All 14 Taco Bell Dips and Sauces, Ranked by a Crunchwrap-Loving Food Editor

I was excited to try this one, but I couldn’t get over that artificial-tasting smokiness. It tasted like spicy bacon bits to me. While I appreciated the sauce’s thick consistency, I found its flavor to be really overpowering for the menu items I tasted it in, as well as on its own.

This avocado-based fan favorite was more like a spread than chunky, rustic guac. (You know the single-serve Sabra cups of the stuff? Like that.) It had pleasant oniony notes and a mild flavor overall, but I wished it had some hint of lime.

Sure, it gave arcade snack bar nachos—but I wasn’t mad at its fake-tasting nature. (It’s nacho cheese, after all.) The slight spice was nice, and I’d devour it with a side of chips, no questions asked. Just eat it in a timely fashion; its consistency turned gluey and almost too thick once it cooled down.

It may have looked like white queso, but it was a citrusy, slightly hot spin on ranch dressing. Herby and tart, it wasn’t bad by any means…but it certainly wasn’t the tastiest spicy sauce or dip available.

I was psyched to try this green gem that comes with all the Cantina menu items. It was runny but pleasantly acidic. I don’t know that the avocado offered much (maybe it rounded out the heat some), but I wish it was just medium-heat salsa verde. Also, the packaging said the sauce is best chilled, but it came to me at room temp and was separated in the packet.

Sour cream is hands-down one of my favorite condiments. But this one wasn’t the best, in my opinion. It had some subtle tang but could’ve been thicker (I wonder why they use reduced fat?) and more acidic. That said, it pairs well with everything, especially if you typically douse your order in hot sauce.

This one offered nice color and flavor to the Cantina Chicken Soft Taco. It tasted almost entirely like plain ranch dressing, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t know that I tasted much avocado in the mix, but the sauce was buttery and well-rounded.

This pick made the new Cheesy Street Chalupas. It tasted similar to the Creamy Jalapeño sauce (more on that next), but milder and a bit more on the herby/vegetal side. It has tingly medium heat and a creamy consistency.

I’ve loved this sauce for years (what can I say, I’m a Taco Bell quesadilla regular) and don’t see that changing any time soon. It imparts a generous dose of heat and salt to a variety of menu items, but I love it most for its silky, almost spreadable consistency.

I’ll never forget my dad ordering me my first bean burrito, which starred this savory, gently smoky enchilada-like sauce. Solo, it tastes slightly earthy and vibrantly tomato-y, with an ideal medium dose of heat. That said, I’d say this sauce is still doable for people who don’t seek spice. TBH, it would taste good on just about anything.

A few general notes: Mild, Hot and Fire all seem like the same sauce with different ratios of peppers to water and other ingredients. They get thicker in consistency as the heat increases (which makes me think the milder ones are simply more diluted, rather than completely different sauces) besides Diablo, which runs thinner. Here they are, ranked from worst to best:

• 4. Diablo: It was the hottest…but not the tastiest. Tomato paste is the second ingredient listed, which is likely responsible for the sauce’s initial sweetness. What follows are smoky notes and intense heat. Interestingly, no hot peppers are listed in the ingredients (unlike the other three sauces), so I’d imagine the spice is enhanced with capsaicin instead of actual peppers.
• 3. Mild: This one was pleasantly citrusy and heavy on the black pepper notes but had no real heat, as you’d expect. That said, it would add punchiness to any menu item. Tomato paste is the second ingredient, and the sauce is made with a very small amount of chili peppers.
• 2. Hot: Hot had more of an umami-kissed bite to it than the Mild variety, but its heat was still pretty medium IMO. I did appreciate its tang and fruitiness, though.
• 1. Fire: Thick and dark in color, Fire would look appetizing on any menu item versus the less spicy, runnier options. But most importantly, it offered complexity, heat and body, along with notes of garlic and onion.