The Definitive Ranking Of McDonald's Nugget Sauces

Though McDonald's might be best known for its signature burgers, its Chicken McNuggets have been a fan favorite since they first hit menus in the early 1980s. Sure, the accompanying dipping sauces may not get as much love as the McNugget itself, but let's be honest –- it's the sauce that makes these bite-sized snacks so endearing.

When Chicken McNuggets were first released in 1983, they came with four different sauces: barbecue, honey, sweet and sour, and hot mustard. The sauce roster has changed over the years, and it's seen over 25 different sauces come and go in the Chicken McNuggets' 41 year lifespan. Currently, McDonald's offers seven different sauces to complement its Chicken McNuggets. In addition to the original four, McNuggets can come with spicy buffalo sauce, honey mustard, and creamy ranch.

It's a decent variety that covers all the complementary flavor profiles you'd want with your Chicken McNuggets, but which sauce reigns supreme? Here is a definitive ranking of all seven McDonald's Chicken McNugget sauces.

Ranch dressing is something of a miracle condiment -– it works well with everything from fresh veggies to pizza. Ever since Steve and Gayle Henson perfected their ranch recipe and opened Hidden Valley Ranch in the 1950s, it's become an ubiquitous condiment in American households and restaurants. Ranch dressing's most notable hook up with fried chicken came when Buffalo wings landed on the scene in the 1960s. Since then, its creamy texture and herbaceous flavors have often been paired with fried chicken in all its iterations.

Though ranch sauce wasn't part of McDonald's original sauce lineup, it makes sense that ranch would make its way to the menu. As tasty as ranch dressing is, the ranch sauce at McDonald's has a few issues. Its thin consistency results in its flavors getting lost amid the crispy peaks and valleys of a McNugget. Traditional ranch is thick and creamy, so getting a watered-down version is a bit unpleasant.

On top of that, the flavors don't really hit the way they should. Every so often when dining out, you'll encounter a ranch variation that leans into the sour buttermilk notes, and that's exactly what is going on here. The aromatics get completely lost in that overt acidity, so unless a watery coat of sour dairy is something that you dig on your McNuggets, this is one to avoid entirely.

Hot mustard was part of McDonald's starting lineup for McNugget dipping sauces. It's had an on-again, off-again relationship with the McDonald's menu, but it's still available at certain locations across the country. The company's variation is similar to the hot mustard that rose to prominence in the United States, thanks to its presence at Chinese restaurants.

It's an interesting call to be sure -– McDonald's only flirts with spicy items on its menu. However, there is something to be said about adding an extra kick to their Chicken McNuggets, and that's precisely what the hot mustard does. Rather than run with the acidic tang of yellow or Dijon mustard, the hot mustard sticks to the herby, horseradish-adjacent end of the mustard flavor spectrum.

While the hot mustard may be a hit among diners seeknig an unconventional and spicy accompaniment to their McNuggets, it's a challenging flavor profile for those after a quick bite. That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with the hot mustard at McDonald's -– it does precisely what it sets out to do. However, most diners typically visit McDonald's for something safe, and scorching the olfactory receptors with intense mustard flavors doesn't fit that bill most of the time.

As the name implies, McDonald's spicy buffalo sauce takes its cue from the smoky, spicy flavor profiles of buffalo wings. As the McNuggets' basic components mirror that of fried chicken, it makes sense that this vinegary sauce would make its way on the menu. It has a slight edge over the hot mustard for this reason – fans of buffalo wings will know exactly what they're getting into when they dive into this smoky red sauce.

As far as the spicier sauces at McDonald's go, this one is surprisingly nuanced. It's got a nice creamy texture so it clings to McNuggets like a champ, and it's got a flavor profile that is surprisingly balanced. The classic vinegary notes are there, but you also get plenty of cayenne pepper and garlic. It may not win any blue ribbons along the competitive wing circuit, but it's a nice variation from the sweeter sauces that make up the bulk of McDonald's condiment menu.

Much like the hot mustard, the main reason the spicy buffalo sauce is lower on the list is because spicy generally isn't what diners are after when they snag a box of Chicken McNuggets. Those that are after a nice kick with their McNuggets can't do much better than this at McDonald's, however.

Anyone who recoils at the mention of honey on Chicken McNuggets simply hasn't tried the combo yet. Sure, the top-tier McDonald's sauces are those that seamlessly blend their savory and sweet elements, but there is something to be said about the saccharine shot honey provides.

