The paper condiment cups designed to hold ketchup and mustard found at fast food restaurants are fun to fill up from the dispenser. Plus, they’re better for the environment than film sachets and plastic containers because they’re made of a renewable material. However, these cute little guys do pose a huge problem for those of us who like to go heavy on the sauce; a single cup simply isn’t enough to satisfy our ketchup craving, nor is the diameter of the cup wide enough to dip a hefty chicken strip into without making a giant mess. Fortunately, there’s a clever hack that increases the size of condiment cups to make dipping easier and all it takes is a little tug on the top edge.
If you take a closer look at one of these paper pots you’ll notice that it has several vertical folds around its circumference that are designed to be fanned out. Opening them up by gently pulling on them expands their diameter, creating more space for holding a larger volume of your favorite condiments. In fact, you can almost double their capacity with this quick move, which means that you won’t need to load up a series of cups to get your fill of barbecue sauce or mustard. The final upshot? You’ll be able to submerge all your fried favorites into your condiment of choice without tipping your tiny cup over and getting ketchup on your fingers.
Don’t open up all of the paper pleats
To open out your condiment cup you’ll need to loosen some of the paper pleats that go around its circumference. Luckily, this takes seconds and is as easy as holding onto the edge of the rolled top with both hands and pulling outwards to open out one pleat. Continue to do this around the entire cup and it will expand as the pleats unravel.
If you want to retain the shape of the cup while increasing its capacity, don’t release all of the pleats, and be mindful to skip a few of them. Simply tug on some of them gently to expand the dimensions of the container without unraveling the lot. The space created should be large enough to accommodate dipping in classic chicken tenders, a generous handful of fries, or the edge of a half-eaten burger.
If you want to share your sauce with your entire table you can open the entire cup out and turn it into a little paper plate that everyone can easily access and dip their fries into. Once you’re done, you can discard or recycle it, knowing that you’ve created less waste. After mastering this nifty trick, you’ll never be frustrated with the small dimensions of a petite condiment cup ever again.
