This is not a drill, my saucy sauce-loving friends. Heinz just released two new sauces for our saucing pleasure, and today I got lost in said sauces. Why did I get lost in said sauces? So that you will know which of these sauces will “float your proverbial sauce boat” (as it were).
The sauces we’re talking about are the new Heinz Black Garlic Flavored Ranch and Heinz Harissa Aioli. And if those are sounding at all familiar to you, that could be because both of these were part of a set of global sauce flavors Heinz tried out at select restaurants last summer as part of their “Sauce Drops” program.
Heinz can drop the sauce all they want, but it’s my job to drop the truth about said sauces, and let you know if Heinz’s sight truly is 20/20. Spoiler alert—these sauces are pretty solid.
- Heinz Harissa Flavored Aioli
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Pros: You can really taste the warm spices in the harissa, specifically and most prominently chili powder and cumin. Heinz Harissa Aioli looks a bit like more orange ketchup but has the texture and richness of mayo with a slight grittiness, presumably from the spices. It has some tang, a faint heat, a hint of some oniony/garlicky umami, and some warm toasty pepper flavors. This would be great with fries, on a sandwich, or spread on the outside of a grilled cheese pre-griddle. It almost tastes like a less spicy, less strong, truffle-less TRUFF hot sauce. I know that sounds weirdly specific, but trust me it’s similar.
Cons: I was sort of expecting this one to be Flavor City. And don’t get me wrong, it is good, but it is not the punch-you-in-the-face flavor I was expecting. I could have handled more spice, more tang, and more pepper flavor to cut through the mayo-y richness.
- Heinz Black Garlic Flavored Ranch
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Pros: Heinz Black Garlic Ranch is pretty fantastic. It’s everything you want in a runny (but still creamy) ranch, but with an added rich, earthy, umami depth from the black garlic. While, granted, this mostly tastes like normal ranch with an extra little somethin,’ it was exactly what I wanted it to be. The flavor is halfway between ranch and onion soup dip. This would be great with chicken tenders, on a salad, or with pretty much every kind of pizza.
Cons: This ranch is a bit on the salty side, but if you are having it with veggies or something sweet (like, say, honey BBQ wings) you probably won’t be bothered by it. If you pair this new Heinz sauce with something that’s already quite salty, I could see it being a bit much.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!