Picture this: You roll through the fast food drive-thru after a long day to grab a bite.
No one knows this better than Wendy’s.
It’s hard to disagree.
Photos: Megan Hageman. Design: Eat This, Not That!
This is one fewer sauce option thanMcDonald’sandBurger Kingoffer.
It also kicks things up a few notches with its latest addition of Ghost Pepper Ranch.
Historically, all of Wendy’s dipping sauces have been well-received.
Photo: Megan Hageman/Eat This, Not That!
Which one stands out from the crowd as the sauciest and tastiest?
With an order of nuggs at the ready, I tried all five options to find out.
Let’s get dunking.
Photo: Megan Hageman/Eat This, Not That!
With the same core makeup, you may wonder how every sauce tastes wildly different from the last.
With barbecue sauce, the magic is in the spices and other secret ingredients.
At a fast food chain like Wendy’s, there is one option and one chance to impress.
Photo: Megan Hageman/Eat This, Not That!
The look:Not as dark as other barbecue sauces I’ve seen.
I would say it’s more medium copper than brown.
It’s sufficiently thick and gloopy.
Photo: Megan Hageman/Eat This, Not That!
The taste:The smell is strong and smoky.
I kept going back for more, waiting for a bolder taste to materialize, but it never came.
Barbecue sauce is not typically my top pick, so I may be slightly biased.
Photo: Megan Hageman/Eat This, Not That!
This swap caused controversy at the time.
As someone who is somewhat averse to foods that burn my mouth, I steered clear of the debates.
Fast-forward to me being wary of trying this sauce for the first time.
Ghost peppers sit around 1 million Scoville heat units and were once known as the world’s hottest peppers.
The look:Like a spicy mayo but with a thicker, stickier consistency.
Tiny black and orange flecks dance around the small plastic container, taunting me with the promise of spice.
The taste:Sneakily fiery.
At first, it tastes like your average, everyday ranch.
I thought I was in the clear.
The heat caught up to me when I was about to go in for another dunk.
My issue with the sauce is that it needs more character.
It’s just ranch with a zing.
No pepper taste or complementary spices are at work to give it a much-needed flavor boost.
The chain then throws in the humble brag that it “tastes as good as gold looks.”
I’ll certainly be the judge of that.
I have sampled rich, hickory-flavored honey mustards, but none have come from a drive-thru.
I was curious to try this sauce.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
The look:Smooth and pale yellow.
While the substance is thick, it comes out of its vessel very diluted and watery.
I found myself double and even triple-dunking.
I confirmed what I already suspected: Smoky notes are not part of the equation.
In full transparency, this has always been my dip of choice when I swing through the burger joint.
Drizzled on top of a pizza or salad?
Served with a vegetable platter for some extra razzle-dazzle?
Don’t mind if I do.
Squirted onto a sandwich?
That’s a no-brainer.
I guess that’s why so many chain restaurants have it stocked, and Wendy’s is no exception.
The look:Ivory and speckled with green bits of parsley.
It looked oh-so glossy as I peeled back the blue foil.
Eventually, hunger got the best of me.
The taste:A ranch I can get behind.
For those consumers who prefer a little more body, this may not be the nugg sauce for you.
Once again, I paired the sauce with classic, non-spicy nuggets and the occasional salty fry.
The look:Highlighter orange and translucent.
With an almost gelatin-like thickness, it reminded me of duck sauce, which is fairly similar.
The taste:Tangy and zesty at first, but not to the point of puckering.
Then, it settles into more of a citrusy sweetness.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
I didn’t foresee this one being at the top of my list.
I’m not sure that pairing it with chicken nuggets does it enough justice.
Egg rolls or crab rangoons would be more fitting, in my opinion.
Even so, it’s still an A-plus sauce, no matter how you dip it.
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