The Jack in the Box secret sauce is a simple mixture of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, A1 steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of hot sauce. The addition of dehydrated onion and xanthan gum gives it the texture of the original.

If you’re a fan of Jack in the Box’s onion mayo sauce, formerly the star of the Ultimate Cheeseburger, check out my recipe for that.

The ingredients

The ingredients for this sauce are no mystery. Jack in the Box makes the list of ingredients for every one of their food items available via a link labeled “ingredients” at the bottom of this page. As a result, it was super easy to figure out.

If you read food labels a lot, it’s easy to identify the various components of the sauce. The rest if combining them in the right proportions.

• Mayonnaise is mostly soybean oil, eggs and vinegar
• Ketchup is mostly tomato paste, vinegar and corn syrup
• Mustard is mustard seed, vinegar and turmeric (for color)
• A1 steak sauce is the only common sauce to use raisin paste and orange puree
• Worcestershire is the only common sauce to combine molasses and tamarind
• Hot sauce is red peppers, vinegar and salt

The only other ingredient that isn’t included in any of the above is dried onion.

The Jack in the Box secret sauce recipe

This sauce will get better the longer it sits in the fridge. A responsible blogger would say that it will last in the fridge up to a week. I, on the other hand, would leave it in there and use it until it looks and smells bad. There’s really nothing in it that’s going to go bad in less than a few months.

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Jack in the Box secret sauce

This is the sauce formerly used on the Bonus Jack and the Jumbo Jack before 1999. It's still available in packets at some locations.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp dehydrated onion or 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 large drop A1 Steak Sauce
• 2 drops Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 drop Tabasco or Sriracha, or other hot sauce optional
• 1/4 tsp Xanthan gum optional

Instructions

• Combine vinegar and onion and allow for spices to rehydrate for 30 minutes.
• Combine all remaining ingredients with vinegar mixture except xanthan gum (if using).
• Slowly sprinkle xanthan into mixture while stirring constantly to avoid lumps
• Allow to sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes for the flavors to develop

Notes

The xanthan gum is optional and is there to thicken the mixture and provide a familiar fast food texture. It doesn’t add any flavor so is fine without it.

The post Jack in the Box secret sauce recipe appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

Before we get into the recipe, here are some alternatives for your sub in case you’re not completely committed to making a homemade dressing from scratch. This recipe is super easy, though.

Alternate dressings

You don’t need to make a homemade dressing for your sub. Although, the recipe below is super easy and delicious. If you’re not in the mood to make something from scratch, here are some other great options…

• Oil and vinegar – A simple combination of oil and vinegar (50/50) will do the job. Any oil and vinegar will work, but I love the simple taste of olive oil and white vinegar.
• Mustard – Any mustard will work, even plain yellow hot dog mustard. I love a good French dijon mustard on a sandwich, and even on a hot dog!
• Salad dressing – Most salad dressings would work. The ideal dressing would be an Italian or Greek oil and vinegar dressing. Both are tart and herby like the recipe below. In a pinch, I would try just about anything, even Blue Cheese.

My favorite Italian Sub Dressing Recipe

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably ready to make something homemade! My favorite Italian Sub Dressing Recipe is super simple. The combination of vinegar and herbs really brightens the sandwich and helps the cold cuts to shine.

I used xanthan gum to keep the oil and vinegar from separating, but that’s completely optional. It doesn’t change the taste at all. Xanthan gum is super useful in the kitchen but not trivial to find. You can get it here from Amazon.

The sandwich in the photo is fresh mozzarella, mortadella, prosciutto, and pepperoni on a baguette. Besides the dressing below, I also added thinly sliced tomatoes and sliced pepperoncini. It was a great combination, but next time I would probably add salame and swap out provolone for the mozzarella. A baguette is also on the edge of being too crusty for a great sub sandwich.

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Italian Sub Dressing

This tart and herby dressing will elevate your cold cuts to another level!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Vinegar, white or other type of vinegar
• 1 tsp Oregano, dried
• 1 tsp Basil, dried
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed or 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsg Xanthan gum optional

Instructions

• Mix vinegar with herbs and garlic and let sit for 15 min to rehydrate
• Add xanthan gum (if using) to the olive oil.
• Combine olive oil with vinegar mixture in a jar and shake well to combine.

Notes

The herbs are really just a suggestion. You can use any combination of rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano and other dried herbs. Keep the total amount of dried herbs to about 2 tsp. A super easy option is to use pre-mixed Italian Herbs seasoning.

I usually use white vinegar, but you can use any type of vinegar, including balsamic or wine vinegar. You can even use a combination of different vinegars. Just keep the total amount to 1/4 cup.

I didn’t add any salt to this since everything else on an Italian Sub is quite salty. If you use this for anything else, like as an actual salad dressing, you’ll want to salt to taste.

If you’re not using xanthan gum the oil and vinegar will separate after a while. Just shake before using.

