5 Dipping Sauces Better Than Ketchup

National French Fry Day is July 13, and we plan to eat a lot of fries to celebrate. Whether you prefer steak fries or shoestrings, fries always taste better with dipping sauce. Sure, you can also get out the trusty ketchup bottle. But in honor of this delicious holiday, we've gathered five dipping sauces to try. So go on, dip a fry in it!

Dipping Sauces for Fries: Remoulade Sauce

Remoulade is a mayonnaise-based sauce that you'll often see served with crab cakes or other seafood dishes. It's also fantastic for dipping fries, since it includes a range of classic condiment flavors: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickle juice, and horseradish.

We like this remoulade recipe from Yammie's Noshery because she's so easygoing about ingredients and proportions. Of course the basics are key, but you can increase or decrease the amount of horseradish, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco. If you want a more chunky sauce, try adding diced peppers or onions, fresh herbs, or even tomatoes. Pair shoestring fries with a creamier remoulade, or use steak fries to scoop up all the chunky goodness if you mix in diced veggies.

Dipping Sauces for Fries: Basil Garlic Aioli

While aioli may be confused with mayonnaise (or mayonnaise may be passed off as aioli), they aren't the same. Mayo calls for egg yolks and oil, whereas aioli requires garlic and olive oil, but it may contain egg yolks too. This piece on Chowhound offers a longer, more detailed breakdown.

Those culinary specifics are why we chose this Basil Garlic Aioli recipe from Self-Proclaimed Foodie. It includes garlic, egg yolks, and olive oil, plus fresh basil and lemon juice. In other words, it isn't just pesto stirred into mayonnaise, but a true aioli. Dip your fries in it, and drizzle some over the top of your burger too.

Dipping Sauces for Fries: Homemade Chick-Fil-A Sauce

So many of the sauces intended for chicken nuggets, strips, or fingers are just as good on fries. Take the assortment of sauces you can choose from at Chick-Fil-A. Business Insider ranked all of the Chick-Fil-A sauces, and -- no surprise -- their signature sauce came out on top.

Make your own Chick-Fil-A sauce at home with this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff. If you want to be extra-authentic, dip waffle fries in this sauce. It's also great on sandwiches (not just chicken) and makes a zippy salad dressing too.

Dipping Sauces for Fries: Roasted Garlic Dip

At first glance this dip from Lazy Cat Kitchen doesn't look particularly remarkable. But check out the list of ingredients, and you'll see why we had to include it.

First, it calls for roasted garlic, which is always a good start. Next, instead of oil or mayo or sour cream, the base of this dip is cashews. That's right: it's one more way to use cashew cream. Finally, even if you don't make the rosemary fries included in the recipe, the dip still includes more than a dash of finely ground rosemary. Great combination of flavors, and it's even vegan.

Dipping Sauces for Fries: Turmeric Tahini Dip

While this dip from Nutrition Stripped may be a bit edgy for the kids, that just means the adults can have it all to themselves. Recipes featuring turmeric are especially trendy now, and this dip could be a good introduction to the spice.

You can buy pre-made tahini, but it's also easy to make your own. Get sesame seeds from a bulk bin at a natural or Asian grocery, then toast them and blend them with some neutral oil. This recipe from Inspired Taste shows just how simple it is, and your homemade tahini will hold up well in the refrigerator.