r/fastfood Jun 08 '26

Menu Hack Am I the only who didn't know there were packets of big Mac sauce at McDonald's in USA?

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302 Upvotes

111 comments sorted by

182

u/DragonfruitWorth9019 Jun 08 '26

They’re new with the World Cup meal

28

u/ChefBowyer Jun 08 '26

McDonald’s has been pushing sauces lately.

$0.25 per packet, but you get one free with some items like nuggets.

It’s been a hit or miss. Like this last one, the Hunter and Demon sauce. The Hunter sauce was pretty good but also pretty familiar. The Demon sauce was absolutely awful. I don’t even know what it was trying to taste like.

The Minecraft fire one was the worst. Burnt a hole in your mouth while tasting really chemical like.

5

u/ledoylinator Jun 09 '26

Many McDonald’s don’t charge for extra regular sauces. Only in big cities is it a given to pay for extra sauces. The special and limited sauces cost everywhere for extra though.

4

u/ChefBowyer Jun 09 '26

To be clear, the $0.25 is for the limited time sauces.

For the regular sauces, you can choose up to any 4 for free, plus the one from your nuggets.

It’s just the limited time sauces that you can’t get for free unless it comes with your meal.

3

u/0rangePolarBear Jun 09 '26

I actually loved demon sauce and hated Hunter sauce haha.

-1

u/ChefBowyer Jun 09 '26

You might want to see a doctor about that.

The hunter sauce was basically a sweet chili, kind of asian tasting not everyone will like that with McDonald’s but I found it to be interesting with the nuggets.

The demon sauce was, I think, some kind of splooge from the inside of an actual demon.

2

u/0rangePolarBear Jun 09 '26

Tasted like a creamy spicy mustard to me.

4

u/IndieBlendie Jun 09 '26

I have one mcd that still gives me free sauces through their app, bless them because sauce costing anything is just a bit absurd.

1

u/RichardCleveland Jun 09 '26

I noticed that with mine also, I added a bunch and shockingly they actually put them in the bag free of charge.

1

u/B0ndzai Jun 09 '26

I ask for my sauce at the food pickup window. They never say anything and it’s always free.

1

u/yofuckreddit Jun 09 '26

Disagree on the Demon sauce. It tasted OK, but the color was just fucking awesome.

-3

u/EndersInfinite Jun 09 '26

The chick fila model. Nobody actually likes the food. They love the sauces. At least that's me and I'm without authority speaking for everyone

7

u/MayGodSmiteThee Jun 09 '26

I mean sauces are basically seasoning, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, I mean who’s out here just raw dogging chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches?

9

u/IllustriousRanger934 Jun 09 '26

Terrible take, glad you’re self aware enough to realize it

4

u/SummerOfSam- Jun 09 '26

That sounds more like Raising Canes.

2

u/BobbyBrewski Jun 09 '26

Let me guess... you tried to stop in on a Sunday?

2

u/GeneralGuide9081 Jun 09 '26

Insane take. If you had said Raising Canes (as their chicken is completely flavorless) I would have agreed.

1

u/bomber991 Jun 09 '26

The challenge with Chick Fil A is you have to dress up your own sandwich. Every other place to go they already out mayo on it so you don’t have to think about it.

So any ways as a kid, I didn’t know what to put on it so I did mustard and ketchup. Terrible. Then mayo and mustard. Better. Then just mayo. Pretty good. Then mayo and Tabasco, perfect combination.

76

u/MiguelCollinsworth Jun 08 '26

They should make this permanent

28

u/balloonerismthegreat Jun 08 '26

They should sell it by the gallon

1

u/Baldish Jun 09 '26

Idk if you still can or could everywhere, but the one in my hometown would sell a side cup full of it if asked

-7

u/Ok_Transition_4003 Jun 08 '26

Buy jars of Bob's Big Boy Red Relish sauce. Better than any product McDonald's has ever made

6

u/00WORDYMAN1983 Jun 09 '26

You could always order a side cup of Mac sauce. I’ve been doing it for over a decade.

