Review: The Popeyes Hot Ones Menu Brings Extreme Spice To Some Popeyes Favorites

Popeyes decided to add chicken wings to its permanent menu in December 2023. By early 2024, Wings turned out to be Popeyes' next hit menu item. Then, in September 2025, the chicken chain further solidified itself as a power player in the world of wings with an official Hot Ones collaboration. Chicken wings are a vehicle for spice on Hot Ones, a YouTube series in which host Sean Evans asks celebrities thoughtful questions as they power through wings tossed in sauces of increasing levels of hotness. So, each Popeyes' Hot Ones item represents a different spice level.

The wings on the YouTube series can pack some serious heat, and even if some celebrities have barely flinched, other celebrities have cried tears of spice on Hot Ones. In order to see if the new Popeyes collab lives up to its fiery namesake, I tried everything on the Hot Ones menu. The following includes some key details about the collaboration as well as my individual reviews of each new item.

The Popeyes Hot Ones menu consists of three items, two of which are complicated by the dipping sauces that accompany them. At the mildest end of the spectrum are the Sizzlin' Sriracha Dippers. As a base are the Popeyes Chicken Dippers, which The Takeout reviewed in July 2025. But whereas those were marinated in Popeyes' signature spice blend, the Sriracha Dippers are flavored with a pickled garlic-sriracha marinade. They're accompanied by both a standard buttermilk ranch dipping sauce and a packet of Hot Ones-branded pickled garlic-sriracha hot sauce.

Representing a medium level of spice is the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich. This item includes the crispy chicken filet, brioche bun, and pickles of the famously delicious Popeyes chicken sandwich, plus Hot Ones' Los Calientes Rojo sauce. Finally, at the hottest tier are the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings, which can be ordered either bone-in or boneless. They start with six of the standard, breaded Popeyes wings and add a ghost pepper dry rub. By default, they come with a dipping cup of ranch flavored with the Hot Ones Last Dab hot sauce — the spiciest sauce in the Hot Ones lineup. For a minor surcharge, customers truly wanting to emulate Hot Ones can add a sachet of pure The Last Dab, described on its packaging as at an 11/10 level of a hotness.

Popeyes debuted its Hot Ones menu on September 15, 2025. Its announcement did not include an end date. That said, the Popeyes pickle menu, which The Takeout reviewed on its April 1, 2025 debut, remained in stores for a little over a month. So, anyone hoping to try the Popeyes Hot Ones collaboration should plan on doing so before October 15, 2025. It may stick around for longer, but that's the likeliest approximation of its departure.

The press release for the Hot Ones menu describes its availability as nationwide, at participating Popeyes locations. So, any restaurant that might not carry the Hot Ones items is an exception to the rule. Popeyes is franchised, so prices can technically vary from location to location. Nevertheless, Popeyes suggests a $16.99 retail price for a full Popeyes x Hot Ones bundle, including the Chicken Dippers, Rojo Sandwich, Ghost Wings, and Last Dab Ranch. At my local Popeyes in Las Vegas, Nevada, the dippers individually retail for $6.99, the sandwich retails for $5.99, the wings are $7.99, and the Last Dab sachet is $1.00.

Most striking to me about the first Sizzlin' Sriracha Dipper I tried was that it was actually spicy. Virtually every spice lover can recall a time a food item — and fast food is notorious for this — boasted spice but ended up barely rising above black pepper-level. The Sriracha Dippers are hot on their own, to the point that they might present a challenge for the truly spice-averse. I'm a spice aficionado, so these were nowhere near challenging, but their spice level was, surprisingly to me, satisfying.

Beyond that spice, the pickled garlic flavor in their marinade came through pretty prominently. Together, those flavors tasted great, elevating the dippers well above chicken bites. Dipped in the regular Popeyes ranch that accompanies them, the funky pickled garlic paired nicely with the natural ranch tang. Of course, the spice-averse who still want to try the Sizzlin' Sriracha Dippers can strategically wield the ranch to cool down their spice as well. However, while I really enjoyed my dippers, I didn't really like the sachet of pure pickled garlic-sriracha sauce that came with them. I found it too vinegary, overpowering that same funky flavor I found so pleasant in the dippers' marinade. Since it's easy enough to ignore the sriracha sachet, that's hardly to the dippers' detriment, but I do think they're better off plain or in simple ranch.

