Welcome to 2025! It’s time for new sandwiches and we’re starting the new year off with a banger. I’ve written about a chicken, bacon, ranch sandwich before, but this one ups the ante just a bit.
What is this sandwich?
This is a chicken, bacon, and ranch-focused sandwich that got a bit of spice introduced as well as a whole lot of butter and melty cheese. This is a great sandwich that might be a bit too spicy for some folks, but it’s generally pretty well-balanced overall. I included comments in the full recipe on how to adjust the spice in the sauce/dressing and go hotter or cooler if you want. Or you can remove the spice entirely and just use my regular homemade ranch recipe to create a very comforting sandwich.
I got the idea for making this sandwich after I saw that several fast-food chains have released creamy ghost pepper sauces over the past year or so and I spent a little bit of time, money and calories going out to test the quality of their offerings. Then I concocted my own spicy sauce to use in this sandwich (and in some nugget dipping).
Wendy’s Ghost Pepper Ranch dipping sauce
Wendy’s has released a Ghost Pepper Ranch Chicken Sandwich and Ghost Pepper Fries as well as serving their Ghost Pepper Ranch as a dipping option for nuggets. So far, I’ve only tried the sauce alone and with the nuggets, and I was impressed with the fact that they’re not really for wimps. For my palate, I think they’re around a 5 or so on a spicy scale of 1 to 10 because they do have a lingering heat. Others have reviewed the sandwich and fries and think they’re more like a 6 or 7 on a heat scale. I can honestly say that Wendy’s ghost pepper ranch sauce is spicier than most things I have had that claim to be spicy at a fast-food restaurant.
Wendy’s Ghost Pepper Ranch sauce ranch is pretty good too. You can taste the usual creaminess and savoriness from ranch first and foremost and then the spice starts to warm things up. For me, it never got overwhelming, it just stayed at a steady simmering warmth throughout the meal and for a few minutes after.
Popeye’s Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich
After the positive experience at Wendy’s, I saw that Popeye’s also had a Ghost Pepper sauce on a sandwich so I found some time to go give that a try. Popeye’s Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich is simply their already fantastic fried chicken sandwich with the inclusion of a creamy ghost pepper sauce. While this isn’t exactly called a spicy ranch dressing, it’s fairly similar to a ranch dressing.
The chicken was well cooked and the exterior was crunchy throughout each bite of the sandwich. The sauce turns things up a bit and it actually is a little bit spicy with some lingering heat. It felt like the Popeye’s experience was a little bit less spicy than the Wendy’s sauce but that could be because there were pickles and a whole bun involved that helped to cool down the heat of the Ghost Pepper sauce. I did stick my finger in the sauce to try to get a full taste of the sauce but in general, it felt like it wasn’t as spicy as Wendy’s. It still isn’t for folks who hate spicy foods though. Don’t accidentally buy this ghost pepper sandwich for your grandmother.
Both of these fast-food ghost pepper sauce experiences were better than I expected. So I decided to try to make my own sauce. For this, I used the specific idea of a ranch sauce that I already have a really good recipe for and then I added a couple of ingredients to ghost-pepper-it-up.
My ghost pepper ranch recipe
I got a chance to do a side-by-side of my homemade ghost pepper ranch sauce recipe against Wendy’s. The two sauces differed the most visually. I could have chopped my herbs a bit finer and Wendy’s sauce has a bit more pink/orange color to it. My sauce was a slight bit spicier than the Wendy’s version but they’re very close to the same thing.
The two ingredients that this sauce has that my normal ranch recipe does not have are paprika and ghost pepper powder. Wendy’s uses annatto extract for color which is a pretty common ingredient used to color sauces like this. I don’t have annatto extract but I do have paprika which is often used in special sandwich sauces to bring the color from a flat white to a light pink/orange. So that’s what I used here since regular/sweet paprika—not talking about smoked paprika—provides very little flavor when it is used.
The other main addition to my normal ranch recipe is ghost pepper powder.
Ghost pepper powder
In preparation for this sandwich, I ordered some ghost chili powder from Amazon. This stuff is potent and cost me about 12 dollars. It’s not cheap, but it’s one of the smallest containers I could find, and after tasting it and using it in the ranch sauces that I made, it’s going to last me a long time. My wife has used it in place of jalapeno powder in a recent batch of her favorite turkey chili recipe, and it worked really well in a very small amount.
I added a photo here of my wife’s chili that she made a few days ago and it’s really good and addictively spicy. The ghost chili powder really boosted it up a notch in terms of heat and it is something we will reach for on chili nights in the future. It’s not for the faint of heart though.
Monosodium Glutamate
Another ingredient that I think is very important in homemade Ranch is MSG or Monosodium Glutamate. As you can see in the image above, MSG is the fourth item mentioned in the list of ingredients that is ordered in the amount used. So MSG is an even bigger component of Original Ranch than even garlic or onion powders.
A lot of recipes on the internet do not include MSG but for me, it’s a crucial flavor enhancer in the Hidden Valley Ranch flavor. Wendy’s does not use MSG, but they do use yeast extract which is another umami contributor that is often used in place of MSG so that the product doesn’t have to admit that they used MSG.
