I recently got to try
Popeyes' three new Signature Sauces along with a $3.99 Tenders combo meal courtesy of Popeyes (that's one
Tender per sauce!). The three new sauces are Bayou Buffalo, Sweet Heat, and Blackened Ranch.
I got three spicy tenders, but maybe I should have gone for mild for more neutral dipping.
I had been looking forward to trying Blackened Ranch because it had been introduced a while ago with
Popeyes Dip'n Chick'n, but my local Popeyes only offered the chicken and not the sauce. I ended up trying Sweet Heat first though.
Sweet Heat is a sweet honey dipping sauce with the added heat of hot sauce and peppers. It was the spiciest of the three sauces with a substantial spicy kick. A bit on the greasy side, it has it's also pretty sweet. Sweet and spicy usually brings to mind Thai sweet chili sauce for me and this was very similar; not as thick or sticky though.
Bayou Buffalo is described as "a cayenne pepper hot sauce blended with butter, celery, and Cajun seasonings." It's a pretty standard Buffalo sauce and somewhat spicy with that vinegary sourness. But, it was my least favorite in how it went with the seasoning of crispy, crunchy crust of the Tender. It would go great with some wings though.
Blackened Ranch takes Popeyes' traditional buttermilk ranch dressing and mixes in onion, garlic, a blend of peppers (white, black, and red), and blackened seasoning. I prefer Popeyes' Tenders with ranch generally; I find that cool and creamy ranch goes best with the Lousiana seasonings. Blackened Ranch is only subtly different from Popeyes regular ranch; there's just a slight, seasoned, peppery edge to it. It is very lightly spicy and packed the least amount of heat out of the bunch. It could probably use a bit more seasoning to distinguish it, but I liked it the most of the three sauces.
Still, which sauce you like will largely depend on your preferences and heat tolerances (don't get Sweet Heat if you can't take spicy foods), but
they're all worth trying, if only for curiosity's sake.