For starters, McDonald's uses the real deal -– it's not corn syrup tossed with a flavored extract -– so your sticky sweet condiment is the genuine article. Yes, it will get all over the place, no matter how careful you are, but it's a small price to pay for such a pure study of the sweet and salty flavor dynamics.

Chicken McNuggets also have the texture factor going for them. Combining the honey's natural sweetness with the McNugget's savory seasoning is an excellent start, but there's something deeply satisfying about the light crunch provided by the McNugget's breading that makes the honey's presence all the more welcome.

Honey is in the middle of the list because, despite its deliciousness, it's really only got one trick up its sleeve. It's a good trick that proves Chicken McNuggets thrive with a bit of sweetness, but the top three really take that concept and run with it.

This was the sauce that made people of a certain age fall in love with Chicken McNuggets in the first place, so why isn't it number one? For starters, it gets its sweet and savory ratios wrong ever so slightly. Even when it comes to fast food, good barbecue sauce is all about balance. While the sweet and savory ratios can vary from store to store, the tangy barbecue sauce tends to cling to a slightly burnt bitterness. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it does tend to fight with the sweetness a bit too much.

Based on the honey taste test, it's evident that a good Chicken McNugget sauce needs to be a bit more sweet than savory. When eating McNuggets without any sauce (yes, it's a travesty but necessary to establish a baseline for evaluation), you get plenty of savory notes. When a sauce gets too savory, the balance of the overall bite gets tipped and your tongue is left sorting everything out.

McDonald's sweet and sour sauce is a good example of how the condiment pulls the sweetness from the honey and melds it with vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried chili peppers. The sweetness in question comes from good, old fashioned high fructose corn syrup along with concentrated apricot puree. It's the same concept that has been popularized in American Chinese restaurants for decades.

The secret to sweet and sour's success comes from the fact that it appeals to each of the core flavors diners are after when they are dining out. You get a good dose of sweetness from the corn syrup and fruit puree, and then a modest pop of savory flavors from the garlic and onion powders. When you drizzle that goodness on a deep fried Chicken McNugget, it hits the hyper sweet and savory notes you've come to expect from fast food.

The reason sweet and sour sauce isn't number one on the list comes from the fact that it's just a bit too sweet -– it's the inverse of the tangy barbecue sauce, which is slightly overbalanced on the savory side.

Throughout the course of this ranking, the delicate balance between sweet and savory also dictates the placing of each sauce on this list. That said, the sauce that absolutely nails this balance is the honey mustard. In taking a deeper dive into this condiment to see why it tastes so good on Chicken McNuggets, it's evident that it takes the best elements of each previous sauce and turns them into something much greater than the sum of its parts.

McDonald's honey mustard contains white wine, which means it leans toward the Dijon school of thought. Dijon-style mustard tends to be on the creamier side of the spectrum which mutes the acidity of the mustard seed. Adding honey and a bit of corn syrup to the mix ramps up the sweetness, which gets all kinds of help from the mustard's acidity.

As the sauce itself has struck a harmonious balance between sweet and savory, the Chicken McNugget's own savory notes are enhanced with each consecutive dunk. Honey mustard is a marvelous invention that tends to enhance most dishes in which it is used, but it really sings when applied to Chicken McNuggets. It's not too sweet, not too savory, and it backs off enough for the diner to taste the McNugget itself.

While each of these dipping sauces share plenty of similarities with one another, it really does come down to the nuances of each sauce to provide a definitive ranking. Here's how the evaluation process breaks down:

1. Individual flavor: Each sauce was evaluated individually before giving a McNugget a dunk. This helped establish how well each sauce was composed from a flavor perspective.
2. Complementary flavor: From there, the sauce was evaluated on its ability to complement the flavor of the Chicken McNugget itself. Though dipping McDonald's fries in each sauce is an inevitability, the sauces were not evaluated for their contribution to other McDonald's menu items.

3. Consistency and texture: The texture of each sauce was considered in this evaluation as it was important to see how well each sauce clung to the McNugget. Thinner sauces didn't do this as well and were ranked accordingly.

Based on this process, each Chicken McNugget dipping sauce received a rank based on its effectiveness in the evaluation criteria. As it turns out, the sauces that managed to strike a good balance among these three elements tasted better individually and on the Chicken McNuggets.

Balance and nuance aren't usually the first words that come to mind when discussing Chicken McNugget dipping sauces, but an objective crack at ranking them has revealed some surprising insights. Next time you're gleefully dunking a Chicken McNugget in your favorite dipping sauce, remember to take a moment to consider that impressive balancing act of flavors and textures.