Montana’s Favorite ‘Sauce’ Is Not What You May Think

I have been watching the History Channel's series "The Food That Built America." It is a series that tells the story of some of the biggest brands in food. Everything from the birth of the Hersheys company to the birth of Pizza Hut and McDonalds. It has been a really interesting show, and a perfect example of living the American Dream.

One of the first episodes of the series centered around the birth of Heinz Ketchup. It goes back to the days when food quality was sketchy, and people would sometimes have to slather their food in Catsup (fermented plum and mushroom paste). The rank sauce was the only way people could mask the fact that they were eating rancid meat. Heinz wanted to make a sauce that was made with clean fresh ingredients. He made a sauce with tomato base and sparked the birth of Heinz Ketchup. Becoming a staple of dinner tables across the country.

Zippia recently studied the data of the most popular sauces and condiments were in each state. Ketchup dominates nearly half the country. But each state is different.

According to their website, Zippia used the following method to come up with their results.

Using Google Trends, we determined what sauce each state is dipping, smearing, and just overall consuming a disproportionate amount of. We made a list of 25 most popular sauces. From there, we determined what sauce is searched a disproportionately, high amount in each state.

Montana's most searched sauce is not what you might think for a land locked state. Montana was one of only 2 states that seems to prefer tartar sauce over everything else. The other state makes a little more sense considering their fishing industry. Alaska was the only other state that prefers tartar sauce.

Other than Ketchup dominating 24 states. The other most popular are BBQ sauce, ranch, siracha and mayo.

See the full results of the Zippia study here