The Worst Fast Food Ranch Sauce Is Actually From One Of Our Favorite Chicken Chains

Chick-fil-A may be among our top favorite chicken chains of all time, but when it comes to ranch dressing, this fast-casual giant falls flat. In a ranking of fast food ranch sauces, we ranked Chick-fil-A's Garden Herb Ranch in last place. Allow us to explain our decision.

To be clear, we aren't talking about the brand's lively Avocado Lime Ranch, which is actually pretty good and has inspired a crop of copycat fan recipes. We're talking specifically about the Garden Herb Ranch, which the Chick-fil-A website describes as "A creamy buttermilk ranch sauce with savory garlic, onion, and herb flavors." Beyond garlic (spring scapes can grow in a garden, we guess), the description notably omits any mention of which garden herbs, exactly, the ranch is supposed to feature or taste like. Many ranch sauces are loaded with, for instance, dill. We would have loved it if there was a dill-packed punch in Chick-fil-A's. There was not.

Alas, that "garden herb" flair wasn't enough to rescue a frankly lackluster ranch or otherwise elevate it into "fancy condiment" territory. Any real or alleged herbaceousness is undetectable to the palette, and the ranch itself tastes more sour than tangy (we'll just force our tenders down dry, thanks...). One similarly-opinionated foodie took to Reddit with "personal review of every chick fil a sauce," and rated the chain's Garden Herb Ranch sauce a sorry 2/10, expounding simply, "not a strong ranch flavor."

Last year, when Chick-fil-A released a line of bottled salad dressings, one of the four flavors was the Garden Herb Ranch and (surprise) it wasn't any better. Reviews (including ours) described the bottled version of the sauce as bland and uninteresting at best. In an official press release debuting the dressings, Chick-fil-A wrote that the Garden Herb Ranch is "perfect for marinating chicken, drizzling on tacos or whipping up a pasta salad" — which could be true, if all you're looking for is a utilitarian moisture element. If you're looking for flavor, look elsewhere. Hopefully that bold taco seasoning or a handful of crumbled bacon in the pasta salad can do the heavy lifting on their own (scratches head).

In the fast food realm, sauces are supposed to provide a lush, creamy blanket for salty fried fare like nuggets and fries. In this capacity, the Garden Herb Ranch does 'em a disservice (especially considering Chick-fil-A's nuggets are our favorite item on the menu). Like a ranch sauce should be, Chick-fil-A's is thick and it's white, but beyond that it doesn't really taste like anything — besides maybe just sour. Foodies are better off whipping up a batch of flavorful homemade ranch in 10 minutes or grabbing a bottle of ranch from the supermarket (Marie's Creamy Ranch Dressing and Dip is one of our favorite brands of store-bought ranch, for the record). Or, just order the chain's eponymous Chick-fil-A sauce instead.