McDonald's Dipping Sauce Round-Up
While only a scant few have any spiciness to them, I felt it was time to review the broad selection of flavored sauces that McDonald's has to offer the consumer. I apologize to Sizzlin' Sauces for not reviewing their Papa Jack's sauce yet, but I am getting over the flu and wanted full flavor faculties for their offering.So let's begin!To start, I had a can of diet cola ala Safeway. I used this as a palate cleanse between tastings. The sampling tool was the McDonald's french fry.
Tangy Honey Mustard Chicken Selects SauceStars: 4/5
I was greeted with a soft yellow color with flecks of black in it. It had that honey mustard flavor that originally entered the commercial foods markets in the 90s; the mustard doesn't overpower but it is present and does provideo a bit of tang. I detected the slightest nasal tone of chinese mustard which bumped it up a point. If there had been a good bit more of the chinese flavor and caused my head to explode, it would've gotten a 5/5, but that's not what this sauce is about.
Creamy Ranch Chicken Selects SauceStars: 2/5
A white standard ranch sauce with a bit of pepper in it. This didn't seem extremely 'select' and really what I found unpleasant was how thin the sauce was. I stirred it to make sure there wasn't a seperation issue, but nonetheless, it was very thin. I would've given more points if it would have stood up a french fry and maybe had a bit more pepper taste.
Southwestern Chipotle BBQ Chicken Selects SauceStars: 5/5
Okay this is where its at. Masquerading in a dipping sauce package is the holy grail: the McRib sauce. I could taste this and tell you what it was from a mile away. I think it would be a great idea to go to McDonald's and buy 10 of these things, buy a cheap onion at the store and then some real boneless ribs and slow cook them in the oven with the sauce/onion combo just slathered over. It's thick, sticky, a bit spicy and makes me want to immediately get more of it to try this.
Spicy Buffalo Chicken Selects SauceStars: 1/5
This is kind of a weird one and I didn't like it at all. I like the heat, don't get me wrong. Its just that it has a thinness and kind of putrid citrus funkiness to it I just can't enjoy. All I can think is that they added something to something and it turned into this and thought perhaps somebody would like it. That somebody definitely is not me.
Barbeque SauceStars: 3/5
The classic McNugget sauc. Nothing really special here - wish they
would just put the BBQ sauce I wrote about above in this packet because its so much better. This will do in a pinch though; has some smokiness and is pretty thick.
Sweet 'N Sour SauceStars: 3.5/5
I do like this one. I detect a range of flavors here, one primarily being apple. It kind of reminds me of the taste of the apple pies they have. As for the sour part, I can't really find it. This stuff is really sweet. I'm more used to seeing the sweet and sour sauce at chinese retaurants - it has a more red tinge, but then again not much of a sourness to that either.
Hot Mustard SauceStars: 5/5
Okay so here's what you do: get a McChicken off the dollar menu and ask for a hot mustard and a water too. Open the McChicken and pull off the bottom part of the bun and fold it into a taco shape. That's your bread appetizer you dip in the hot mustard. Next, apply pressure to the top bun downward and pinch to make another taco shape. This is your coleslaw-esque salad stage of the meal - dip if you wish. Finally you have the patty, which is like an enormous chicken nugget - and a spicy one to boot! There should be just enough hot mustard for that bad boy. Drink your water and you're done. This wouldn't be possible without the hot mustard - not super hot, but its exactly what it should be and I can't find any fault with it.
Tartar SauceStars: 4/5
This is your standard tartar sauce. I detect lots of pickles, some onion, the mayonnaise is decent and bit of lemon juice thrown in. It's just what one would expect, but a little thicker than normal which rocks.
So in closing, this really isn't a standard grouping of reviews that you'll be seeing on Saucerater.com, but it was something I've been toying with the idea of doing for quite a while. I was thinking it would be interesting to just do a site with only reviews of fast food sauces on its own, or perhaps just a blog about them. We shall see, depending on the response to this one. At this point, I feel like I've eaten probably every weird ingredient one could put into a packet and going to take a nap.
