Is There An Actual Difference Between A Dip And A Sauce? (2024)

Have you ever tried dahl, ponzu, baba ganoush, and otherpopular dips from around the world? These are usually served with snacks or appetizers and have a thick texture. Just imagine dipping your favorite chips or crackers in queso, savoring every bite with all your senses. Hot sauce, BBQ sauce, or cheese sauce would work, too, but it's simply not the same thing.

While it's true that most dips can be used as sauces and the other way around, each serves a different purpose. Generally, sauces are thinner than dips and can be poured over food or tossed with the other ingredients. For example, you'll pour gravy over meatloaf, turkey, mashed potatoes, or rice dishes.

Dips have a thick consistency that can complement various snacks and appetizers. Some taste good on their own, and you can enjoy them as a meal. "A dip is its own dish. When I'm talking about dip, I'm talking about whitefish dip, hummus, baba ganoush, that weird cheese ball that people like that's covered in nuts," explained Michelle Santiago Cortés, a food writer and researcher, in an interview withRefinery29. However, the difference between dips and sauces isn't always obvious, especially when we're talking about thinner dips like salsa or thick sauces like tzatziki and mayo.

Read more: 11 Of The Best Cooking Tips From Bobby Flay

Dips And Sauces Serve Different Purposes

By definition, a dip is a thick sauce that can be served with sweet or savory snacks, pita bread, falafel, and other foods. Think about ajvar, chutney, guacamole, or pico de gallo. They're thick enough to be eaten with a fork, and some can be enjoyed as a standalone snack. By comparison, most sauces have a liquid or semi-liquid consistency, which allows you to pour them over pasta, meatballs, grilled vegetables, or desserts. For instance, white wine sauce can be a perfect addition tolobster linguine or other pasta dishes.

But, as you can see, the line between the two is blurred. Take salsa, for example. Its name means "sauce," but you can serve it as a snack, side dish, topping, or dip. "With chips, it's a dip. On eggs, it's a condiment. In a burrito, it's a sauce," explains aReddit user. The same goes for mayo, which can be served as a sauce, dip, or topping. "A dip is a dipping sauce,"said another Reddit user. They added, "Generally, sauce goes on the food rather than the food into the sauce, but a dip is a type of sauce."

At the end of the day, it all comes down to your personal preferences. Unless you're a professional chef, no one will bat an eye if you dip tortilla chips in garlic sauce or combine hummus with pasta for a quick, filling lunch.

Get Creative With Your Favorite Dips And Sauces

Is There An Actual Difference Between A Dip And A Sauce? (2)

Both sauces and dips can enhance the flavor and texture of your dishes, depending on how you use them. For example,honey mustard sauce can double as a dip for chicken fingers, crackers, or vegetable sticks, whereas teriyaki sauce is perfect for dipping sushi rolls or grilled skewers. If you're making crispy potato wedges or fried calamari, dip them in aioli for a light, garlicky flavor.

On a similar note, you can use dips as sauces to elevate your meals. For instance, spread buffalo chicken dip onto pizza dough as a sauce base. Top it with shredded chicken, cheese, veggies, and other ingredients you love. For a unique spin on pasta, try thisspinach and artichoke dip. Thin it out with a bit of cream or milk, and then toss it with the cooked pasta.

Dips are also suitable for thickening a dish, whereas sauces help bind the ingredients together. So, if you want to make a meal feel filling, mix in a dip like hummus, sambal, or guacamole. But if you rather need a binding agent, use a sauce made with tapioca, rice flour, corn starch, or arrowroot.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.

Is There An Actual Difference Between A Dip And A Sauce? (2024)

FAQs

Is There An Actual Difference Between A Dip And A Sauce? ›

While it's true that most dips can be used as sauces and the other way around, each serves a different purpose. Generally, sauces are thinner than dips and can be poured over food or tossed with the other ingredients. For example, you'll pour gravy over meatloaf, turkey, mashed potatoes, or rice dishes.

