There are more than 20,000 Subway locations in the United States, so if it seems like there’s a Subway pretty much everywhere you look, you’re not that far off. (By comparison, there are around 13,000 McDonald’s locations, so yeah, Subway is huge.) Still, sometimes you need to get your Subway fix at home, I guess. You’re on your own when it comes to that very specific smelling and tasting bread (not to mention the three different colors of a bologna-like substance that go in a Cold Cut Combo), but you can now get four beloved Subway sauces at the grocery store: Sweet Onion Teriyaki, Roasted Garlic Aioli, Creamy Italian MVP, and Baja Chipotle. We tasted them all to find out whether they’re worthy of your at-home sandwich artistry.
I have never had this sauce on a sandwich at Subway, but given garlic aioli’s ubiquity as a sandwich spread and french fry dip, I have a pretty good idea what they were going for. They achieved mixed results. The main ingredients are soybean oil, vinegar, and “garlic juice,” and that’s what it tastes like. Oil. A pronounced vinegar-y tang. And garlic juice—specifically the juice in a jar of minced garlic. Still, in my opinion, it could use more garlic flavor.
Pros: It’s quite creamy, and I bet it would be pretty darn good on a club-style sandwich with turkey and bacon.
Cons: I think the tang and jarred garlic flavor could turn off a lot of people. Also, while I think you should enjoy your life and your sandwiches, I’m inclined to point out that this sauce has 16 grams of fat per serving, which makes it quite rich and maybe not an everyday sauce.
At Subway locations, this sauce is apparently called MVP Parmesan Vinaigrette, which I think is misleading given that this sauce is very, very creamy. This could be a variation on a theme—if it is, it’s a good one.
Pros: This is kind of like a cross between a very parmesan-forward caesar dressing and an extra rich creamy Italian dressing. It’s tangy (all of these sauces have a pronounced vinegar tang), but it works with the nutty, salty flavor of the parm. It even has some texture from the parmesan cheese, which is nice.
Cons: This is a good, flavorful sauce, but if you already have a parm-forward caesar dressing in your fridge door, it’s a bit redundant.
Subway Sweet Onion sauce is an institution. I haven’t had it in a while (one time I ordered a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich and the chicken was spoiled, which sort of ruined the entire concept for me), but this sauce tastes exactly like I remember it tasting.
Pros: It’s flecked with poppy seeds, which give it texture and a subtle toastiness. It’s more ginger forward than I remembered, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It has sweet pickled ginger vibes. If you’ve ever wanted to make a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub at home with chicken you can be relatively sure isn’t past its prime, you finally can!
Cons: It’s very sweet (in fact, there are 15 grams of sugar in a two tablespoon serving), but it has a pleasant savoriness that’s gonna bring a plain ol’ chicken or turkey sandwich to life.
A few years ago, Subway replaced its Southwest sauce with a Baja Chipotle sauce, and (naturally) people on the internet were upset about the switch. One Redditor described the Baja Chipotle sauce as “more zesty tasting” than the Southwest sauce, and I could see that being the case. This is very much like a chipotle ranch—but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Pros: If you like chipotle ranch, you will like this. It’s zesty (as Reddit man pointed out) and pleasantly smoky. The chipotle puree it’s made with even contributes a little heat. I also like how useful this sauce is. Sure, you can smear it on a sandwich, but it would also be good drizzled on tacos or nachos.
Cons: I guess if you were really attached to Southwest sauce and have built that up in your mind since it was discontinued, this might pale in comparison. But if you don’t carry a torch for Southwest sauce, this stuff is pretty good!
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
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Gwynedd Stuart
Justine Sterling
Jessica Block
Ariana Losch
