I Tried 11 Blue Cheese Dressings & the Best Was Rich and Balanced

The salad dressing aisle at the grocery store can feel practically endless. From brands to flavors, there are often dozens, if not hundreds, of bottles to choose from—really! Knowing exactly what you're looking for can help ease the stress of choosing a bottle on your next grocery run.

Take blue cheese dressing, for instance. Virtually every major salad dressing brand offers its own spin on the funky flavored cheese-based condiment, but not all of them serve the same purpose. Some are best suited for salads—the purest form and most classic topping for your iceberg wedge—while others work better as a dipping sauce. More versatile versions work well in both cases.

Depending on your objective, I can help you narrow your options quickly. I recently tried 11 different blue cheese dressings from grocery store shelves, so you don't have to. While many aren't too bad, some are better than others. Some have that magical stinky zing (that's a good thing), while others are sadly lacking in that sourness you want from an intentionally moldy cheese.

Here's how all 11 supermarket varieties stacked up, ranked in descending order from my least favorite to the absolute best-tasting blue cheese dressing of all.

Cindy's Kitchen Real Bleu Cheese Dressing & Dip

Cindy's Kitchen's dressing, which I bought for $6.49 at Acme, has a design flaw that frustrated me right off the bat. It comes in a glass bottle with a pretty small opening. It was difficult to pour out (not unlike a Heinz ketchup glass bottle), requiring me to use a knife instead, which is annoying for a salad dressing. Alas, it didn't get much better from there.

The look: There are an abundance of chunks in this dressing and dip. There are almost more chunks than dressing between the chunks, and the color is a bit off-white.

The taste: Despite all the chunks, this is really lacking in blue cheese flavor. It's really lacking in any flavor at all, and yet somehow doesn't really taste very good, either. If you get a blue cheese chunk in your bite, it helps push the flavor forward, but the dressing itself has almost no flavor and not many spices to it.

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365 by Whole Foods Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

Whole Foods offers its own brand of blue cheese dressing in the refrigerated section, which I picked up for $3.99. Like many Whole Foods products, this one is a little lower in calories than some of the other brands, but it also lacks flavor.

The look: I kept searching for the chunks in this blue cheese dressing and struggled to find them. The ones that were present were quite small, and the overall consistency was very thin.

The taste: I expect blue cheese dressings to have bold flavor, and this did not. The flavor was actually really mild and lacked any of that zing you expect from such a strong cheese. Even with the small pieces of blue cheese, the flavor was so bland.

Marzetti Signature Blue Cheese Dressing & Dip

Marzetti bills itself as a dressing and dip hybrid, but I think it's more of a dip. I can't imagine pouring this onto a salad—it's so thick it would land on your lettuce in one plop. I picked up this jar for $3.98 at Walmart.

The look: Dense. It has the consistency of mayonnaise with plenty of cheesy chunks in it.

The taste: Potent. The blue cheese is very pronounced, but it's almost too cheesy without the usual sourness of the dressing. It just tasted like there was something missing, and I really do think it was just a little bit too thick.

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Wegmans Blue Cheese Dressing

Wegmans' store brand is widely beloved by shoppers, so of course I picked up a bottle of the blue cheese dressing. I wanted to see if this dressing, which cost $2.50, lived up to the brand's usual high standards.

The look: Not encouraging. It hardly looks like blue cheese dressing at all. There are very few visible chunks, and those that are there are tiny. There are also no visible seasonings, and the consistency is pretty thin.

The taste: Perplexing. I'm not convinced this isn't ranch dressing in the wrong bottle. It has the same consistency as a ranch dressing and tastes very similarly to ranch, as well—more so than blue cheese, certainly. The miniscule chunks of cheese are the only indication otherwise. All that's to say it's not a convincing blue cheese.

Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

Walmart is chock-full of dressing options, which makes shopping for what you're looking for very easy. I picked this Marie's variety up for $3.98, and it was one of many blue cheese dressings at the store.

The look: Another smooth and cream dressing that seems thin and lacking in hearty chunks.

The taste: There was almost a hint of sweetness to this dressing, which was a surprise, as you don't really expect anything sweet from a blue cheese dressing. There's not really a kick of stinky sourness here, either, though you do still taste some of the blue cheese flavor.

