Like many fast food chains, McDonald's has a signature sauce. But while other places like In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A serve the sauces with almost all of their menu items, McDonald's only uses a specific sauce for its Big Macs. Technically, you can ask for it on the side for a small fee, but employees may refuse to give it to you, as commenters on one TikTok pointed out. Fortunately, there's a store-bought alternative that'll allow you to have as much Big Mac-like sauce as you want.
According to avideo posted by TikTok influencer Mike Haracz, a former McDonald's corporate chef, Great Value brand Secret Sauce is the closest thing you'll get to the fast food chain's Big Mac sauce. Since Great Value is a Walmart store brand, the product isn't available at other supermarkets, however, you can order it from the Walmart website if you don't live near one. Great Value Secret Sauce is available on Amazon as well, but it's more expensive — $9 to $12 from various sellers, compared to around $2 on Walmart.com for the same 12-ounce bottle.
Big Mac sauce and Great Value Secret Sauce are nearly identical in terms of ingredients. Back in 2012, Dan Coudreaut, who at the time was the executive chef of McDonald's, revealed on"CBS This Morning" that Big Mac sauce is made with mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, mustard, white wine vinegar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and, perhaps most surprisingly,no ketchup. Sure enough, the same ingredients, with the exception of mustard, appear on the ingredients list on the back of the Great Value bottle. The ratios of these ingredients however are definitely different judging by how the two products taste.
While many customer reviews from both Amazon and Walmart describe the Great Value version as virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, a handful have also mentioned that there are noticeable differences. Mainly, Great Value's is sweeter, slightly more mayonnaise-forward, and not quite as flavorful. Regardless, the reviews are generally positive and the ingredients are as similar as it gets for a store-bought sauce.
Why McDonald's Doesn't Sell Big Mac Sauce In Stores
Considering how popular Big Mac sauce is, you'd think that selling bottles of it would be the perfect business opportunity for McDonald's. But the problem is that Big Mac sauce isn't shelf stable. As Mike Haracz explained in another TikTok, it doesn't contain any preservatives that allow it to sit at room temperature. If McDonald's were to sell Big Mac sauce in stores, it would have to be in the refrigerated section, not with the other condiments.
In the past McDonald's has sold bottles of Big Mac sauce for charity, and more recently it was made available as a dipping sauce on the official menu for a limited time in 2023. However, this Big Mac sauce wasn't the same as the Big Mac sauce served in the restaurants. "They have to reformulate the Big Mac sauce to be shelf stable so that they work in these little sauce cups," Haracz shared. "I don't know if they added more preservatives, more acids, but they basically changed the Big Mac sauce recipe." Several commenters said they could taste a difference, and that could easily be a big reason why McDonald's has decided not to sell bottles of Big Mac sauce in stores.
Haracz continued, saying fans of the popular fast food chain's sauce who are looking for something that's both “store-bought” and “already purchased” should try Walmart's Great Value Secret Sauce. The sauce, Haracz said, is “closest” to the Big Mac sauce that is “served in the restaurant.”
The answer is no… but they are similar. Both of the condiments have a creamy consistency and include pickle relish. But, McDonald's Big Mac Sauce includes vinegar and has a bit more pickle relish in it than Thousand Island dressing.
"The [sauce] that best replicated Big Mac sauce from McDonald's that you should go buy if you want it is Great Value's 'Secret Sauce,'" he told his burger followers. "Look at the ingredients statement, it's almost identical."
Starting April 27, Big Mac sauce is available in sauce cups (think the barbecue, sweet and sour, or honey mustard containers that come with your McNuggets). That means you can dip any sandwich, fries, hashbrowns, or, what the heck, even an apple pie, directly into a well of Big Mac sauce to your heart's content.
On April 19, McDonald's announced that its Big Mac sauce — also known as “special sauce” like in the famous jingle — will finally be available as its own item, in dip cups. The news comes shortly after the chain announced “small but tasty improvements” to its burger recipe.
And the sauce has become a thing in its own right. It became a social media craze when McDonald's gave away 10,000 bottles in the U.S. back in 2017. Creamy, tangy, slightly sweet and perfectly dippable, as McDonald's describes it, the Big Mac sauce can be ordered a la carte, apart from the McNuggets deal.
Thousand Island dressing is widely used in fast-food restaurants and diners in the United States, where it is often called "special sauce" or "secret sauce".
Find your nearest restaurant and order your favorite McDonald's sauce from our full menu in the app using contactless Mobile Order & Pay* for pickup or McDelivery®. *At participating McDonald's. Delivery prices may be higher than at restaurants.
“The [sauce] that best replicated Big Mac sauce from McDonald's that you should go buy if you want it is Great Value's 'Secret Sauce,'” he said. “Look at the ingredients statement, it's almost identical.”
Is Big Mac Sauce the same as Thousand Island Dressing? The two are similar, but they have different ingredient ratios. Also, Thousand Island dressing is made with ketchup and diced onions. Big Mac sauce doesn't use either of these ingredients.
The reason Big Mac sauce is such a hit is because it's unique. A lot of restaurants have “special sauces,” but few are as beloved as Big Mac sauce. It's the perfect blend of creamy, acidic, savory, and slightly sweet that compliments the rest of the burger incredibly well.
Sabrina has been with PEOPLE since 2021. Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun — and now, an extra cup of Big Mac sauce. For the first time, fans can order dipping cups of the iconic burger sauce.
The Big N Tasty is the McDonald's version of a traditional 1950s American Burger (non McD). It's got real fresh chopped onion where's the big Mac has canned and pickled onion bits that come from a tub.
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