Thanks to McDonald’s latest sauce, you don’t have to choose between buffalo and ranch

It’s a new month, but Snackology is still deep in the Year of Fast Food Chicken. With the introduction of McCrispy Strips and the return of the Snack Wrap, McDonald’s has a stellar lineup of chicken offerings in place. Thanks to this lineup, the fast-food chain has now turned its attention to finding new sauces to complement these items.

McDonald’s latest new condiment is Buffalo Ranch Sauce, “a blend of tangy & bold buffalo sauce, balanced by cool & creamy ranch. With flavor notes of buttermilk, garlic and onion that lend a subtle sweetness as gentle heat builds to a savory spice finish — it’s the best of both worlds.” The fast-food restaurant is featuring the new sauce in four items: The Bacon Buffalo Ranch McCrispy, the Bacon Buffalo Ranch Deluxe McCrispy, the Buffalo Ranch Snack Wrap and McCrispy Strips with a Buffalo Ranch Dip Cup.

OK, let me reestablish my Western New York cred and reiterate that blue cheese is the once-and-forever true partner of buffalo sauce. That said, I think it’s been a very long time since McDonald’s had any kind of blue cheese available for its sandwiches and chicken-dipping options, so I’ll allow the marriage of buffalo and ranch for this lineup of chicken offerings.

Buffalo Ranch Sauce combines two sauces that McDonald’s already has on its menu — Spicy Buffalo Sauce and Creamy Ranch Sauce — into one convenient dip cup. Does it persuade this blue cheese aficionado?

What it costs

My McDonald’s lists the Bacon Buffalo Ranch McCrispy at $6.19, the Bacon Buffalo Ranch Deluxe McCrispy at $6.89, the Buffalo Ranch Snack Wrap at $2.99 and the four-piece McCrispy Strips at $6.29.

My thoughts

This is the second time this fall that Snackology is diving into a new McDonald’s lineup of chicken offerings centered around an exciting new sauce. Back in September, it was the Special Edition Gold Sauce menu, with a “North Carolina BBQ sauce, infused with notes of honey, smoke and mustard,” taking over the Snack Wrap, McCrispy, Deluxe McCrispy and McCrispy Strips.

Bacon Buffalo Ranch McCrispy

I’m a big fan of the McCrispy chicken sandwich. McDonald’s nailed the combo of the chicken and the potato roll, a pairing that gives you a soft bite before hitting that crunchy chicken that’s become the hallmark of the best chicken sandwiches.

After learning earlier this year that the Spicy McCrispy features “Spicy Pepper Sauce” instead of what I always assumed was buffalo sauce, I was excited to try the Bacon Buffalo Ranch McCrispy. Give me that real buffalo sauce, McDonald’s!

Unfortunately, there was a mixup at my McDonald’s — a delicious mixup — and they used the Special Edition Gold Sauce on this sandwich instead of the new Buffalo Ranch Sauce.

Snack score

❓ (NA out of 5 cookies)

Bacon Buffalo Ranch Deluxe McCrispy

But I still had the Bacon Buffalo Ranch Deluxe McCrispy, which is the same as the Bacon Buffalo Ranch McCrispy but with the pickle getting swapped out for shredded lettuce and Roma tomatoes.

This is a tasty sandwich, with the bacon, lettuce and tomato balancing out the “mild-meets-wild” taste of the Buffalo Ranch Sauce. I briefly thought about trying to strip this sandwich down to the standard version, but the shredded lettuce was inextricably intertwined with the sauce.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Buffalo Ranch Snack Wrap

The return of the Snack Wrap back in July was the moment I learned that the sauce that made McDonald’s items like the Snack Wrap and McCrispy sandwich spicy wasn’t actually buffalo sauce. Now, at long last, I could finally try a Snack Wrap with buffalo sauce — well, buffalo-adjacent sauce — on it.

Like the rest of McDonald’s Snack Wrap roster, the Buffalo Ranch Snack Wrap is a McCrispy Strip wrapped in a tortilla with shredded cheese and lettuce. The balance between these ingredients and the Buffalo Ranch Sauce might be off a bit, with this being the only item in this limited-edition lineup that I found too have too much of a flavor kick.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)

McCrispy Strips with Buffalo Ranch Dip Cup

That said, I had zero complaints about the balance between a McCrispy Strip and the Buffalo Ranch Sauce. This is an excellent dipping sauce.

If I had to rank it against McDonald’s existing buffalo and ranch sauces, it would sit squarely between those two sauces. I’d definitely choose it over the standard Spicy Buffalo Sauce if given the choice.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

The Buffalo Ranch Sauce menu was provided to Snackology for this independent review.