What is the difference between dip and sauce? ›

Sauces can be thick or thin in texture, but dips are always quite thick. Tomato sauce is one of the most common examples o sauce that can be used as a dip as well. In other words, tomato sauce is a condiment. Dips are usually eaten with fritters, chips, friers, snacks, dumplings, and usual evening snacks.

What's the difference between a condiment and a sauce? ›

The main difference between sauce vs condiment is that the latter is a broad term that also includes other categories like spice blends, herbs, and sweet preservatives. Both condiments and sauces have multiple applications.

What's the difference between a dip and a spread? ›

Butter, mayonnaise, prepared mustard, and ketchup are typical sandwich spreads, along with their variants such as Thousand Island dressing, tartar sauce, and Russian dressing. Spreads are different from dips, such as salsa, which are generally not applied to spread onto food but have food dipped into them instead.

What makes something a dip? ›

A dip is defined as a thick, creamy sauce that is used for dipping food into. Dips are usually made from a combination of fat, acid, and flavorings. The most common type of dip is a sour cream dip.

Is ketchup a sauce or a dip? ›

Ketchup is a sweet and tangy condiment that is made from tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, and various spices and seasonings. It has a thick and smooth consistency and is commonly used as a dipping sauce for French fries, burgers, hot dogs, and other fast foods.

Is salsa a dip or a sauce? ›

SALSA needs redefining; literally, the word means sauce. But unlike traditional sauces, salsa has become a condiment, a dip, even a food in its own right. Unlike béchamel, a traditional sauce, and ketchup, a traditional condiment, you might eat salsa as a side dish, with a spoon or a fork.

Is mayonnaise a sauce or a dip? ›

Mayonnaise (/ˌmeɪəˈneɪz/), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (/ˈmeɪoʊ/), is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries.

What qualifies as a sauce? ›

In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsa, meaning salted.

Is Sour Cream a sauce or condiment? ›

Sour cream is commonly used as a condiment on foods, or combined with other ingredients to form a dipping sauce. It can be added to soups and sauces to help thicken and make them creamy, or in baking to help increase the moisture level over and above using milk.

Is hummus a dip or spread? ›

Hummus (/ˈhʊməs/, /ˈhʌməs/; Arabic: حُمُّص ḥummuṣ, 'chickpeas'), also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic.

Why are spreads bad for you? ›

In addition, the vegetable oil in many margarines goes through a process called hydrogenation (or partial hydrogenation), which adds hydrogen to the oil to solidify it into a stick or spread. This process creates trans fat, which is even worse for you than saturated fat.

Is peanut butter and spread the same? ›

A: U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards require peanut butter to contain no less than 90 percent peanuts and no more than 55 percent fat to be labeled “peanut butter.” Anything outside these parameters must be labeled “peanut-butter spread.”

What is the scientific definition of dip? ›

Dip is the angle at which a planar feature is inclined to the horizontal plane; it is measured in a vertical plane perpendicular to the strike of the feature. Plunge is the vertical angle between the horizontal plane and the axis or line of maximum…

Is hummus a condiment or a dip? ›

Hummus: The Original Plant-based Dip.

What is the literal meaning of dip? ›

transitive verb. 1. a. : to plunge or immerse momentarily or partially under the surface (as of a liquid) so as to moisten, cool, or coat. dip candles.

Is Gravy a dip or a sauce? ›

a sauce made from cooked meat juices together with stock and other ingredients. So, a gravy is a sauce, but one can make a sauce that is NOT a gravy, such as tomato sauce. A dip is a sauce you use to dunk your food before eating eat.

What is considered a dip? ›

What's a dip? When talking about stocks, commodities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or any financial asset, a “dip” is a drop in price. Maybe a stock that was trading for $100 per share, for example, is now at $95 or even lower. That's the dip. It's really that simple.

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