The One Condiment 35% Would Never Put On A Steak

Ahhh, steak. With all due apologies to those that prefer a plant-based diet, there's just nothing like a perfectly grilled or pan-fried steak. (Or even sous-vided, as long as you remember to sear it afterwards.) While a perfectly cooked filet mignon or ribeye requires little in the way of adornment — perhaps a pat of compound butter or a ladle of demi-glace — many cuts of beef that don't require taking out a second mortgage can benefit from the addition of a steak sauce of some sort.

But, which condiment is best? Or, more to the point, which one is the worst? It's such a shame, after all, to drown a delicious steak dinner in the wrong sauce. In order to determine a popular vote on America's least favorite steak topping, Mashed conducted a poll with 593 respondents that all chose their least favorite condiment out of the following choices: A1 sauce, aioli, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and ranch dressing. 

While the results were really, really close, one condiment barely squeaked out on top. Even though it's actually more of a loss here, considering the greatest number of poll respondents said they'd turn up their noses at a steak doused in this sauce.

This condiment is no match for steak, according to a recent poll

In order to stretch out the suspense a little bit longer, we're going to start from the bottom with the least unfavorite sauce: Only 5.23% of poll respondents say barbecue sauce isn't good enough for their steak and 7.93% are no fans of A1. Another 17.37% would say no thanks to aioli. A very, very close second place went to ranch dressing — a condiment we didn't even know people put on steak — and at least 34.57% of poll participants didn't know either, and wouldn't even consider it. Despite what Hidden Valley commercials would have us believe, not everything tastes better when it's been doused in ranch.

Topping the list, and voted the worst steak condiment by 34.91% of pollees, was ... wait for it ... ketchup! No real shock there, since ketchup on steak is almost universally reviled by foodies. It does have some famous fans, though, including former POTUS Donald Trump and even Alton Brown. So no shame if it's your thing, too.