Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian Sauce is one of the most popular sauces Chick-fil-A offers as a sweet, tangy, sticky condiment to pair with their delicious chicken.
Polynesian Sauce is similar to a sweet and sour sauce and can be used as a dip, on top of sandwiches, or even as a tangy salad dressing.
The sauce has a thick consistency that helps it stick to whatever you put it on, and the masterful combination of sweet, sour, and tangy flavors complement each other perfectly.
Sadly, not everyone has access to Chick-fil-A. It turns out you can buy bottles of Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian Sauce in stores, but you might be wondering, are there any substitutes I can use instead?
The best ready-made Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce substitute is the Marzetti Honey French Dressing. It has the same smell, texture, and flavor of the Polynesian sauce, making it a perfect replacement. The best homemade Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce substitute is to whip up your own recipe using Catalina dressing, honey, and vinegar, which has a very similar flavor and is ready in minutes!
Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce Substitutes
1. Marzetti Honey French Dressing – Best Ready-Made Substitute
The Marzetti Honey French Dressing is one of the best substitutes you can pick up for the Chick-fil-A Polynesian sauce.
This dressing has the same flavor and consistency as Polynesian Sauce, and it even has the same smell!
You’ll never tell the difference as you smother it all over your own chicken, seafood, pork, and salads.
Marzetti Honey French Dressing can be found online or in stores in the refrigerated section of your grocer, so don’t go looking for it in the regular aisles.
2. Arby’s Red Ranch
Although you may not expect anything called “ranch” to be a good substitute for Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian Sauce, Arby’s Red Ranch is actually very similar in texture and flavor!
Arby’s Red Ranch is made with similar ingredients like tomato paste, corn syrup, and vinegar, which results in a sticky, tangy sauce perfect for chicken, salads, and sandwiches of all kinds.
You can grab Arby’s Red Ranch sauce at most Arby’s locations. This sauce has a similar consistency and sweetness as the Polynesian sauce with the right amount of tang, so it should pair perfectly with all your favorite meals!
3. Outback Steakhouse’s Tangy French Dressing
Outback Steakhouse’s Tangy French Dressing is a popular salad dressing that works as a good flavor substitute for Polynesian sauce, although it has a much thinner consistency.
Tangy French Dressing has the same tomato flavor that gets married with tangy vinegar and sweet additions, so you get those same complementary flavors all in one place.
Since this dressing is thinner than Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian sauce, and not quite as sweet, it works better as a marinade or coating than a dipping sauce. It also works great on salads, of course.
4. Thai Kitchen Sweet Red Chili Sauce
The Thai Kitchen Sweet Red Chili Sauce makes a great substitute because of its thick and sticky texture as well as its sweet and sour flavor with just the right amount of tang.
This sauce isn’t at all spicy, even though it’s a chili sauce, and it sticks great to anything you put it on.
While Sweet Red Chili Sauce doesn’t have any tomato in it like the Polynesian sauce, it is still a good substitute because of its sweet, sour, and tangy flavor combination and because of its comparable texture and consistency.
5. Wendy’s Sweet and Sour
Wendy’s Sweet and Sour sauce makes a great substitute, with the only real difference being the visible chili flakes you can see.
This sauce is just as sticky, sweet, and sour as the Polynesian sauce and goes great with whatever you dip in it.
You can pick up this sauce at any Wendy’s location. It’s slightly thicker than the Polynesian sauce, and it also has a little extra kick of heat, so keep that in mind when pairing it with different dishes.
6. Tattoo Hot Sauce, Polynesian Sweet & Spicy
Don’t be scared by the name– Tattoo Hot Sauce isn’t as hot as it sounds and it makes a delicious substitute for Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian sauce. It does have a little extra kick, but the heat is balanced out by the sugar.
Tattoo’s Polynesian Sweet and Spicy sauce includes ingredients similar to Chick-fil-A’s sauce, like tomato paste, cider vinegar, onion, and garlic.
The main difference in this sauce is the use of fruit juices instead of corn syrup to sweeten the sauce, which adds a distinct fruity flavor that makes this substitute unique.
You can use Tattoo Hot Sauce, Polynesian Sweet & Spicy on chicken, seafood, wings, or as a great dipping sauce for nuggets, veggies, or anything else you like!
7. French Dressing, Honey, and Apple Cider Vinegar – Best Homemade Substitute
One of the most popular Polynesian sauce substitutes you can make at home uses just three ingredients: French dressing, apple cider vinegar, and honey. That’s it!
The flavor profile is extremely similar and you get that great sweet stickiness you’re looking for with the tangy offset from the vinegar.
There is some debate about which French dressing is the best, and most agree that California French-Style Salad Dressing creates the closest overall flavor when it comes to the finished Polynesian sauce. Feel free to use any French dressing you like and experiment with the taste.
To make this substitute, mix together 1 cup of dressing with 5-6 tablespoons of honey and 2-3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.
Serve immediately with chicken, seafood, pork, and salads, or as a sweet and sticky dip!
