Review: Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce from McDonald’s

Bottom Line: The Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce from McDonald’s delivers some sweet heat similar to Korean Gochujang and goes particularly well with the Spicy McChicken.

McDonald’s has a new dipping sauce on the menu, and you may want to give it a try before it returns to Limited-Time-Only-Ville (or turns into another Szechuan Sauce disaster). It is the Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce, and it definitely packs some heat. What’s that you ask? Why WcDonald’s instead of McDonald’s? Well, apparently you don’t watch much Japanese Anime because WcDonald’s is the stand-in for the Golden Arches in many of those animated shows to avoid any licensing infringement. And the real McDonald’s has decided to offer a wink to that with the name of their latest sauce (they also bought up the domain name www.wcdonalds.com).

Here is the official description of the sauce:

The new Savory Chili WcDonald’s Sauce is a delicious, sticky sauce straight from the WcDonald’s universe. It gets its unique characteristics from the unmistakable aroma and fiery warmth of ginger, lingering umami from garlic and soy sauce with a little punch of heat from chili flakes.

The sauce has an immediate sweetness followed by a funkiness similar to Gochujang. The fermented soybean paste is part of the reason for the similarity because that is also a main ingredient in that Korean condiment. There are definite notes of ginger as well, along with garlic and soy sauce. It is basically a nice mix of Asian flavors and delivers a more adult version of sweet and sour sauce that is balanced enough so that it does not go overboard on sweetness.

The heat is definitely there, and while it does not jump out at you right away, it slowly builds up. The more you eat, the more the burn becomes apparent, and you feel it throughout your mouth. It won’t set you on fire, but you will know that you have been eating something that brings the heat. I would put it somewhere between Mild and Medium on my scale (leaning toward the latter) and it lingers for a bit.

Many people will pair this with McNuggets, but I am not a fan of those fried chicken pieces. I like the Burger King and Wendy’s nuggets okay, but for some reason, I have never cared for the regular McNuggets put out by McDonald’s (their spicy ones are not bad, though). I dipped fries in the sauce instead, and that worked out pretty well, though this is definitely screaming out for some chicken (or fish).

So I also purchased the Spicy McChicken and that proved to be an even better pairing for this sauce. That is their budget chicken sandwich which is basically like a patty-sized chicken McNugget on a bun. Don’t ask me why I like that more than the bite-sized ones, but for some reason, it works for me. I ordered mine without mayo and put the WcDonald’s sauce on instead. It worked quite well, with the sweet and savory from the sauce really kicking up the sandwich. Call it a Spicy Asian McChicken with the sauce plus the heat from the poultry patty getting it above Medium on my scale. And those little pieces of lettuce that fall out prove useful at the end for cooling your mouth! The sauce would probably also work well with their Filet-O-Fish, and I will try that next.

One of the little sauce cups contains 50 calories, which is about the same as most of McDonald’s non-creamy sauces. And they don’t charge extra if you ask for a second one like they did with the Mambo Sauce and Sweet & Spicy Jam last year. The Savory Chili WcDonald’s sauce is only scheduled to be around for a limited time, so I advise getting some while it is still on the menu. And if you are looking for a cheap meal that brings some heat, pair it up with the Spicy McChicken which sells for only $1.99 in my area.

Nutrition Info:

Service Size: 1 oz (28.3g)
Calories: 50
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 11g
Sodium: 260mg