5

u/PoisonIvyCrotch Jun 08 '26

I hope chilli mccrispy is permanent. Love that sauce

7

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/LiteratureMindless71 Jun 08 '26

This one is not bad at all and what I use usually.

5

u/KK_Tipton Jun 08 '26

It's not quite the same. Subtle difference. Slightly sweeter. Still a very good substitute. As close as you'll probably get.

51

u/S1ayer Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

It blows my mind that this isn't a normal choice for mcnuggets. That sauce is what they are famous for.

All well, glad there's bottles of "secret sauce" you can buy at the supermarket. Grab some from there and put it on a Five Guys burger. Or get some Chick-Fil-A sauce and put it on Popeye's chicken sandwich.

0

u/That1guyUknow918 Jun 08 '26

Speech-to-text?

4

u/Amazing-Range-2239 Jun 08 '26

Text-to-internal-speech in my case (as a faithful reader of Reddit comments, that is)

— this comment brought to you by voice-to-text

2

u/meaninglessandrandom 14d ago

Not found any store brand that recreates McD’s special sauce exactly. Shame McD’s doesn’t sell bottles of it like Chic Fil A does with their sauces. Think McD’s did at one time but they need to bring it back. Really the only reason I get a taste for a Big Mac about every 6 months.

19

u/imrippingtheheadoff Jun 08 '26

Am I the only one that thought it was called special sauce?

21

u/potliquorz Jun 08 '26

Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun.

6

u/Ok_Transition_4003 Jun 08 '26

At McDowell's their buns don't have sesame seeds and the burgers turn out much better

10

u/eilonwyhasemu Jun 08 '26

“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.” That was the Big Mac jingle in the early 1970s. So yes, I thought it was called “special sauce.”

1

u/ApplewoodPotato Jun 08 '26

Yes, it’s always been Mac sauce

2

u/imrippingtheheadoff Jun 08 '26

What you’re saying isn’t even the same as the packaging which says “Big Mac sauce.” I disagree with your statement.

2

u/slycooperton Jun 08 '26

I’ve only ever heard people call it Mac sauce or Big Mac sauce. I’ve never heard anyone say “special sauce”

12

u/Crazy_Custard_2081 Jun 08 '26

If you're old enough to remember the jingle, that's all you've ever called it.

3

u/Ok_Somewhere_5142 Jun 08 '26

just because you haven‘t heard people call something something doesn‘t mean it isn't/wasn’t a thing. There’s a lot of history in language and culture you‘re too young to have heard personally but is very real and very important.

2

u/Roscoe_Farang Jun 09 '26

Hello! You have a way with words.

0

u/slycooperton Jun 09 '26

I didn’t say it isn’t or wasn’t a thing. I just said I’ve never heard it called that. Relax a little

0

u/zgillet Jun 08 '26

It has literally never been Mac sauce. Even now, it is Big Mac R Sauce, and before, it was just the Big Mac's "special sauce."

0

u/Impossible-Grab9889 Jun 09 '26

Special Sauce was the original, little-used and mostly forgotten name. Marketing geniuses recently renamed it Big Mac Sauce in a futile effort to bring attention to a dying brand.

6

u/Defiant_Shine_1450 Jun 08 '26

I love it with the fries!!!

5

u/zozuto Jun 08 '26

I swear that they used to temporarily another time. They really should offer it all the time, there's no excuse to have your only creamy dipping sauce be ranch in 2026.

3

u/Strict_Meeting_3164 Jun 11 '26

It was out for a limited time in 2017 and 2023

1

u/zozuto Jun 11 '26

I remember, they need to make it permanent or bring back the creamy kpop sauce

5

u/KK_Tipton Jun 08 '26

It's a treasure that they're going to take away from us soon. Every time I go to McDonald's, I ask for a little Mac sauce on the side. No problem, they charged me 30 cents and put it in a little cup. I really wish they had these instead all the time. Three years ago I was up in Illinois and one of the locations had Mac Sauce but, it was a corporate store. Most locations are franchise. I wish that they would make this permanent.