8. Sweet and Sour Sauce
Sweet and Sour sauce is a popular dip at Asian restaurants and makes a tasty substitute for Polynesian sauce.
It’s got the same combination of tangy and sweet that tastes so good with fried foods and stir-fries.
Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce have similar ingredients like ketchup, vinegar, and sugar that creates the sweet and tangy balance, and it also has ingredients like cornstarch and brown sugar that help make the sauce sticky and thick.
Try out this homemade sweet and sour sauce made with cornstarch, water, pineapple juice, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce for a yummy substitute that goes great on just about anything.
9. Pineapple, Worcestershire, and Honey
You can mix up this quick Polynesian sauce substitute by blending a cup of pineapple juice with a half a cup of honey and then adding 2-3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
Add a tablespoon of ketchup and a few teaspoons of salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and you end up with a sweet and tangy sauce that tastes a lot like the original!
This recipe doesn’t use any added sugars besides the pineapple juice, which adds a fruity flavor that goes well with the tangy Worcestershire.
This sauce doesn’t have any thickeners in it, so feel free to add a little cornstarch mixed with water if you want to use this sauce as a thick dip or as a glaze on your chicken, pork, and seafood.
10. Sweet and Sour + BBQ
A great hack for a quick and easy DIY Chick-fil-A Polynesian sauce recipe is to mix your favorite sweet and sour sauce (like Kraft Sweet and Sour or Kikkoman Sweet and Sour) and mix it with just a little bit of your favorite BBQ sauce (we like Original Sweet Baby Ray’s)!
By mixing the two together, you get the class sweet and tangy flavor from each of these popular sauces and a blend of both worlds.
BBQ has the tangy tomato flavor you need while sweet and sour has the right ratio of sugar and vinegar to give you that Asian kick.
11. G Hughes Sugar Free Polynesian Sauce – Great Sugar-Free Option
If you’re looking for a sugar-free substitute for Chick-fil-A’s famous sauce, look no further than G Hughes Sugar Free Polynesian Sauce.
This sauce is tangy and sweet just like the original, but it’s also low carb, sugar-free, and gluten-free.
G Hughes Sugar Free Polynesian Sauce is great as a dip, marinade, or dressing and works perfectly in stir frys and BBQ dishes on the grill. It has all the flavor you crave without making you cheat on your diet!
Just like Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian sauce, this sugar-free substitute has ingredients like tomato paste, vinegar, and garlic powder, but instead of corn syrup, it uses fruit juices instead, which have almost no sugar.
12. Wok of Life Sauce – Best Keto Alternative
If you’re looking for a keto-friendly substitute for Polynesian sauce, search for low-carb versions of sweet and sour online and in stores that help you stick to the keto restrictions.
This Wok of Life brand uses tomato paste and vinegar like the classic, but it also uses natural sweeteners for a low-carb option you can’t resist!
The Wok of Life Sweet and Sour sauce is perfect for grilling chicken, basting pork, dressing a salad, or cooking healthy stir-fry meals filled with vegetables.
You can also make your own sauce and use substitutes like keto brown sugar, no sugar ketchup, and xanthan gum to create flavor and add texture without sacrificing your diet.
What is Polynesian Sauce?
Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian Sauce is a sticky red sauce with a sweet, tangy, and sour flavor profile.
It’s been rated as one of Chick-fil-A’s most popular sauces among both children and adults, and it pairs great with everything from fried chicken to french fries to salads.
The name comes from the French Polynesian Islands located in the South Pacific, so this sauce taps into a lot of those great Asian flavors with a French twist!
Ready-made sauce substitutes are easy and make absolutely no mess, which is an excellent bonus.
Premade Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce substitutes are similar in both texture and flavor, and are perfect for people who don’t live anywhere near a Chick-fil-A but are craving their mouthwatering sauce.
Alternatively, homemade Polynesian Sauce substitutes are a great option if you have a little time to mix up some ingredients, or if you have no access to any of our great ready-made options.
Polynesian Sauce Ingredients
The listed ingredients in Chick-fil-A’s sauce include sugar, soybean oil, corn syrup, water, corn cider vinegar, tomato paste, and seasonings like salt, mustard, onion, garlic, and paprika.
Some substitute ingredients include honey or agave instead of corn syrup, apple cider vinegar instead of corn cider vinegar, and ketchup instead of tomato paste.
You might want to check out our Chick-fil-A Lemon Kale Caesar Salad Recipe.
Check out our Chick-fil-A Polynesian CopyCat recipe below!
Chick-fil-A Polynesian Sauce (CopyCat)
Make your own version of Chick-fil-A’s Polynesian Sauce with this quick CopyCat recipe! This sauce is perfect for chicken, fish, ribs, onion rings, vegetables, salads, and more! Our version of Polynesian sauce is ready in just minutes and tastes just like the real thing without having to leave the kitchen or sit through a drive-thru!
Ingredients
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ light brown sugar
- ¼ cup + 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- ⅛ tsp chili flakes
- Pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Serve with your favorite dish and store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 60Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 280mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g
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