What is a chicken nugget without a dip? Lonely and naked. I have never met anyone who eats crispy chicken bites of any kind without a slick of sauce, and after polling my group of friends, ranch reigned supreme as the number one dipping sauce among the seemingly endless array of fast food options. (Which is a good thing, because loving ranch is a clear litmus—or dipmus—test for friendship.) But who has the best fast food ranch? It was time to get serious about a dipfinitive taste test.
What Makes a Great Ranch Dip?
As a ranch connoisseur, I know that there’s a big dipference between good ranch and bad ranch, whether it’s homemade, store bought, or somewhere in between. Good ranch is creamy but not gloopy or too thick, so it clings to and coats a nugget with herby, slightly tangy goodness without dripping off. (I call that perfect dipscocity.) It should have a hint of garlic without being overpowering or giving you death breath, and there should be a gentle sweetness to balance it all. Bad ranch is bitter or too tangy from excessive amounts of buttermilk or vinegar. It can also be bad if it’s too drippy or too viscously thick, both of which are unappetizing in completely dipferent ways.
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
How I Tested Fast-Food Ranch Dipping Sauces
To ensure that there were no biases, my two friends (and fellow ranch obsessives) Josh and Lizzie and I drove around LA for a few hours picking up chicken, fries, and a lot of ranch from every fast food place. FYI: Of all of the stops, only one noted a “sauce policy” for how many cups of sauce could be given per order of chicken. Burger King allows one dipping sauce for 4-piece and 6-piece nuggets; two for 10-piece nuggs and 9-piece chicken fries; and 4 for a 20-piece nugget. With some sweet talking, they did give us two extra, but no guarantees for your visits!
We then labeled the bottom of bowls with the fast food spot and decanted from indipvidual serving cups into these blind tasting vessels. We tasted each ranch with a tiny spoon in the name of science, noting their dipscocity (texture), appearance, and flavor before giving an overall rating from 1 to 10 and ranking them from the worst to best. These seven spots were chosen based on nationwide availability, so regional chains (such as Jack in the Box) and more fast-casual spots (like Wing Stop) were not included.
We then took an array of crispy chicken (nuggets and tenders mostly, not bone-in chicken) and fries from each restaurant and plated them on a giant platter to mix-and-match and find if the top-rated ranches also paired best with their designated menu items, or if it’s better to do a double hitter and get ranch from one place and dippers from another for the ultimate pairing. And after raw-dogging ranch and living to tell the tale, I have a dipfinitive answer for whether it’s worth going the extra mile to create your dream dynamic duo. Giddy up, because it’s time to move onto the RANCH RANKING, from #7 to #1!
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
7. Popeyes
The lowest-ranking ranch on this list could barely be called ranch, because it was so sour and runny with an “off-putting tang and an almost rancid flavor,” according to one reviewer. “It looks like glue—so white and pasty,” added one commenter. “It’s bitter and unbelievably tangy, which overpowers the nugget. All I taste is this ranch, and it is not pleasant!”
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
6. KFC
The climb from Popeyes to KFC is a long one, because Popeyes was the only one that gave visceral reactions to being inedible. KFC lost some points for being too tangy and sour, but not in a completely offensive way. Mostly, as one reviewer questioned: “Why does it have such a weird amount of herbs? It’s like you have to search for them, and I can’t determine what they are supposed to be.”
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
5. Burger King
BK was ranked the most “average” of the group, and everyone noted a prominent buttermilk flavor that tasted “relatively homemade.” This mildly flavored ranch had a gentle tang that wasn’t overpowering and complemented nuggets, according to a reviewer, especially the spicier morsels.
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
4. Chick-fil-a
“Very basic but welcome” was the best comment for Chick-fil-a. “I could see this being a decent addition to a sandwich, like dipping a sandwich into it, but I don’t know that it’s right for nuggets,” offered a reviewer. “It’s a very middle-of-the-road ranch.” A good nugget cling and dipscocity with a balanced flavor was hampered overall by not being very herb-forward or exciting, but was still satisfying enough.
3. Arby’s
Of all seven fast food ranches we tried, this was the only one that came cold with label instructions to keep refrigerated. We did let it come to room temperature before tasting—risky ranch business!—so as not to give away to the tasting panel which one was Arby’s based on temperature. Tasters called it a “comfort ranch” that had a “pleasant, well-rounded tang and excellent dipscocity.” Looking at the ingredient lists, Arby’s and Chick-fil-a were the only ones with sour cream, and Arby’s also listed both fresh garlic and chives as well as garlic powder, onion powder, and other spices. These ingredients definitely made it taste more homemade and fresh.
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
2. Wendy’s
Wendy’s almost didn’t make it into the top three when we tasted it alone, but once it was paired with a nugget, the love poured in. “Ranch shouldn’t dominate a nugget. This has just enough ranch flavor; a little goes a long way,” commented one taster. Its wonderful creaminess complemented every nugget and fry we tried it with, making it a versatile dipping sauce.
Allrecipes / Sara Haas
1. McDonald’s
The dipfinitive fast food ranch is McDonald’s, we dipscovered through vigorous blind taste testing. When dipped and flipped over, the ranch didn’t drip off of this nugget, signaling an ideal dipscocity. It was touted as “bright, buttermilk, and with a good amount of herbs—it tastes like an iconic, perfect ranch.” Some of the tasters also liked how there was a sweet edge to balance things out.
Although McDonald’s chicken nuggets are a classic pairing with its ranch, you can up the ante on your crispy chicken and get Popeyes tenders and McDonald’s ranch. Popeyes’ ranch leaves a lot to be dipsired, but McDonald’s clings perfectly to the super crunchy, flaky chicken. So this is your excuse for a socially acceptable way to double dip with two kinds of crispy chicken and as much ranch as you can handle. I thought I’d find my limit after this taste test, but that limit does not dipxist.