Two bites into my Smokin' Rojo Sandwich, I felt confident it was the spiciest item I had tried from Popeyes, and quite possibly one of the spicier things I'd ever tried from a fast food restaurant. The spice on the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich is uniquely complicated by the fact the sandwich's sizable chicken patty and especially the substantial brioche buns naturally cool it down in every bite. The spice perseveres nevertheless, dominating the sandwich's flavor. It's a fiery sort of spice that lingers, and pairs nicely with the tang of the sandwich's pickle slices.

Hot sauce aside, the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich is basically just a Popeyes chicken sandwich. I thought my chicken patty was a little crispier than normal, but I chalk that up to how my individual location prepared the piece of chicken and not an intentional change. Simply put, the Smokin' Rojo Sandwich is supposed to be a Popeyes chicken sandwich for heat lovers, and it delivers on that promise pretty expertly.

Whereas the spice level of my Chicken Dippers surprised me with its severity, my first Darin' Dab Ghost Wing — which I tried plain — was surprisingly mild. I tasted plenty of seasoned buttermilk flavor in the wing's standard breading, but the ghost pepper rub added a mere accent, as opposed to redefining the wings' character. They were good, but nothing too far out of the ordinary, and considerably milder than my sandwich.

The Last Dab Ranch changed that initial impression so significantly, I'd recommend only ever eating the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings dipped in the ranch, never plain. The Last Dab ranch is seriously spicy, to the point that finishing multiple wings dipped in ample amounts of the ranch required a bit of willpower on my part. The experience wasn't seriously challenging, but it hurt in that satisfying way spice-heads covet. By the time my dipping cup was empty, my eyes were legitimately watering. With the caveat that they must be enjoyed in ranch, the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings punch above their weight class. They deliver on spice, and perhaps even more importantly, taste great, combining Popeyes' signature approach to fried chicken with the unmistakable flavor of super-hot pepper. I may be biased as a spicy food guy, but the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings with The Last Dab Ranch is quite possibly the best fast food item I've had all year.

The sachet of The Last Dab hot sauce is the one new Popeyes x Hot Ones collab item that even Sean Evans hasn't dared to try. For the sake of fast food review science — and, more importantly, because I love a good hot sauce challenge — I tried one. It was very, very hot.

I finished about half of my Last Dab sachet to start, tasting it both plain and on a few chicken wing bites. Its flavor was practically unadulterated super-hot pepper, with a sort of vegetal taste characteristic of extreme hot sauces. Overpowering that element, of course, was pure fire. Within seconds of finishing that first half I was sweating, my eyes were watering, and my tongue was burning like it only ever had during some of the spiciest experiences of my life. Mission accomplished, Hot Ones. I rode it out for about 10 minutes before returning to finish the second half of the sachet on some leftover Chicken Dippers. I remained under the thrall of The Last Dab for about a full 30 minutes.

It's worth noting that this is the same The Last Dab available through retail outlets that sell Hot Ones-branded hot sauces. Nevertheless, Popeyes is presenting spice lovers with a unique opportunity to try the famously fiery product at a national fast food chain. It's extremely hot. If that doesn't sound fun, stay away. But if that sounds like a nice time, prepare for something gnarly and enjoy.

The worry that I — and inevitably every other hot food appreciator — had when first presented with the idea of a Popeyes Hot Ones menu was that it would underdeliver on spice. By this point, it should be abundantly clear that fear was unfounded. Even the Sizzlin' Sriracha Dippers are an extremely good spicy fast food item. The Smokin' Rojo Sandwich is maybe the least interesting item in the lineup, but it's still something I would order over most other chicken sandwiches in fast food. Naturally, the Darin' Dab Ghost Wings are the star of the show. The Last Dab sachet is the cherry-shaped atomic fireball on top.

Just as important as the spice is the fact each item tastes very good. The formula in all of these items is simple, pairing the chicken that Popeyes has always done well with the hot sauces Hot Ones has engineered to please spice aficionados. I found a couple of hiccups — the sriracha sauce sachet and the lackluster flavor of the wings without ranch — to be ultimately negligible, in light of just how much I enjoyed. Both as a brand collaboration and as a treat for spice connoisseurs, the Popeyes Hot Ones menu is a big win.