QSRs Home In on Sauces

KFC launches a new ‘Dunk It Bucket,’ while Chick-fil-A brings more sauces to the retail market.

March 25, 2025

KFC’s new "Dunk It Bucket" is the brand's “first new bucket in nearly a decade,” according to a press release. “The quadruple-threat Dunk It Bucket is packed with KFC's hand-breaded original recipe tenders, secret recipe fries and crispy mashed potato poppers with your choice of craveable sauces,” KFC said.

Sauce options include warm gravy, comeback sauce, honey BBQ, honey mustard, sticky chicky sweet, classic ranch and buffalo ranch.

Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A launched  a new 12 oz bottled Parmesan Caesar Dressing, available in select grocery and retail stores, according to a press release. The products will begin rolling out at participating U.S. grocery and mass retailers nationwide over the coming weeks, according to the QSR.

The sauce will also be available for the first time this spring in club stores such as Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's Warehouse across the country, with the launch of an exclusive 24 oz , 2-pack of the brand's signature Chick-fil-A sauce.

Popeyes is also entering the retail sauce market and making its sauces available for purchase in grocery stores. “The 18-ounce bottles include the flavors: blackened ranch, sweet heat and Mardi Gras mustard,” reported Nation’s Restaurant News.

In December, KFC launched “Saucy,” a new store prototype where “sauce and dips are the star,” in Orlando, Florida, reported CNN. “The restaurant, which ditches the chain’s familiar red for pink, is centered around 11 new dips and chicken tenders—both favorites of Gen-Z eaters who crave adventurous flavors and boneless chicken,” CNN wrote.

While over the summer, Wendy’s launched “Saucy Nuggs” in seven flavors, bringing customers the QSR’s original chicken nuggets tossed and coated in sauce.

Flavors included:

  • Honey BBQ: Wendy’s describes this flavor as “full of smokiness and sweetness, delivering exactly what you would expect from a delicious barbecue sauce.”

  • Garlic parm: A classic flavor, this sauce “strike[s] the perfect balance of garlic and parmesan without overwhelming your tastebuds,” Wendy’s wrote.

  • Buffalo: The sauce has buttery undertones with a subtle touch of vinegar.

  • Spicy honey BBQ: The perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

  • Spicy garlic parm: Wendy’s said this sauce has the sweetness and sharpness of four types of roasted garlic packed into this garlic parm sauce.

  • Spicy Buffalo: Wendy's spicy Buffalo delivers an intense kick balanced by a subtle tang of vinegar.

  • Spicy ghost pepper: An intensely spicy experience, this sauce is “perfect for the adventurous person who wants to dial it up on the spice-o-meter.”

The nuggets were served with a side of ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce and available in four, six, 10 or 20-piece counts.