Yeast extract contains glutamate whereas MSG is a synthetic man-made product that is a processed form of glutamic acid. I think you can omit the MSG in this sauce if it bothers you, but it really does make a difference in the flavor of the final blend.
Here’s my ghost pepper ranch sauce recipe that will give you a really fun dressing for a spicy salad or a fantastic dip option for chips, fries, or chicken tenders.
Ghost pepper ranch sauce
This is a creamy dipping sauce or dressing that brings forth a big punch of spicy flavor. Ghost pepper powder provides the heat, but buttermilk ranch helps to balance everything out, merging the best of both worlds.
Get RecipeIf you just can’t handle spice and still want to make this sandwich, just swap out my regular homemade ranch dressing recipe. Or buy your favorite dressing from the store.
Homemade ranch dressing
10 minutesHoney wheat sandwich loaf
This loaf is a new recipe for this site. It’s based on my honey wheat bun recipe which is a very popular choice in my household that I adjusted to work in a sandwich loaf format. It’s soft and ready for sandwiches, but it has a bit more of a bready flavor than my typical white bread recipe.
The slices produced by this loaf are a bit more sturdy than a traditional homemade white bread loaf which makes them almost perfect for a sandwich where the bread gets griddled in butter. This loaf works well for a simple cold-cut sandwich where the bread isn’t even toasted but it really shines when it’s used in a toasted sandwich in my experience.
Here’s my honey wheat sandwich bread loaf recipe that I’ve made several times over the past few months. I even gave a loaf or two to some friends and they have claimed that they enjoyed the bread too!
Honey wheat sandwich loaf
This honey wheat sandwich loaf makes great slices for grilled cheese or a BLT. Use this recipe to produce a fun and flavorful slice of bread perfect for your next sandwich.
Get RecipeChicken thighs (or breasts)
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe but you can use whatever pieces of chicken you can find. You don’t even have to grill or cook the chicken yourself if you don’t want to. Buy a rotisserie chicken if you want. This recipe simply requires fully cooked chicken.
I grilled chicken thighs in my kitchen on a grill pan but you can also cook thighs or breast pieces outside on your grill or in a pan. the whole point is just that we need fully cooked chicken. After it’s cooked, slice the chicken into thin slices or small bite-sized pieces.
If you’ve never grilled a piece of chicken before you can use the instructions in the recipe below to produce a nice piece of cooked chicken. Just skip the marinade and instead cover the exterior of the chicken with salt and ground black pepper just prior to the grilling process.
Spicy Grilled Chicken
1 hour and 25 minutesBacon
If you’ve been around this sandwich blog before, you’ve probably seen that I’m a big proponent of baking bacon instead of cooking it in a pan on the stove. Bacon cooked in the oven is fairly hands-off, requires less cleanup, allows you to easily remove fairly clean bacon grease and it’s just easier than making bacon in a pan. Baking bacon also produces fairly straight pieces of bacon instead of curled-up bacon.
Here’s my fairly simple oven-baked bacon recipe. Use it the next time you need to make multiple BLTs or BECs.
Oven-baked bacon
Want a super easy way to make a lot of bacon for sandwiches with very little effort or cleanup?
Get RecipeOh and if you’re baking your bacon, make sure to save the bacon for some bacon fat popcorn. Speaking of bacon fat popcorn, here’s a random extra recipe to shove into this blog post.
Bacon fat popcorn
At the end of 2024, I got a chance to visit Revolution Brewing’s brewpub on Milwaukee Ave in Chicago for a final time. They are not closing their large taproom or their huge brewery, so don’t worry about them going out of business or never getting a chance to buy their beer again. But you should worry about never getting to eat their bacon-fat popcorn because that’s gone for good.
I decided to cook a bunch of bacon, recreate the snack, and also share my recipe in text and as a short Instagram video. Bookmark the recipe, it’s a keeper.
Bacon fat popcorn (Revolution Brewing copycat)
Revolution Brewing in Chicago has closed its brewpub/restaurant. The production brewery is still open and doing normal business but we have said goodbye to the pub for good. That means their much-loved bacon-fat popcorn is no more. But luckily you can use my recipe to recreate the experience. Check the notes at the bottom if you want to use microwave popcorn.
Get RecipeAnd now back to the sandwich at hand.
Cheddar cheese
There’s not as much to say about the cheese part of this sandwich but it is fairly important. The sandwich is called a melt after all and the cheese is what holds things together.
I used freshly shredded cheddar cheese in most of the melts that I made for this blog post, but I did use slices for at least one of my test sandwiches because that is what I had available.
Not only is the cheese holding things together, but I think it’s pretty important to the balance of the flavor of the whole sandwich. The cheese and bread go a long way to cooling off some of the heat from the ghost pepper ranch sauce.
Sandwich build process
I’ve added a simple slideshow you can flip through to see how I build one of these melts. The most important tip I have is that you should layer the cheese as close to the exterior pieces of bread as possible when building in order to hopefully help the cheese melt.
