Rick and Morty has a lot to answer for. While I haven’t actually sat down to watch it, I’m well aware that the fame of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce largely stems from a standout moment in the show (and my own first exposure came via watching Eighth Grade, a film I’d rank among the standout films of the past decade and which itself underscored the cartoon-driven buzz surrounding this sauce). In another reality, Szechuan sauce might have slipped into obscurity—a dipping option left to fade away on the shelf.
Yet this isn’t mere nostalgia. Nearly a decade after the memorable one-day Szechuan Sauce stunt by McDonald’s—and after a few sporadic drops—the sauce has returned as part of McDonald’s World Heist menu. That promotion is currently live in the United Kingdom, which means I, a Brit, finally had the chance to sample it. My aim here is to share my take and address this question: if it comes back to the United States, is it worth ordering? Should you buy into the hype? Is it truly that good? Without further delay, here is my review.
A Look at McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce: The Review
Pros: The sauce reveals more complexity than I would have anticipated. It carries a pronounced sweet-and-sour core, yet beneath that surface there are floral hints, ginger, garlic, and Szechuan spice notes. By “spice,” I mean flavor rather than heat—the heat is almost non-existent, and the Szechuan kick is fairly subdued, but the overall profile is surprisingly dynamic. It leans sweet, which is to be expected, yet it isn’t cloyingly sugary.
Cons: The aroma hit me first. While I sat on the lower floor of the McDonald’s near Charing Cross and peeled back the flimsy foil lid, an intense vinegar note blasted me, with the cup a good foot from my face. That vinegar was strong, to be candid. Fortunately, a full sniff revealed greater depth: the ginger and Szechuan spices began to emerge. But we sense flavor with our noses as well as our tongues, and that sharp initial whiff was hard to shake off.
The texture presented another hurdle. After two bites, the syrupy sauce started coating my tongue in a vaguely disconcerting way and persisted as I wandered off to meet a friend. I could still taste it long after leaving the restaurant, and I’m not sure that lingering effect is ideal.
In the end, McDonald’s Szechuan sauce is a welcome addition to the condiment lineup, but it isn’t the flavor behemoth some might expect. Would I order it again? Probably not. Was I turned off entirely? Not at all. I finished the entire cup without struggle. It was agreeable, and that’s basically the heart of it.
