6 Chain Restaurant Cheese Sauces, Ranked From Worst To Best

Whether as a dip for finger food, a topping for sandwiches, or a blanket for side dishes, cheese sauce is pure comfort. Between its perfect combination of salt and fat, luxurious warmth, and creamy texture, a helping of cheese sauce is enough to send even the most formidable snackers into a peaceful food coma. 

Cooking your own version of this classic condiment is a labor of love — one that comes with a unique set of pitfalls. It can be a challenge to make cheese sauce without any clumps, or to choose a cheese that won't sabotage your sauce. Luckily, some of the country's largest chains offer cheese sauces that, in the best of cases, can go toe-to-toe with anything homemade. 

That said, not all chain restaurant cheese sauces are created equal, and the next time you're choosing where to get your fix, it is important to be armed with the information you need to make the right (delicious) decision. I've rounded up cheese sauces from several national chains to see which spots are making the most comforting and flavorful versions out of the group. Keep reading for a definitive ranking of them from worst to best.

Unfortunately, after blindly taste testing all of the cheese sauces on this list, there was a clear last-place "winner": Wendy's. The chain's Cheddar Cheese Sauce, which is only available to order on the restaurant's fries and baked potatoes (rather than as a side of its own), had a sharp, almost acidic smell from the minute the package was opened. Its taste was equally as pungent, with a flavor that more closely resembled molten plastic than food.

Wendy's Cheddar Cheese Sauce is one of the thickest on this list — but at what point does thickness become stiffness? The sauce did not jiggle when I apprehensively gave it a jostle in its container. The sauce itself was also nearly broken, with oily deposits interspersed with almost matte patches of congealed cheese (if you do order the cheese sauce from Wendy's and find it in a similar state, here's how to deal with sauces that separate when you reheat them).

Finally, regardless of whether this is correlative or causal, it is worth noting that this cheese sauce boasted the most vibrant neon-orange hue of the ones I sampled, and the contest was not even close. I could see Wendy's Cheddar Cheese Sauce being a nostalgic pick for some, but with so many other more fresh-tasting and flavorful options for this list, I can't imagine ever reaching for it again.

Arby's Cheddar Cheese Sauce immediately scored points for its luscious texture — as soon as I opened a cup of the sauce, which is available as an à la carte side but is more traditionally served in the chain's iconic Beef 'n Cheddar sandwich, its contents looked like something out of a commercial. However, looks are not everything, and the Arby's take on cheese sauce fell short in flavor.

Just as with Wendy's, the Arby's sauce had a sharp, acidic flavor that in no way resembled its advertised cheddar cheese. Its texture is smooth and velvety, but there's no point in wasting such a dreamy texture on a sauce that was otherwise difficult to stomach. It's no wonder that the sauce wound up near the bottom of a ranking of every Arby's sauce.

For the sake of consistency, I tried all of these cheese sauces completely plain; so, as far as I know, the Arby's Cheddar Cheese sauce would work with one of the chain's roast beef sandwiches. If the food accompanying the sauce has enough fatty and savory flavor to counteract the aforementioned acidic cheese, that would certainly help. But if you are hoping for a cheese sauce that doesn't need to hide behind other flavors to be enjoyable, I suggest you keep looking.

There comes a point in every ranked list where we move from items that are actively bad or mediocre to ones that are actually tasty. Taco Bell's Nacho Cheese Sauce marks the first of the cheese sauces on this list that I would actually order again.

The cheese sauce, which can be ordered as an à la carte side for dipping and drizzling over nachos, tacos, and burritos, packs a craveable peppery flavor unlike any other chain restaurant cheese sauce I tried. The secret, according to the chain's ingredient statements, is jalapeño puree, which adds a hint of heat without compromising its creamy texture (and is also very similar to this one special ingredient for irresistible nacho cheese sauce). It still has the slightest plasticky and artificial flavor that I noticed in the lower-ranking cheese sauces, but the seasoning in Taco Bell's Nacho Cheese Sauce is bold enough to distract me from this offense.