I add ghost pepper ranch sauce in three different spots—on the inside of both slices of bread and I also drizzle some on the pieces of chicken. You could also toss the chicken pieces in ranch sauce to coat them, but I don’t think that’s really necessary. Just build the sandwich responsibly and we’ll move on to the next step.
Grab two slices of bread. 
Add ghost pepper ranch sauce to the bottom slice. 
Add half of the cheese on top of the sauce. 
Top the cheese with 3 to 4 half slices of bacon. 
Arrange the cooked chicken into a single layer. 
Add a little bit more ghost pepper ranch sauce on top of the chicken. 
Cover the chicken with the rest of the cheese. 
Add another couple of teaspoons of ghost pepper ranch to the second slice of bread. 
Add the second slice of bread on top of the sandwich to complete the build process.
Grilling process
Once the sandwich is built, the grilling process is pretty much the same as the process for making a grilled cheese. I like to cook on a fairly low heat so that the exterior of the bread doesn’t brown too much before the cheese in the middle gets melty.
I often use a large metal bowl or a pan lid to cover the sandwich while it cooks. This definitely helps the middle of the sandwich to warm up a bit and it should help the cheese to melt. Just make sure to be careful with the bowl because it will get hot. I can usually handle and move the bowl around with a nice pair of tongs and a spatula. Or you can use a pair of oven mitts, just be careful.
The chicken, bacon, ghost pepper ranch melt photos and recipe
As you can see if you keep scrolling, I took a whole bunch of photos of versions of this sandwich. It’s a good one and I will likely be revisiting it in the future because it works so well. I will be making more ghost pepper ranch sauce since I bought a whole container of the powder…
Chicken, bacon, ghost pepper ranch melt
This is a banger of a sandwich with great flavors and textures that will also comfort you like a warm hug when you're feeling down. Just note that the recipe expects you to have cooked bacon and cooked chicken to make this sandwich but you could cook those however you want or even buy pre-cooked versions like a rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients:
Ghost pepper ranch sauce- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1⁄2 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons paprika (for color)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon MSG (optional but you should use it for the real Hidden Valley taste)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/16 teaspoon ghost pepper chili powder
- buttermilk (probably less than a quarter cup - can use regular milk too))
- 2 slices of wheat or white sandwich bread
- ghost pepper ranch sauce (from above)
- 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup shredded cheddar cheese (split in half)
- 3 to 4 half slices of cooked bacon
- 2 to 3 ounces cooked chicken thigh or breast, cut into small pieces
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Ghost pepper ranch sauce: add the mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped dill, chopped chives, garlic powder, onion powder, MSG (if using), salt, black pepper, and ghost pepper chili powder to a medium bowl. Whisk well to combine.
Taste now to see if you think it needs more salt and pepper. I typically go heavy on the pepper. At this point, it won't be quite as spicy as it will become after a few hours in the fridge. Double the ghost pepper chili powder if you want this to be Extra Spicy.
You can stop now (without the buttermilk) if you want more of a mayonnaise-like consistency to spread on sandwiches.
Add buttermilk a little bit at a time and whisk until you reach the right consistency. I usually only need about 3 tablespoons to hit a thick dressing stage but if you're making this for salads, you might want to add more.
Store in a jar or container with a lid in the refrigerator for no more than 2 weeks.
Sandwich assembly: add a thin layer of ghost pepper ranch sauce on the bottom slice of bread. Top with half of the shredded cheddar cheese.
Layer the half slices of bacon on top of the cheese and then top the bacon with the small pieces of cooked chicken. Feel free to drizzle more ranch on top of the chicken if you want the sandwich to be a bit more saucy.
Then add the second half of the shredded cheese on top of the chicken. Complete the sandwich with more ghost pepper ranch sauce spread on the top slice of bread.
Grilling/griddling: preheat a large pan or griddle on the stove over medium-low heat. Butter the outside of the top of the sandwich. After the pan or griddle has heated up for 4 or 5 minutes flip the sandwich over, butter side down, into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes on the first side.
Add butter to the top of the sandwich while it is in the pan. After 3 minutes on the first side, flip the sandwich again, butter side down, and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes on the second side. Depending on the color of the bread, you may want to flip and cook again a couple more times until the outside of the sandwich is golden brown and crispy.
Remove the sandwiches from the pan/griddle and allow them to rest on a cooling rack for 2 minutes before serving.
Serve and enjoy.
Notes:
If you can't get your hands on ghost pepper powder or don't want to buy it, you can use other spicy pepper powders in its place. Just know that you may need to use more if you want to get a lot of heat.
The spice level of the dressing will ramp up a bit after some time in the fridge. This is because it takes some time for the powders to get distributed throughout the sauce.
This recipe is almost the same as my regular ranch recipe. If you'd like to make a regular ranch dresisng from this recipe, just remove the paprika and the ghost pepper powder from the ingredient list.
Check back next week
Next week, we’re digging into the recipe box in Aunt May’s kitchen, and if you can guess what we’ll be making you win a No-Prize!
Excelsior! See you next week.
