The Best McDonald's Sauces To Add to Your Order in 2025

Do you have a go-to McDonald’s sauce selection for dipping fries, dunking chicken nuggets or topping Quarter Pounders? From Happy Meals, Chicken McNuggets and salty French fries to the Big Mac, the egg McMuffin, the McGriddle and sausage burritos, kids of all ages have a favorite food at the popular fast-food chain. But what is the best saucy condiment to add extra flavor to your meal?

Just as with McDonald’s sauces, other fast food condiments have become cult favorites. Consider condiments and sauces like Chick-fil-A sauce, Arby’s Horsey Sauce, Raising Cane’s Cane Sauce, Taco Bell’s Diablo Sauce and Subway’s garlic aioli. Who hasn’t swiped a couple of extra packets to use at home? McDonald’s is no stranger to the sauce obsession.

With more than 25 different McDonald’s sauces created over the years, the flavor spectrum runs from sweet and spicy to bold, tangy and tart. According to McDonald’s CEO, who recently shared his predictions for the restaurant industry in 2025, “Spicy is certainly always in. I think you might see some honey or some sweet stuff in,” he noted. “But sauces are also going to be a big thing, in my estimation, for 2025.” 

As customer demand continues to drive innovation, McDonald’s sauces continue to evolve, with new and limited-time flavors regularly added to the menu to satisfy changing tastes. We’ve collected a list of sauces to enhance any Golden Arches menu item you choose. Keep reading to discover a new McDonald’s sauce to add to your order.

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• The 10 Best McDonald’s Sauces to Try
• Which is the Best McDonald’s Sauce?
• Who Made McDonald’s Original Sauces?

The 10 Best McDonald’s Sauces to Try

1. Sweet and Sour Sauce

According to the McDonald’s website, the popular sweet and sour sauce is made with apricot purée, peach flavors, soy sauce and vinegar. While more sweet than sour in taste, it has a slight amount of spice that adds a bit of heat, making it a perennial favorite for nuggets and fries. There are 50 calories in the sweet and sour McDonald’s sauce.

2. Tangy Barbecue Sauce

Are you looking for a McDonald’s sauce with the classic backyard barbecue vibe of sweet, tangy and smoky? Made with a tomato-based paste, the tangy barbecue sauce includes sweet hickory smoke flavor, vinegar and spices. It’s an excellent choice for dipping fries or nuggets and even as a burger topping. This McDonald’s sauce has 45 calories.

3. Spicy Buffalo Sauce

Are you looking for something on the spicy side of McDonald’s dipping sauces? Salt and vinegar sauce with notes of pepper and a small amount of heat make up the spicy Buffalo sauce. Made with vinegar and pepper, this version is creamier than the typical Buffalo wing sauce. This McDonald’s sauce is excellent for dipping nuggets, spread on a chicken sandwich or drizzled on a sausage burrito. Spicy Buffalo sauce has 30 calories per serving.

4. Honey

Sweet and simple, honey adds a touch of sticky sweetness to chicken McNuggets. Add to coffee or tea, or if you like a simple sweet and salty flavor combo, go with honey for a French fry dipping sauce. You could combine it with a spicier McDonald’s sauce to create your own flavor. Use it for the savory chicken and “waffles”, one of McDonald's secret menu items you can create. This McDonald’s sauce has 50 calories.

5. Honey Mustard Sauce

Made of Dijon-style mustard and sweet honey, this McDonald’s sauce offers the sweetness of honey with the tart and zesty flavor of mustard. It’s one of the best McDonald’s sauces to dip chicken McNuggets and French fries. There are 60 calories in this dipping sauce.

6. Mambo Sauce

Mambo sauce, also known as mumbo sauce, is a limited-edition McDonald’s sauce that’s reminiscent of the Washington D.C. takeout condiment. The namesake sauce is popular in Asian restaurants in the District where it’s enjoyed on chicken wings, fried rice, fried shrimp and French fries. This tasty dipping sauce blends the flavors of barbecue sauce and sweet and sour sauce with a bit of added heat. There are approximately 60 calories in this sauce, although actual calorie counts can vary by location.

