While McDonald’s maintains that nobody has been able to crack their famous “secret sauce” recipe yet, that doesn’t mean the world hasn’t been trying. It’s so beloved that even McDonald’s promised to add more of it to its burgers in 2025 as it stepped up its game. Unsurprisingly, Big Mac Sauce copycats are all over the internet, with hundreds of versions out there attempting to nail the ratios. And while it’s common knowledge that some people are convinced that it’s just Thousand Island dressing, the two are actually pretty different. For example, Thousand Island dressing recipes typically have ketchup as one of the ingredients (similarly, the Wishbone brand includes tomato paste in its recipe). While its pale pink color might appear to be ketchup, the official ingredients list from McDonald’s site has no ketchup — or tomato products — in sight. In fact, one ex-Mickey D’s chef said that the sauce actually gets its hue from paprika.
The chef, Mike Haracz, took to TikTok to reveal his personal recipe for homemade Big Mac Sauce. According to his video, he uses 1 cup of Hellman’s mayo, ¼ cup of sweet pickle relish, 2 tablespoons of Düsseldorf mustard (which is a German mustard), 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar, 1 and ¼ teaspoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper. All he does is combine everything and mix it together thoroughly before letting it sit for about 30 minutes for the flavors to meld.
Read more: Secret Ingredients You Should Be Using In Your Spaghetti Sauce
How To Use Big Mac Sauce At Home
a cheeseburger bowl on a table – Sergii Koval/Shutterstock
While you can certainly use homemade Big Mac sauce to top burgers (we think it would work even better on smash burgers, which use cold meat and high heat to make thin, crispy, and juicy patties), there are plenty of other applications for this sauce. For instance, TikTok’s viral Big Mac Burger Bowl is the perfect recipe to use it in. While this might be a no-brainer, some recipes state that you can use Thousand Island dressing. We think the real stuff would be even better.
Additionally, McDonald’s most famous sauce can be used as a spread on sandwiches. Imagine elevating a club sandwich with not only some roasted tomatoes but also this sauce. Yes, please. You can also use it as a dipping sauce for French fries, chicken tenders, or a charcuterie board. If you’d like, you can also feel free to use it as a salad dressing — your lettuce will thank you. If you find that the dressing is a bit too thick for your salad, just thin it out with a little bit of water until it reaches your desired consistency.
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Read the original article on Food Republic.