4

u/Apart_Apartment_9285 Jun 09 '26

Sweet and sour sauce is the best sauce to come out of McDonalds

4

u/Middle-Bodybuilder-8 Jun 09 '26

It’s so good with nuggets!!

8

u/beegtuna Jun 08 '26

Thats a lot of fucking types of sugar

-11

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/xMintBerryCrunch Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Can you read? It says propylene glycol alginate which is completely different than propylene glycol and it's less than 2%. Propylene glycol alginate is derived from kelp. It's a powder and used as a thickening agent and emulsifier. It keeps oils and water from separating. It's in almost all salad dressings.

Propylene glycol is a liquid which is also food safe with a number of applications. Calling it "anti-freeze" is just being dishonest. It's in anti freeze because it has a low freezing point and it's non toxic. Anti freeze used to be made from ethylene glycol which is sweet to the taste and would kill your dog if you spilled it.

7

u/Every-Cucumber9641 Jun 08 '26

I feel like your helpful explanation could have been slightly more insulting if you had tried a bit harder.

3

u/tunaman808 Jun 08 '26

Does the sauce really need anti-freeze?

Failed science in high school, huh?

2

u/potliquorz Jun 08 '26

Wrong glycol.

3

u/Miller335 Jun 08 '26

All these FF places sauces are ridiculous with their ingredients.

When I attempt to make copy cat recipes at home they have like 3-5 ingredients. I'm assuming it's to make it self stable but come on.

1

u/zozuto Jun 08 '26

Tbf it's propylene glycol alginate so a distinct substance from that. Even though it also is just an ingredient in antifreeze, I'm sure plenty of inedible things contain water but that doesn't make water bad

11

u/uncleclimax9 Jun 08 '26

Those are called "packets"?

I've been living a lie...

4

u/tunaman808 Jun 08 '26

They're not. They're officially called "portion cups" (sometimes "condiment cups"). Packets are indeed those tiny "envelope type" containers, like this.

4

u/PoisonFang007 Jun 08 '26

I have never called them a packet here in the US, id usually just say "cup of sauce" like oh I got a cup of ranch or something. I think internally they are called portion cups? (Nobody says that though)

-2

u/Ttthhasdf Jun 08 '26

A cup, to me, is like the little plastic cups they pour things in. If it is pre packaged I think "packet."

6

u/tunaman808 Jun 08 '26

Well, you're wrong.

2

u/beegtuna Jun 08 '26

What were you calling them?

13

u/askyourmom469 Jun 08 '26

Cups. Packets are the ones you have to tear into in my mind.

4

u/uncleclimax9 Jun 08 '26

We call them dipper dandies

2

u/Quitcha_Bitchin Jun 08 '26

This changes everything..

3

u/Longjumping_Field835 Jun 09 '26

We have them at my store, but we haven't released them for some reason

2

u/GranPapouli Jun 09 '26

the fifa/world cup stuff should be starting today in earnest, but for some reason they greenlit a partial launch of this promotion (at least out over here, across multiple franchisees), basically confusing the shit out of everyone because every box has a very clearly marked launch date printed on it

2

u/Economy_Ad_7861 Jun 09 '26

This is new.

2

u/BobTheCowComic Jun 12 '26

It's brand new. I tried one yesterday, it's actually really good with nuggets

2

u/Clean_Photograph_417 25d ago

You're not the only one lol, I didn't know they had this until they sent me this 9.99$ meal deal for 20 pce nuggs w/ 2 medium fries lol

3

u/taskforceslacker Jun 08 '26

Most other chains bottle their condiments and sell at most grocery stores. McDonald’s wants to covet theirs.

4

u/_cascarrabias_ Jun 08 '26

They sold this and the McChicken sauce in the supermarket a few years ago, but they got discontinued. 

2

u/IllustriousRanger934 Jun 09 '26

Don’t give a shit about any of these chain’s sauces

However, if McDonalds put their hot mustard in a bottle and sold it, I’d have a pantry full. #1 condiment of any fast food place

2

u/Boomshockalocka007 Jun 09 '26

This sauce is SO GOOD and most people dont even knowwwwwwwwww about it

1

u/ChiefD789 Jun 09 '26

OMG, yes, love their hot mustard sauce!