7. Creamy Ranch

Creamy and tart with the flavors of onion and garlic, ranch is another one of the best McDonald’s sauces ranked by popularity for salads, fries and burgers. If you’re looking for something that’s not too sweet or spicy, ranch is always a top choice. This McDonald’s sauce has 110 calories per serving.

8. Sweet and Spicy Jam

Sweet and spicy jam is another limited-edition McDonald’s sauce that was designed with breakfast in mind, but it’s equally excellent on chicken nuggets. It’s made with a blend of cayenne pepper, Szechuan peppercorns, red bell peppers, apple cider vinegar and a hint of citrus for sweetness. There are approximately 80 calories in this unique dipping sauce, and as with the Mambo sauce, actual calorie counts can vary by location.

9. Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce is made with a creamy mix of onions, pickle relish and parsley. It may not be the first choice for dipping, but it’s a great option for the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, which comes in at one of the healthiest items at McDonald's. Tartar sauce is also vegetarian, so it has that going for it. This McDonald’s sauce has 140 calories per serving.

10. Ketchup

Along with mustard and mayonnaise, ketchup is one of those standard McDonald’s sauces that everyone can usually agree on. It’s the perfect all-purpose sauce for burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and even scrambled eggs in the big breakfast meal. There are about 10 calories in a packet of this McDonald’s sauce.

Which is the Best McDonald’s Sauce?

When it comes to cheap fast food places, you can’t beat McDonald’s whether you’re hosting the soccer team, having a quick lunch or hitting the drive-through on a road trip. That being said, the best McDonald’s sauce can vary depending on what you’re dipping, spreading or topping. With such a wide variety of menu options to enjoy with McDonald’s sauces, you can have a wide array of choices for a fun taste-testing session. Chicken McNuggets are one of the most popular McDonald's items, as well as the biggest draw for dipping sauces, but plenty of other menu selections pair equally well with the chain’s sauces and condiments.

Ranch, sweet and sour, barbecue and honey mustard are among the best McDonald’s sauces for salads, chicken nuggets, fries, burgers and chicken sandwiches. Tangy barbecue is another one of the most popular sauces for dipping. It’s a top seller if you’re comparing McDonald’s sauces ranked by flavor favorites. Kids tend to go with the tried-and-true ketchup for dipping nuggets or fries, while adults may enjoy the more complex flavors of honey mustard or tangy barbecue.

If you’re searching for types of hot sauce to complement the maple-syrup sweetness of the sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle on the McDonald's breakfast menu, give the barbecue sauce a try. Drizzle honey over fruit and maple oatmeal or add to your coffee for a burst of sweet morning goodness. The limited-edition sweet and spicy jam sauce was inspired by breakfast items like the bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and hash browns.

Who Made McDonald’s Original Sauces?

The original McDonald’s dipping sauces included four flavors: sweet and sour, honey, hot mustard and barbecue. Hot mustard didn’t exactly catch on and was eventually phased out after a few years. The rest of these sauces — with their sweet, spicy and tangy flavor profiles — remain on the menu and have become popular with McNugget munchers around the world. 

One of the original and most popular McDonald’s dipping sauces, the sweet and sour sauce, debuted with the chicken McNuggets menu item in 1983. It was created by McDonald's founder Ray Kroc and Jim Delligatti, a Pittsburgh franchise owner who created the sauce for the Big Mac. The rest of the original sauces were created by McDonald's. 

Are you ready to try a new McDonald’s sauce or two? The next time you take a spin through the drive-through, walk up to the counter or tap into a mobile app, consider adding any of these limited-edition and favorite sauces to your order. With different regions and franchises offering unique sauces that your home restaurant might not have, traveling out of town can be a terrific opportunity to try new sauces.

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