Every Popeyes Sauce, Ranked Worst To Best

It's safe to say that Americans are creatures of habit when it comes to fast food. They'll order the same meal from the same chain and make an array of requests that are, regardless of size, non-negotiable. Side sauces easily fall into this category, and it's clear that franchises like Popeyes have made them that way. In addition to bone-in white and dark meat, the Louisiana-based chicken chain slings tenders, nuggets, seafood, and a very famous fried chicken sandwich that's inspired brawls and countless competitors, plus biscuits and tasty sides to round out your meal. 

In other words, you're tasked with a lot of decision-making when the time comes to approach the Popeyes counter. One component that's easy to forget about, but packs no less of a punch: the dipping sauces. A look at the restaurant's current nutritional guide displays eight total sauces. However, you'll find that the restaurant has updated its selection over the years so the signature lineup doesn't always look the same. BoldBQ, Sweet Heat, Blackened Ranch, and Bayou Buffalo represent the range of flavor-fueled condiments available for firing up your two-piece meal or Cajun fries. 

Popeyes may have launched the Chicken Sandwich Wars as we know it, but do the condiments bring the same sort of heat? You're about to find out. Below, we'll dip into the Popeyes sauces bearing sweet, spicy goodness for all your chicken-dunking pleasure, and the ones that, taste-wise, are best left behind in the bag. Let the sauce showdown begin! 

Another fish-friendly option in the Popeyes arsenal is the Creole Cocktail Sauce. As a Cajun-infused twist on the traditional seafood dip, it's certainly a creative option that you won't find at many drive-thru joints. Regardless, that uniqueness shouldn't be confused with something that tastes good. Spying the word "Creole" in the name should signal that a fiery rush of heat will play out on your tongue. But, as a matter of fact, it's the opposite. The Creole Cocktail Sauce is actually pretty sweet, with not a lot of spice in sight (per Richard Reviews Everything). 

The chicken chain's version uses common ingredients found in cocktail sauce — think ketchup, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce, plus a blast of peppery seasonings. In theory, you should feel something when dipping pieces of breaded Popcorn Shrimp into this stuff. But the lack of oomph isn't the only issue with this drizzly dip. Its acidic flavor and greasy texture keep it from truly enhancing your meal and ultimately makes for a pretty unappetizing time, as quite a few Redditors argue. Moreover, the Creole Cocktail Sauce will probably only mesh with the chain's seafood items or wings, so it doesn't have much menu mileage, either.

We're all for a little risk-taking now and then, but is the Creole Cocktail Sauce worth smothering on a fresh batch of chicken? We don't think so. Look at it on the menu, acknowledge that it exists, and then slowly walk away. 

Popeyes likes to roll out limited-run products now and then, with one of the spiciest in recent memory belonging to rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Her Hottie Sauce arrived in 2021 as both a dipping sauce and add-on to the chain's chicken sandwich — with a side helping of themed merch, of course (via Thrillist). Much like the musician herself, the condiment contains multitudes. It's sweet from honey, fiery from Aleppo peppers, and rounds itself out with a dash of cider vinegar injecting some zip and zing. 

For a condiment that goes by the moniker of "Hottie Sauce," the heat fizzles out fairly quickly. From the moment you dunk your first drumstick, there's barely a blip of warmth. That's disappointing when you're probably expecting a tongue-blasting burst of spice that'll reverberate in your mouth until the very end of the meal. What's more, The Impulsive Buy reveals that Hottie Sauce is pretty similar to one of the franchise's permanent sauce offerings: Sweet Heat, which also carries the flavors of honey and red peppers. We know that it's all but impossible to achieve total originality in fast food sauces, but the similarities between Hottie Sauce and Sweet Heat are just too obvious to ignore. 

For Popeyes to market Hottie Sauce as a brand-new idea when it already has a sweetly spicy option feels a little lazy. Also, it's no longer on the menu. It might have been fun while it lasted, but is it absolutely necessary? Eh, maybe not. 

Honey mustard is something of a wild card condiment that straddles the line between sweet and savory. And you know what? It's often a winner. Unlike the typical garnish of mustard that you may find zig-zagging your hot dog, honey mustard is a lot less harsh on the palate and tastes fantastic with a variety of meats. In some versions, the flavor can resemble a beefed-up barbecue sauce with its candied undertones that mingle with the more headstrong mustard seeds. 

For all its apparent simplicity, honey mustard can be incredibly nuanced. That's both good and bad. When it's been handled the wrong way, honey mustard can fly over the sweetness threshold Thelma and Louise-style into pure sugar overload, leading it to its inevitable ruin. It sounds dramatic, but thankfully Popeyes appears to strike this delicate balance with its Wild Honey Mustard. This sauce was originally released alongside the Boneless Wings in 2019 (via Brand Eating) and eventually joined the franchise's signature sauce lineup, although a few Facebook users hint that the dip has apparently been discontinued without much of an explanation. 

Maybe it's pointless to rate a possibly-retired dipping sauce, but we had to include it because it's very much alive to the swaths of people who crave its comeback every time they drive to the pick-up window. You won't experience a smoother honey mustard than this, one that glides on the tongue as easily as the crunchy morsels of chicken in your hand. 

Mardi Gras Mustard is the confetti thrown at the end of a party. Or for a better comparison, it might be more like the bead toss during the New Orleans carnival that's in its name. Try it out, and you'll find that pure, unadulterated spice rains down on your tastebuds, from the zesty tones of horseradish and lemon to the vinegary edge of the mustard, seeds and all. Think of it less like a fast food condiment and more as a take on a Dijon like Grey Poupon (or its heftier brown mustard cousin) that the chain restaurant smuggled in from a gourmet deli and plopped into Popeyes packaging. 

Debating the merits of Mardi Gras Mustard (and its sweeter counterpart, Wild Honey Mustard) is a worthwhile undertaking. After all, both of them are mustard sauces that offer a little more than a standard French's-level kick. Yet there's something about the former here that gets our tastebuds in a tizzy in the best way possible. It's got a zingy kick that'll knock a giant chicken nugget right out of your hands, with a dense texture that, despite possibly being polarizing to some, gives it character. 

Pairing it with some of the tastiest fried chicken on the block is just a bonus to indulging in this one-of-a-kind sauce. There's nothing that won't go with it, and to get the most out of this slam-dunk dip takes a meatier offering like the chicken tenders to fully unleash the flavor. 

Ever experience that anxious pause when a Popeyes employee asks you to choose a sauce? For many, it's a very real conundrum. Your mind chaotically shuffles through all the varieties you like (and don't like) and before you know it, you've committed to the first option that popped out of your mouth. In unlucky moments, that may not be the one you necessarily wanted. Thankfully, this predicament can be avoided, because there's a Popeyes sauce that ranks above all else to the point of obliterating any such hesitation. All you have to do is the following: order a chicken tenders meal and ask for a side of — drumroll, please — Blackened Ranch. 

For the fans who already saw this verdict coming, allow yourself to savor some vindication because it's much deserved. We've all seen how ubiquitous ranch dressing has become, how dime-a-dozen the condiment can be when it's sold by the jug in every supermarket and restaurant chain. It takes something special to stand out from the slurry of creamy goop synonymous with school cafeterias, but Blackened Ranch is up to the task. 

There's a smoky feel you won't get from the chain's Buttermilk Ranch, or any other fast food ranch for that matter because the Louisiana Kitchen's spice game snuffs out any competition. The showering of spices, among them paprika, garlic, and onion, forms the ranch dressing of your dreams. And frankly, you won't want to drench your fried chicken (or Cajun fries for that matter) in anything else.