-A Sauces, Ranked — Though Chick-fil-A is primarily known for its namesake sauce, the fast food chain actually has a lineup of sauces that rolls eight flavors deep.
- You’d Be a Fool Not to Try These Underrated Fast-Food Sauces — What about the dark horses? The underrated sauces? Take a look at these seven sauces to keep in mind.
- The Best — and Worst! — Fast-Food Sauces — We tasted 24 specialty fast-food sauces — here’s what you need to know.
