by Bottom Line: The Nether Flame Sauce from McDonald’s brings a fair amount of pucker, but it is still quite tasty—and it delivers on the burn.
The Golden Arches has a new dipping sauce, and if any company has stirred up buzz over these condiment cups in the past, it’s these guys. They had people practically breaking down the doors over their Szechuan Sauce, and their Sweet & Spicy Jam, Mambo Sauce (more on those two here), and WcDonald’s Sauce have also generated some excitement among dippers. Now they’re trying a new sauce inspired by the Minecraft game (which brings a fair amount of buzz itself), and it delivers some heat.
Here is the official description of the Nether Flame Sauce:
Feel the heat of the Nether with crushed red pepper and flaming cayenne. Crafted with fiery flavor, this hot sauce gives hints of savory garlic and subtle sweetness.
You can get one sauce with an order of McNuggets, and if you want extras or didn’t order the chicken bites, they charge twenty-five cents each. Nether Flame only just hit the stores in conjunction with the Minecraft Happy Meals (they have one of those for adults, by the way), and knowing how popular the Szechuan Sauce was—and how quickly it disappeared—I decided to make a trip to try it out.
The Nether Flame has a very strong hot sauce tang right off the bat, inducing quite a bit of pucker. That may convince some not to proceed past the first bite, but I kind of liked it. There’s also just a touch of sweetness in there, but not enough to balance the sour. And it has some Sriracha taste, with just a bit of the funk you expect from that condiment. Overall, it has a somewhat complex flavor profile, and I’m guessing some will really like it while others will take a pass.
Take note, though, that the Nether Flame Sauce does bring some heat—much more than you’d expect from the Golden Arches. I’d put it above Medium on my scale, which is pretty good for the drive-thru. The heat lights up whatever you add it to, and it left my lips tingling for a while after eating it.
Those who follow this site will know that I’m not a fan of McDonald’s McNuggets, even though I do tend to like chicken nuggets from other fast food joints. So I didn’t order the chewed-and-glued chicken pieces, opting instead to dip fries in the sauce. And that worked out pretty well, as those paired up nicely with the Nether Flame as sort of an Asian-style ketchup. I also tried adding a little actual ketchup in there to see if the sweetness would improve the sauce, but that sour tang still won out!
I also put some of the sauce on my Filet-O-Fish, and I liked that even more. It merged well with the tartar sauce and turned the sandwich into a spicy seafood treat. McDonald’s needs to think about pairing the two and marketing them during Lenten season, as I believe this could prove popular—just like I thought they should have paired up the WcDonald’s Sauce with their McChicken Sandwich (more on that here). In fact, the fast food companies really need to hire me as a spicy food consultant in their test kitchens…
One container of the Nether Flame only adds 25 calories to your meal, so this isn’t one of those high-calorie sauces like their Ranch (110 cals). And it’s even lower in calories than the Sweet & Sour (50 cals) and BBQ (45 cals), plus it’s fat-free (though it packs a fair amount of sodium). But if you want to give it a try, I suggest a trip to the drive-thru soon. I don’t know how much of this stuff they cooked up, and if it turns into another Szechuan Sauce fiasco, Nether Flame could be hard to come by—unless you’re willing to pay the price third-party sellers are asking for on eBay!
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 25
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 6g
Sodium: 500mg
