The only difference is in how they are used. Any sauce can be a dip and any dip can be a sauce. For that matter, any salad dressing can be a dip, or a sauce, or a marinade; gravy can be a sauce or a dip, or both at the same time. You get where I am going here. A sauce is cooked with a dish and/or served over the dish when it is ready to serve. A dip is any liquid in which cooked/prepared food is dipped during the eating process. Salsa is a kind of dip, as are sour cream concoctions in which you dip chips, Fritos, carrot sticks, etc. Food preparation is an art where flexibility is an asset. I remember reading a recipe for fajitas which gave a recipe for a marinade for the chicken - I read through it and thought to myself 'Hmm, this sounds like a recipe for Italian salad dressing!' Guess what I marinate my chicken in now!! Bon appétit! BTW, this question probably belongs in the cooking section, not the 'Crazy Thoughts' section. --- Thanks, Jodie. I do consider myself a pretty good cook and so does my family; even my mom used to get me to cook meals for the family before I left home. I hate to clean, though, and my hubby complains that when I cook, I use up every dish, pot and pan in the kitchen and it looks like a tornado hit it....Oh, well, if he wants to complain, he can do the cooking.. He has somehow never taken me up on that offer!!!

Sause you put on the substance that your eating. As for dip you dip the substance your eating on the sauce. Theres not much of a difference between the two except how it's used.

A sauce is usually thinner than a dip and is often cooked, with or without something such as meat, whereas a dip is usually thicker (thick enough to dip, say, a chip in, and have the chip stand up) and is usually not cooked. It varies, of course. According to dictionary.com, a sauce is: A flavorful seasoning or relish served as an accompaniment to food, especially a liquid dressing or topping for food. Stewed fruit, usually served with other foods. Something that adds zest, flavor, or piquancy. Whereas a dip is: A liquid into which something is dipped, as for dyeing or disinfecting. A savory creamy mixture into which crackers, raw vegetables, or other foods may be dipped. If you go to epicurious.com, it not only gives a very good definition of sauce, but lists all the various types: http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/how_to/food_dictionary/search?query=sauce It does not define dip, however. I think that's because sauces are usually seen as something fancier (like what a chef might make), whereas a dip is something you buy or you can easily throw together. Just my personal opinion, though! Suzanne Lanoue http://suzann.com