Guy at a gas station in Tucson told me to mix their hot sauce with the ranch for their chicken strips

2 comments

2 Comments

Used to think mixing those two would be some kind of sin against both ranch and hot sauce. Then I got dragged to a hole-in-the-wall place in Phoenix and the guy behind the counter gave me a tiny cup of their house-made ranch and a little squirt bottle of their hot sauce. Figured what the heck and gave it a try. The creaminess cuts through the heat just enough so you still taste the chicken but get that kick at the end. Now I can't even eat plain ranch with anything breaded.

adam_lewis4d ago

Man that Phoenix spot sounds legit, these hidden places always have the best combos you'd never think of. Same thing happened to me but with a food truck in Austin (the one that parks by that old gas station on South Congress, you know the one). The guy tossed some of his house-made ranch into a blender with jalapeno hot sauce and a little lime juice, then drizzled it over these cauliflower tacos. I was skeptical because I'm not big on cauliflower usually, but that sauce was a game changer. Now I keep a bottle of Cholula mixed with ranch in my fridge at all times, just in case a craving hits late at night. It's ruined regular ranch for me too, plain stuff just tastes boring now.