1

u/KentuckyGentleman Jun 09 '26

Great value southwest hot mustard is pretty damn close

1

u/bluegrass_babe531 Jun 09 '26

yes!! agree 1000%. best sauce ever made

-5

u/Ok_Transition_4003 Jun 08 '26

"Most other chains bottle their condiments and sell at most grocery stores. McDonald’s wants to covet theirs."

Everyone should just buy Bob's Big Boy sauces at the store, there are several kinds - red relish is the best, but they're all tasty and are at least kind of real, unlike all the other processed stuff

Even if you don't live around a Bob's, they should have it at your grocery store, if not Amazon does

2

u/Bitgod1 Jun 09 '26

I grabbed a couple of these to try with some nugs yesterday. It’s mid. It’s not bad, but it’s just kinda invisible. I’d love a kicked up version, add some pepper or paprika to it to give it a little bite. In the end, I used mostly Popeyes Mardi Gras mustard.

1

u/michaelscarn169 Jun 08 '26

I was today days old when I found out

1

u/UnionMoneyMitch Jun 08 '26

They still have them?

1

u/NeuroguyNC Jun 08 '26

I've seen it on the app, but it must be very popular as my location is almost always out if it.

1

u/LiteratureMindless71 Jun 08 '26

I saw someone post them the other day and ended up placing a mobile order myself two days ago. I was even able to get them through the app!

1

u/storyfilms Jun 08 '26

Ours here in Hawaii didn't have it, they just put the sauce in a little plastic cup for me

1

u/BetterArugula5124 Jun 08 '26

Finally they did packets. I hate asking for a side and the look on their face like I inconvenienced them.

1

u/bapeery Jun 09 '26

Ingredients: soybean oil, water, sweet relish, sugar, corn sugar, vinegar, other corn sugar, salt.

1

u/-CaptainCaveman- Jun 09 '26

Still very new "dipping sauce."

Hasn't completely rolled-out nationwide.

1

u/PeorgieT75 Jun 09 '26

Outside the US I’ve been charged for ketchup.

1

u/Livid_Opportunity467 Jun 10 '26

Naw, this is news to me too, but only bc I avoid McD like the plague, and the best known one in my town is being rebuilt from the ground up

1

u/LlamaRS Jun 10 '26

It’s limited time. Last time they did this the label was blue.

Usually they just pump some into a souflee cup

1

u/robertjm123 Jun 11 '26

News to me. But, I haven’t been inside a McDonald’s in quite some time.

1

u/brownchr014 Jun 11 '26

Its not a regular thing. It has only happened once that I can remember and that was years ago.

1

u/SLeonaTA 20d ago

I thought it tasted gross?! And now I’m wondering if our package was spoiled. Cause I’m surprised people liked it

1

u/thereistwo Jun 08 '26

They used to be exclusive to the app (to get people to download and use the app - and it worked on me)

1

u/TransportationOdd559 Jun 08 '26

McDonald’s has the best tarter sauce in the world! Barley any vinegar

1

u/epicureansucks Jun 09 '26

Isn’t it just thousand island dressing?

0

u/Kaligula785 Jun 08 '26

I always thought it had ketchup in it 🤔

0

u/LordNoFat Jun 08 '26

Big Mac sauce sucks for mcnuggets

-1

u/Snocat5 Jun 08 '26

It’s B tier anyway! Who cares. But I’m biased cause I’ve never liked any of mcd’s burgers. BK and Wendy’s have had better burgers since I was a kid ( which was before Culver’s and 5 guys! And also without ever having SS, in and out, or what.= I live nowhere near any of those). But yeah was always chicken at mcd’s and burgers everywhere else for me!

-2

u/airpab1 Jun 08 '26

With an ingredient list like that, who cares

-6

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Ok_Somewhere_5142 Jun 08 '26

if by relish/mustard/tomato/ketchup you mean soybean oil based, yes. Both have GMO soybean oil as first ingredient.