So you’ve probably heard of the famous fast-food chain, Popeyes. They have delicious chicken marinated and fried in their special Cajun-seasoned coating. However, what makes Popeyes unique is its range of sauces. Their bayou buffalo, buttermilk ranch, tartar, and creole cocktail sauces give customers a wide variety of flavors to choose from when creating their order.
In addition to their juicy chicken, Popeyes also offers amazing side dishes like mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, coleslaw, and many more! So if you want to know more about all the dipping sauces at Popeyes and what they taste like, keep reading our article.
What sauces does Popeyes have? As of 2022, Popeyes has 9 dipping sauces, namely:
- Bayou Buffalo
- Mardi Gras Mustard
- Buttermilk Ranch
- Blackened Ranch
- Tartar
- BoldBQ
- Sweet Heat
- Creole Cocktail
- Wild Honey Mustard
In-Depth Popeyes Dipping Sauce Review – From Blackend Ranch to BoldBQ
Louisiana native and fast-food chain Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen offers a large variety of dipping sauces for their chicken. These sauces are available in mild, spicy, and hot varieties to suit nearly every taste. Now that you know the names of all Popeyes dipping sauces let’s dive into each one and see what they taste like and what they go best with!
See also: What Sauce Does Arby’s Have? Check Out All 17 Arby’s Sauces Here!
Bayou Buffalo
Bayou Buffalo sauce at Popeyes has a nice spicy and vinegary kick with creamy notes from butter. This dipping sauce is made of cayenne pepper, vinegar, butter, celery, and Cajun seasonings. This sauce has a rich orange to red color and a pleasantly spicy and slightly sour aroma. Bayou Buffalo dipping sauce goes great with tenders and fries, but it also pairs well with chicken wings, fries, and nuggets.
Mardi Gras Mustard
Even though this dipping sauce looks like regular mustard, it tastes different as it contains mayo that adds creaminess and sour notes, horseradish, Cajun seasoning, red and cayenne pepper that provide an extra spicy kick, brown mustard, whole grain mustard, brown sugar for some sweet undertones, and garlic powder that adds a nice spicy and sweet, pungent aroma.
Mardi Gras Mustard tastes creamy and buttery with a pleasantly spicy kick. It is light yellow in color with red specks coming from red pepper. Mardi Gras Mustard is one of the most popular Popeyes dipping sauces as it goes well with almost every menu item if you like spicy foods.
Buttermilk Ranch
Do you like creamy sauces? Then Buttermilk Ranch should be your best go-to. Made of sour cream, buttermilk, garlic powder, smoked paprika, fresh dill, lemon juice, and mayo, this Popeyes dipping sauce tastes creamy, moderately hot, and bold! Buttermilk Ranch reminds us of summer as it contains fresh dill and lemon juice that add delicious fresh and citrus-like hints with grassy undertones.
Blackened Ranch
Blackened Ranch is very similar to Buttermilk Ranch, but it has a spicier kick to it as it contains a blend of peppers (white, red, and black), as well as onion and blackened seasoning. It has a nice white and yellow color with red, white, and black specks from the blend of peppers. Blackened Ranch goes well with tenders, fries, and wings but can also be added to burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and tacos. Blackened Ranch is easy to make at home – all you need to do is to combine mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, fresh dill, parsley, onion and garlic powder, salt to taste, black pepper, lemon or lime juice, smoked paprika, and chili powder and whisk everything ensuring there are no clumps.
See also: Panera Signature Sauce In-Depth Review: Taste, Ingredients, Nutrition Value
Tartar
Tartar is a great all-purpose condiment, and many people add it to their hamburgers, sandwiches, and french fries. Tartar is the third most popular Popeyes dipping sauce for a reason – it tastes delicious! Made with just mayo, sweet pickle relish, sugar, horseradish, salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon or lime juice, Tartar tastes moderately sweet, sour, and spicy! Since it is a mayo-based sauce, it is creamy and sweet but is quite calorie-dense.
BoldBQ
Popeye’s BoldBQ sauce is a super yummy classic BBQ sauce. This sauce is filled with rich, savory flavors combined with honey and caramel sweetness. In addition, it has a nice bright smokey, and spicy kick. This sauce is thick, sticky, and oh so good on chicken nuggets!
Sweet Heat
Sweet Heat dipping sauce is, as the name suggests, sweet and spicy! It has pronounced sweet notes that confuse your tastebuds when pepper kick in! Sweet Heat goes well with tenders and fries, but you can also add this sauce to burgers, sandwiches, and wraps. Sweet Heat is easy to do at home – just take 1/4 cups of apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp of vegetable oil, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper, and 4-5 drops of Tabasco sauce (can be substituted with any hot pepper sauce).
