The Fast Food Chain With The Best Sauce, According To Reddit

A wise man once said that "juice is temporary, but sauce is forever." From where we stand, neither juice nor sauce will last you much longer than your average meal, but a truly great sauce does have a way of lingering in your mind. Who among us doesn't occasionally reminisce on a tasty béarnaise we once drizzled on our steak or think back to a particularly sumptuous tomato sauce that accompanied our pasta at an Italian restaurant? We even think fondly on fast food sauces — in fact, we especially think fondly on fast food sauces, from McDonald's tasty Big Mac sauce to Raising Cane's iconic, Russian dressing-adjacent dipping sauce. But what chain offers the very best condiments? According to Reddit, it's none other than Popeyes.

Two specific Popeyes sauces were singled out by Reddit. The first was the Blackened Ranch, a Cajun take on ranch dressing that's wonderful with either chicken or shrimp. The second was the Mardi Gras Mustard, a spicy-sweet concoction with a bit of horseradish to make your palate tingle. If you want to put the sauces on your home-cooked meals as well (or if Popeyes forgot to include the sauce in your order, which one user mentioned as a distinct possibility), there are no shortage of copycat recipes out there online. Not to mention that you can cut out the middleman and buy Popeyes sauces right from your local grocery store.

Popeyes may be the only major fast food chain named after a Gene Hackman character (at least until someone opens a restaurant themed after "The Royal Tenenbaums"), but it's not the only fast food chain with great sauces. Elsewhere in that same Reddit thread, people shouted out some of their other favorite condiments for dipping and drizzling, including a few of the usual suspects. Chick-Fil-A sauce, of course — that classic melange of mayo, mustard, and barbecue sauce — got its usual praise. 

But there were also a few overlooked choices. Taco Bell's Creamy Jalapeño sauce, which goes perfectly on quesadillas, and Arby's trusty Horsey Sauce, the zingy horseradish condiment that elevates the chain's trademark roast beef sandwiches, both made appearances. More than one person advocated for McDonald's Hot Mustard, which may not be the most famous McNugget dipping sauce but which has a number of devoted fans all the same. Some regional chains got love, as well, with Cook Out's special sauce and Freddy's Famous Fry Sauce both getting positive mentions. (Freddy's has a whole menu devoted to frozen custards, but its fries — and sauces — are clearly worth checking out, too.)