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Litehouse Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing & Dip

Litehouse's blue cheese dressing, which I grabbed for $5.29 at Whole Foods, is a hybrid dressing and dip, so you can use it on salads, to dip veggies, on your chicken wings, or with whatever else you fancy. It can be found in the refrigerated section of the store, not the shelf-stable middle aisle where other salad dressings go.

The look: Not nearly as "chunky" as its name suggests. There are some very (and I mean very) small flecks of blue cheese, but that's all.

The taste: Like ranch dressing with blue cheese pieces in it. I mention ranch a lot in this taste test, and this is another case where there's a strong similarity between the two flavors. There's no strong blue cheese flavor or bright tang of stinky cheese, but instead there's the usual seasonings you'll find in ranch.

Kraft Chunky Blue Cheese

The folks at Kraft Foods are pros at a lot of things. The brand's got mac and cheese down to a science. Kraft Singles are a sandwich delight. And Kraft salad dressings are always done right. This blue cheese, which cost me $2.89 at Walmart, is just fine. It's done well, it's priced right, and gets the job done.

The look: The Kraft blue cheese dressing comes out of the bottle looking exactly like the brand's ranch dressing. I know the two dressing varieties are similar in appearance, but this one looks virtually identical to its sibling, though there are some tiny blue cheese chunks.

The taste: Here's when you know it's not ranch, though. The creamy dressing has more of a bite to it from the blue cheese pieces, but the richness of the dressing keeps it from being too sour.

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Bolthouse Farms Chunky Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing & Dip

Bolthouse Farms' dressing is a refrigerated condiment that you can use either as a dressing or a dip. The consistency proves that it has many uses, and there are few things I love more than something that's multipurpose! I both dipped my carrots in this and poured it on a salad, and both methods worked great. This one cost me $3.99 at Acme.

The look: This dressing and dip hybrid is a little more on the thin side, compared to some of the others in this survey and lacks some of the larger chunks, but it's still plenty creamy. It's also bright white and poured out of the bottle easily.

The taste: The tang of this dressing is perfect. The blue cheese is just sharp enough to hit you in the mouth when you take a bite but not so overpowering that it's all you can taste when you eat it with veggies or any other accompaniment. Larger chunks might make the taste too much, so I actually like that the blue cheese bits are small in this particular variety.

Ken's Steak House Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

I'm already a fan of Ken's Steak House dressings (the honey mustard is a staple in my kitchen), but I'd never tried the blue cheese variety until now. I'm happy to report that Ken's never misses, and the blue cheese is no exception. This one cost $2.94 at my local Walmart.

The look: If I didn't know any better, I would think this one is ranch dressing, too. The term "chunky" is generous here, as the chunks are very, very small. The dressing is very creamy, though, and on the thick side for a dressing.

The taste: Despite lacking the chunks, this dressing packs a potent blue cheese punch. There's so much flavor streaming throughout the dressing and in the little pockets of cheesy bits. It's a bit on the sour side (which is what you want in a blue cheese dressing), and well-balanced with the creaminess.

Toby's Blue Cheese Dressing & Dip

I was happy to find this Toby's dressing tucked away on a Whole Foods shelf for $5.49. It's not a brand I'd tried before, but I'm happy to have discovered it, because it's another multipurpose product that can be used with several foods.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: It would be easy to confuse this for a traditional veggie dip—then again, this does double as a dip! It's very thick, though the blue cheese bits are small, but it also has lots of seasonings incorporated throughout.

The taste: Toby's claims on the bottle that this dressing is "good on anything," and I can confidently confirm that I would happily eat this dressing and dip on just about anything. It's really sour and tangy with full blue cheese flavor, and the creamy base makes for a rich flavor profile.

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Wish-Bone Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

Wish-Bone is one of those longstanding supermarket brands that clearly know what they're doing. This blue cheese dressing is a delight. I bought this bottle for the bargain price of $2.38 at Walmart.

The look: This dressing is perfectly smooth and creamy with only a few small pieces of blue cheese. It's light on visible seasonings, but that didn't seem to affect the taste.

The taste: Whew, this dressing is sour, and it tickles the back of your throat—but in a good way. It's really potent with blue cheese flavor, but it's a rich flavor that's properly balanced with the coolness of the dressing base.

Wish-Bone doesn't overcomplicate anything here and gives you a blue cheese that can be used as a dressing or dip—and tastes just as good either way.