Review: Zaxby's Retail Zax Sauces Are Exactly What We've Been Missing

Childhood buddies Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley were inspired by the chicken fingers-only chain Guthrie's to open their own crunchy clucky concept in 1990 called ZAX. The burgeoning chain eventually was renamed Zaxby's, but the previous name now headlines its famous dipping condiment — Zax Sauce. Today, there are 15 sauces on Zaxby's in store roster. This summer, Zaxby's picked three of them — the signature Zax Sauce, Spicy Zax Sauce, and its Tongue Torch Sauce, and are now allowing them to blossom beyond the store's doors. With a little help from the manufacturer Litehouse, the three new sauces are landing on grocery store shelves this summer, and can now be enjoyed in the comfort of one's own home.

Living in the northeastern part of the United States, I have never had the pleasure of walking into a Zaxby's myself. Therefore, my fingers haven't touched one of its Chicken Fingerz, and experienced what they taste like dipped in one of those three aforementioned sauces. The fine folks over at Zaxby's helped to correct this oversight by sending a bottle each of the three retail sauces to me for a sample tasting. The following chew and review is based on taste, flavor, uniqueness, and overall lovability.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

This trio of Zaxby's sauces are available at regional American retailers, starting this July. The sauces are sold at grocery stores like Walmart, Kroger, and Winn Dixie, across 30 states, as far southwest as New Mexico and as far northeast as Pennsylvania. They can be found on shelves within the condiment aisle. For those who fall outside of the regional grocery store areas, the sauces are available for sale on sites like Amazon. Note that, while the sauces are beginning to be stocked by retailers in July, the process of stocking them at all participating locations will take some time. So, if your location doesn't yet have Zaxby's sauces on shelves, don't fret — just wait a few weeks and check again soon!

The three sauces all come in 16 fluid ounce plastic, squeezable bottles, and retail for prices within the range of $4.48 to $4.98. Price may vary by location or retailer. Based on the food expiration date, which may soon become a thing of the past, these sauces are good for up to 5 months. It is suggested to refrigerate them after opening the bottle for the first time.

All three retail Zaxby's sauces came in a muted white bottle with a blue cap. The Zax Sauce one had a blue sticker, with a vibrant orange, saucy "Z" decorating it. A quick whiff of the squeezed out sauce revealed a ranch-like dressing. The sauce itself was akin to a more fluid version of thousand island dressing, complete with specks of black pepper.

My first taste of Zax Sauce was just of the sauce itself. Not only did it visually remind me of thousand island dressing, but also did the same in the taste department. However, the main flavor profile I kept returning to with each taste was a peppery and vinegary cream sauce. It's piquant yet approachable, and kept wooing me back for more and more.

While the recipe for the original Zax Sauce had long been a secret, perhaps we can finally crack the code thanks to the ingredients list found on the back of the bottle. Elements like tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, distilled vinegar, egg yolk, spices, dried garlic, ketchup flavor, and ground mustard come together to form this super condiment mixture. It's almost like a tangy spicy mayo, that holds off on the spicy. A single serving is 2 tablespoons, which is good for 120 calories, 13 grams of fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 410 grams of sodium, 2 grams of carbohydrates, and 2 grams of sugars. It contains allergens egg, soy, and wheat.

Zaxby's Spicy Sax Sauce was adorned with a bright orange sticker, which gave off spicy buffalo sauce vibes. Squirting a plop of it onto my plate, it has a similar liquidy consistency to the regular Zax Sauce, but with a more burnt orange tint to its hue. A smell test between the two revealed the Spicy version to have a stronger, peppier essence of essentially the same smell.

As I tasted Zax Spicy Sauce solo, I was immediately shocked at how not spicy it was. There was definitely more of a kick to this sauce over its regular brother, but it had more to do with the flavoring than its temperature level. Here, notes of tomato soup and even more doses of vinegar seem to create a tangier, perhaps even more robust, version of the standard Zax Sauce. Apparently, the major differences in their make-up was that the Spicy one borrowed the talents of jalapeño peppers and dried onion, and placed less of an emphasis on sugar. In the end, I was elated it wasn't super spicy, as its rich taste made for an excellent condiment.

A single serving is 2 tablespoons, which is good for 110 calories, 11 grams of fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 480 grams of sodium, 3 grams of carbohydrates,and 2 grams of sugars. It contains common allergens egg, soy, and wheat.

Where Spicy Zax Sauce didn't exactly deliver on its promised heat level, the Tongue Torch one looked like it wasn't missing around with its fiery intentions. With a hot red sticker label, and a blue flame drawing, it practically threw up a caution sign, forewarning any eater about the dangers that possibly lie ahead.

I squeezed the Tongue Torch Sauce onto my plate, and its more liquidy form started to slowly ooze its way across it. This sauce's look seemed like a cross between Tabasco Chipotle sauce and the brownish-red sauce that gets slathered on Carolina barbecue. Taking stock of its smell was like waking my nostrils up from a slumber. It had almost a banana pepper juice vibe to it. First taste gave a wake up call to my mouth — alerting it that I was playing with pure fire. Like the other two sauces, this flavor was all about the vinegar. However, this one came in hard with the heat, thanks to its smoky hot sauce blend of distilled vinegar and peppers. Other key ingredients included yellow mustard, dried garlic and onion, as well as additional spices. Tongue Torch was actually a bit of a misnomer, as it also torched the rest of the mouth, and gave me a serious case of the forehead sweats. A single serving is 2 tablespoons, which is good for 20 calories, 660 grams of sodium, 3 grams of total carbohydrates, and 2 grams of sugars. 

After I tried all of the sauces as is, the real test would be how it played with food. Since I embarked on this taste test during breakfast, I used scrambled eggs as my subject. The Zax Sauce didn't take too much away from the eggs, and as it acted like a supplementary condiment to balance the flavor. The Spicy Zax Sauce took things up notch, and while not a dominating sauce, certainly enhanced the eggs' flavor. The Tongue Torch one not only declared a fiery war on the mouth, but does on food in general. It was all very encompassing, and turned the eggs into merely a texture that the sauce sat on.

The Tongue Torch is not the most family friendly sauce on its own. However, if you start to mix it in with the other two excellent Zax sauces, it starts to work new flavor wonders. The creaminess of the Zax Sauce and Spicy Zax Sauce turned down the Tongue Torch's heat a bit. It still had pep, but made it more winning with a lot more tang.

Again, as a Zaxby's newbie, I cannot say for sure how these retail versions stack up against their store counterparts. However, if Chick-fil-A can bottle its sauce and sell it at a grocery store, Zaxby's belongs on that same shelf too. I was very happy to welcome the Zaxby's sauces into my home, and you should as well.