The New Popeyes X Hot Ones Collab Item Even Sean Evans Hasn't Dared To Try

Attention "Hot Ones" and Popeyes fans – prepare to start sweating! While the popular YouTube series occasionally partners with brands like Pringles to bring the experience of the blazing hot show to store shelves, it's collaborating with a wing brand for the first time ever. Some of its signature sauces will be served with special Popeyes menu items starting today, September 15. You'll be able to try three saucy new dishes with varying heat levels from the Hot Ones brand itself, along with the infamous sauce that closes out every episode of the show.

The mildest dish of the bunch is the Sizzlin' Sriracha Dippers. They are pickled garlic sriracha-marinated Chicken Dippers (which are one of Popeyes' newest snacks) and will come with a Hot Ones Sriracha packet and a side of buttermilk ranch. The medium-level entry is the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich, which has Popeyes crispy chicken, a Hot Ones Los Calientes Rojo spread, pickles, and a brioche bun. Lastly, there's the spiciest item of them all: the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings. You have the choice of bone-in or boneless wings that are dusted in a ghost pepper dry rub and come with a Last Dab Ranch dip cup.

There is one last fiery offering you can try at Popeyes, and you'll certainly want to be careful with it. It's a packet of The Last Dab, which is Hot Ones' spiciest sauce — you can get it as a $1 add-on. When The Takeout spoke to Sean Evans, he admitted something to us: "I've gone through them all. I've had the Sizzlin' Sriracha Dippers. I've had the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich. I've had the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings. Haven't been brave enough yet to put a Last Dab sachet on those wings, but otherwise, yes, I've worked through the gauntlet."

Sean Evans told The Takeout that he does have a favorite dish out of the three. "I'm kind of a fried chicken obsessive, so to me, the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich is the best," he said, adding, "That sandwich is my favorite, but that's what I kind of like about the menu in general. There's something for everyone."

Even though Evans prefers the offering with a medium heat level, he's particularly pleased that there's some genuine spice to some of the other items, too. "Sometimes they'll say something's spicy, but [it's not]. That sort of chile-head is a really underserved palate in the American culinary experience. So it was important that, for the real ones out there, we brought some heat," he shared. 

Take the Last Dab Ranch, for example. "It beats me up a little bit, and I'm an experienced professional over here," Evans admitted. "It's just one of those things where you think ranch would have some sort of cooling quality to it, but — if you're a pepper girl, you know sometimes all it takes is just a sliver of a Scotch bonnet to nuke an entire bowl of chili. So achieving balance in all of it was important to us," he explained.

Sean Evans said that the driving force of the collaboration was to capture the experiences of the best "Hot Ones" interviews but in a subtle way. "We didn't just make a spicy Hot Ones sandwich and put it out," he said. "To me, it was important that there was some sort of narrative there that could connect."

It was important to feature varying heat levels not just to appeal to a wide breadth of customers but also because that's what really happens on "Hot Ones." "Maybe people want to do it as a challenge. Maybe they want that sort of sequencing. So that was a line in the sand that I drew that I thought was important," Evans explained.

That being said, Evans also shared that it was crucial not to micromanage the creative process and act as if he knew how to design a better fried chicken sandwich than the Popeyes team. He said, "You let the experts do their thing and then sort of twist some knobs from there. In the same way that they would never say, 'Here's what I think a good interview looks like.'" 

This new collaboration might feature some of the spiciest fast food menu items yet, but there's only one way to know for sure. There's something there for any heat seeker, whether you just want to dip your toes into the spicy water or dive in headfirst with the Last Dab hot sauce that even Evans himself is reluctant to add to his fried chicken. Let that be a warning in case you decide to tear right into that Last Dab packet, and whichever direction you choose, be careful around your eyes.