Ultimately, Taco Bell fails to rank higher because it is just not as versatile as the other cheese sauces on this list. Because of its stronger, more distinct flavor, there is not much else that I would want to dunk in this sauce besides tortilla chips or a Chalupa. It would need to be more universal to earn a higher ranking — and my top three picks certainly fit that bill. 

It makes sense that a chain that specializes in Philadelphia-style cheesesteak sandwiches would have one of the better chain restaurant cheese sauces in the game. The Cheese Sauce from Charleys Cheesesteaks is salty and mild, almost akin to a thicker melted butter, and I can see it complementing a variety of entrées and side dishes (although it is also available à la carte). It could easily be the focal point as a dip for french fries or chips, or the supporting character on one of Charleys' many sandwiches.

Although the versatility and melt-in-your-mouth comfort factor of Charleys' Cheese Sauce is impressive, the sauce does not make top-two territory because it is simply not that cheesy. It seems that part of the reason that this sauce would pair so well with so many bites is because it does not bring a lot to the table itself. It would be irresponsible to let Charleys Cheesesteaks climb higher in this ranking on account of its flavor.

We've now graduated from sauces that are pretty good to ones that are exceptional. I'll admit that I was skeptical when I received a shelf-stable, foil-sealed cup of the Cheese Dip from Auntie Anne's. How could it compete with all of the steaming-hot cups of cheese sauce from other chains?

Apparently, the answer to the above question was, "very well." Auntie Anne's strikes a balance of flavors in its cheese sauce that so many other chains seemingly struggled with. It has a sharp, cheddary flavor that does not lean acidic or plasticky. The smooth, creamy finish makes it taste homemade, despite the fact that it came factory-sealed. I absolutely see how this would play nicely with one of the chain's famous Pretzel Dogs, but, frankly, I am game to eat it with a spoon.

I was so impressed with Auntie Anne's Cheese Dip that I would genuinely recommend having some sealed cups of the liquid gold on hand and using them on other chains' fare. Its flavor, while distinct, is mild and buttery enough to complement plenty of chain-restaurant menu staples, including french fries, burgers, and fried chicken.

The Cheese Sauce at Shake Shack is in a league of its own. It is the only cheese sauce on this list that has the flavor of real cheese, and its consistency, like that of a velvety béchamel, forms a warm blanket on anything it's poured over. 

As it turns out, there is a reason Shake Shack's Cheese Sauce tastes so good. In 2020, Shake Shack Culinary Director Mike Rosati released the sauce recipe in a video shared on X. Its ingredient list is impressive, boasting both American and cheddar cheeses, as well as real sliced white onions, heavy cream, jalapeño, white wine vinegar, and peppercorns. The result is a cheese sauce that is as well-balanced and fresh-tasting as anything that could come from your home kitchen. 

What makes this sauce all the more impressive is its undeniable versatility. Although I tried it plain for this blind taste test, I have previously enjoyed the sauce atop the chain restaurant's fries, Chicken Bites, and ShackBurgers, and it has truly improved everything it touches. If you are looking for a neon-orange cheese sauce with those nostalgic artificial flavors (and there's no shame in that!), then this might not be the one for you — but if you're truly concerned with which chain restaurant makes the best cheese sauce, I can assure you that Shake Shack is the answer.

In order to curate a ranked list of the best and worst chain restaurant cheese sauces, it was first important to determine what counted as a cheese sauce. For the sake of consistency, every cheese sauce on this list explicitly had "cheese sauce" in its name. Businesses were considered chain restaurants if they had at least 450 locations across a minimum of 35 states (although many of the chains on this list have an even wider reach).

The cheese sauces were sampled blindly, first on a spoon to get a sense of the pure flavor of each sauce. I opted to not use a tasting vehicle for this ranking, as some of these cheese sauces are optimized for chips, while others are intended to be eaten with pretzels, french fries, or baked potatoes. The cheese sauces were judged on their thickness, cheesiness, balance of flavors, and versatility.