If you’ve ever carried hot sauce in your bag just in case, you’re not alone. In a new survey, we asked Americans all about condiments: which they love and hate, which they own, and which they carry with them on the go.
For the purposes of the survey, we defined condiments broadly: as shelf-stable dressings, spreads, and toppings people typically keep at home and add to food for extra flavor. We asked about a list of 22 condiments formed from a combination of brainstorming and input from AI tools.
Half (50%) of Americans say that when given the option, they always or often add condiments to their food; 37% say they sometimes do and 12% say they rarely or never do. Use of condiments is consistently high across a wide range of demographic groups: a preference for using some form of condiment hardly varies by age, gender, race, or education level.
The three condiments that the largest share of Americans say they "love" out of the 22 included in the survey are peanut butter (44%), honey (40%), and salsa (37%). Other popular condiments are barbecue sauce (34% love it), chocolate sauce (33%), ketchup (33%), maple syrup (32%), jam or jelly (32%), ranch dressing (30%), and mayonnaise (30%).
None of the 22 condiments are thought of negatively by a majority of Americans, though sizable shares do say they dislike or hate fish sauce (39%), hot sauce (27%), and relish (27%). Neutral feelings are most common for steak sauce (30%) and Thousand Island dressing (29%).
While white, Black, and Hispanic Americans are frequent users of condiments overall, preferences for specific condiments vary by race. Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to say they love honey (23 percentage points more likely), barbecue sauce (+20), Caesar dressing (+18), ketchup (+15), steak sauce (+15), soy sauce (+15), Thousand Island dressing (+15), and hot sauce (+15). Hispanic Americans are more likely than white Americans to love hot sauce (+13). White Americans aren't more likely than Black or Hispanic Americans to say they love any of the 22 condiments.
Nearly all Americans (93%) currently have at least one type of condiment at home, and 27% have more than 10. Three-quarters or more say that at home they currently have each of ketchup (84%), peanut butter (83%), mayonnaise (77%), and mustard (75%). And majorities have jam or jelly (74%), honey (71%), barbecue sauce (65%), ranch dressing (60%), maple syrup (59%), hot sauce (58%), and soy sauce (56%).
We also asked Americans to tell us which of the condiments they own they would keep if they could choose only one. Americans are most likely to want to keep mayonnaise (16%), ketchup (15%), and peanut butter (14%). Honey (8%), ranch dressing (7%), and hot sauce (7%) — which are less widely owned than the top three — also have many fans.
Around one-third (35%) of Americans — including half of people who own more than 10 condiments — say they definitely or probably have condiments in their home that are past their printed expiration date.
However, only 31% of Americans say they strictly follow condiment expiration dates. Most (55%) say they use their own judgement based on a condiment's smell, look, or taste, and 9% say they ignore condiment expiration dates entirely.
When people don't use condiment packets that come with a takeout or delivery order , 70% say they save them for later, including 41% who say they usually end up using the packets later and 29% who almost never use them later. 23% throw them away upon getting them.
22% of Americans say they sometimes carry a condiment with them outside their home, including 5% who do so regularly and 17% who do so occasionally. Among those who do sometimes carry a condiment with them on the go, the most common are ketchup (40%), hot sauce (22%) and mayonnaise (21%).
About half (53%) store the condiments they take with them in a purse, bag, or backpack; 40% say they keep them in their car and 15% in an office drawer. (The percentages add to more than 100% because some people who carry condiments on the go store them in more than one place.)
More people think it is always or usually acceptable than think it is unacceptable to bring your own condiments to a casual restaurant (49% vs. 33%). Only 19% think it is acceptable to do so at a fancy restaurant; 64% think it is unacceptable.
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on January 30 - February 1, 2026 among 1,104 U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
Image: Getty (Artur Kozlov)
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