Creole Cocktail
Popeye’s Creole Cocktail sauce is a homage to a classic shrimp sauce. It is a tomato-based sauce with a healthy dose of horseradish, red pepper, and lemon juice. This sauce has a smooth tomato flavor and a gentle horseradish taste. It is mildly spicy but not as hot as a classic cocktail sauce.
See also: What Sauces Does Panda Express Have?
Wild Honey Mustard
Wild Honey Mustard is an oh-so-tasty dipping sauce that goes perfectly with chicken tenders as it has a perfect sweet and spicy balanced with earthy and sour notes from vinegar. Wild Honey Mustard has a complex flavor profile as it combines sweet notes from honey and spicy and earthy notes from mustard and vinegar. Wild Honey Mustard goes best with spicy tenders but can also be enjoyed on regular tenders and fries.
Best Popeyes Dipping Sauce – What Is It?
All Popeyes sauces taste amazing, so it is hard to choose the best one! However, according to Quora and Reddit, the most popular Popeyes sauce is Blackend ranch made with sour cream, buttermilk, dill weed, garlic powder, and mayo, followed by Sweet heat made of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and chili pepper flakes.
Choosing Popeyes dipping sauce is no easy task as they all taste delicious, but it all depends on your preferences. If you like creamy sauces, go for Blackend ranch, if you prefer vinegary sourness and a spicy kick, order Bayou Buffalo, and if you like sweet and spicy flavors, we recommend getting Wild honey mustard! All Popeyes dipping sauces go with all menu items, whether you are ordering fries, tenders, or maybe even mashed potatoes!
Popeyes Dipping Sauce Nutrition Information – How Many Calories In Popeyes Sauces?
Sauces are great! They complement the food and give it a nice spicy, sweet, creamy, tangy, or all of the above-mentioned flavors at once! But sauces mean additional calories, which can be tricky if you are trying to cut calories. We contacted Popeyes and got the nutrition information about their sauces:
| Popeye dipping sauce name | Serving size | Calories per serving | Fat (g) | Carbs (g) | Protein (g) | Sodium (mg) | Sugars (g) |
| Bayou Buffalo | 1 oz | 60 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 450 | 0 |
| Mardi Gras Mustard | 1 oz | 100 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 240 | 4 |
| Buttermilk Ranch | 1 oz | 140 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 230 | 1 |
| Blackend Ranch | 1 oz | 120 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 250 | 1 |
| Tartar | 1 oz | 140 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 230 | 0.5 |
| BoldBQ | 1.35 oz | 70 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 440 | 13 |
| Sweet Heat | 1.35 oz | 70 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 290 | 16 |
| Creole Cocktail | 1.35 oz | 40 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 400 | 7 |
| Wild Honey Mustard | 1 oz | 130 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 150 | 4 |
Can You Buy Popeyes Sauces? Where can I buy Popeyes sauce?
Like in most fast-food restaurants, Popeyes sauce comes with your order, so you cannot buy sauce separately. If you are craving Popeyes legendary sauces but cannot go to the restaurant, you can make Popeyes dipping sauce at home. Chances are you won’t even notice the difference!
See also: What Is Truffalo Sauce? Truffalo Sauce Buffalo Wild Wings In-Depth Review
Popeyes History & Menu Items
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen was founded in 1972 by Al Copeland. Initially, the chain only operated in Louisiana, but it has since expanded its operations across the country. Today, the company operates more than 3,400 outlets in 33 countries around the world. Popeyes has been featured in a number of television shows, including “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, “Tosh.0”, “Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma”, “Food Wars: The Second Plate”, “Guy’s Grocery Games”, “The Wendy Williams Show”, and “Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels”.
A Louisiana-born, New Orleans-based chain of restaurants known for its Cajun-style fried chicken and “supremely spicy” jambalaya. The menu at Popeyes features more than 30 items, ranging from fried chicken sandwiches to catfish and shrimp. The menu also includes sides such as macaroni and cheese, red beans and rice, and baked potato.
Popeyes also offers a variety of specialty menu items such as the spicy Cajun sandwich, the Popeyes Louisiana Original sandwich, the Zapp’s Famous Chicken breast sandwich, the Zapp’s Original chicken strips sandwich, the Zapp’s Original wings, the KFC Famous Wings (frozen), and the KFC Chicken Sandwich (frozen). In addition to its popular fried chicken meals, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen also serves breakfast items like biscuits and gravy, and coffee. The chain also offers gluten-free items.