 

The post Italian Sub Dressing Recipe appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

To make fermented hot sauce, blend or finely chop by hand or in a food processor, about a pound of fresh chiles. Add 5% salt by weight. Mix well and put in a quart deli container for at least a week or up to three months. You can use the sauce just as it is, or you can add vinegar if you prefer a more sour flavor.

Selecting chiles

This recipe can really be made with any fresh chiles. It can even be made with bell peppers, although it won’t be hot. I once made a batch with red bell peppers for a friend who didn’t like spicy food. I called it “Not Sauce”.

Habanero chiles make a really delicious sauce but it’s too hot for most people. I like to mix red habaneros with something less hot, like holland or fresno chiles.

While you can mix any types of chiles together, it’s best to mix similar colored chiles together. Otherwise, if you mix red and green chiles you’ll end up with a sauce that’s brown, which doesn’t look that great.

Preparing the chiles

You should rinse the chiles in cool water to remove any dirt. Don’t use any kind of soap or vegetable wash as you want to leave the natural yeasts and bacterias that live on the chiles.

You definitely want to remove the stems before processing the chiles further. If your chiles have a lot of seeds, you may want to remove some of them as well. Don’t obsess about removing all of them. I usually leave quite a few in mine.

The fermentation is fast and consistent when the chiles are chopped finely before leaving to ferment. I use a food processor to chop them finely. You can also use a blender or even chop them by hand. If you’re using a blender it’s fine to add a small amount of water to get them to blend fully. Keep the amount of water to a minimum as the chiles will liquify as they ferment and you don’t want the end result to be too watery. Also, be sure to include the water when calculating how much salt to add.

How much salt?

Salt is what keeps the bad bacterias controlled while allowing lactobacillus to do it’s work. Lactobacillus is the good bacteria that is responsible for all the delicious fermentation for our hot sauce, but also dill pickles, sauerkraut and other fermented foods.

The amount of salt you add should equal 5% of the total weight of the chiles (and any added water.) It’s as simple as taking the weight of your chiles and multiplying by 0.05. The result is the weight of salt you need to add. It’s easiest to do this with your scale set to grams.

If you don’t have a scale, you can estimate the amount of salt you need. After your chiles are chopped or blended, for each cup of chiles, you should add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, or 1-1/2 teaspoons of table salt. This should get you close to 5%.

Now that you’ve figured out how much salt to use, add the salt to your chiles and mix well. This is called mash.

Storing the mash

I use a 1 quart deli container for storing my chile mash. Ideally you want a container that will allow some air to escape but you can also open the lid every few days to let any excess gases out. A mason jar would work well. You can leave the lid on loosely so the gases escape on their own.

Add the chile mash to your jar and tap it on the counter carefully to remove any large air bubbles. Once you’re ready to store the mash for fermenting, sprinkle a light layer of salt on top of the mash. This will prevent any mold from forming on the top of the mash.

Put a label on your container with the type of chiles you used and the date. You’ll be glad you did! After two months of fermentation it’s easy to forget what was in the jar.

The first few days

The first few days of fermentation are the most critical to watch. You should check the mash at least once a day in case any mold forms. Even with salting the top of the mash, a while mold can sometimes form. This is completely normal and harmless. If this happens, scrape the mold off the top of the mash and salt the top again. If the mold is black, this is bad and you should toss out the whole batch and start over. This has never happened to me, so don’t know what causes it, but I’ve heard others mention this.

After the first week, it’s unlikely you’ll see any mold so you can check on it less frequently. You shouldn’t need to add any more salt either. I give mine a shake every few days just to keep the liquids and solids mixed.

How long to wait?

Some people are happy with their sauce after only a week. I think this is too short, though. The longer it ferments, the better the flavor. I would consider two weeks to be the absolute minimum. I always wait at least four weeks and sometimes as long as eight.

Finish it up

The fermentation process breaks down the chiles into a more liquid form. The longer you let the fermentation go, the more liquid. I find that after a month the chiles have essentially become a perfect sauce without any further blending. But if you prefer a smoother sauce you have a couple of options.

You can blend the sauce to break it down completely. You can also strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer. You can use one or both of these methods to end up with the consistency you prefer.

The lactobacillus responsible for most of the fermentation produces acid that gives the sauce a sour taste, like most commercial hot sauces. The 5% salt we added at the beginning is just about right for my taste. If you find that your finished hot sauce isn’t sour enough, you can simply add white or apple cider vinegar. You can also add salt if needed. Either way, you can tweak it to your own taste.

I put my finished sauce in recycled glass jars or bottles and store in the fridge.

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Simplest Fermented Hot Sauce

Basic recipe for turning any fresh chiles into fermented hot sauce.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword hot sauce, sauce

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh chiles any kind
• 5 % salt

Instructions

• Remove stems from chiles and finely chop in a food processor or blender. Add a small amount of water if necessary
• Add 5% salt by weight to the processed chiles and mix well
• Add chile mash into a glass jar and sprinkle salt over the top to inhibit mold growth
• Allow to ferment for two weeks or up to three months

The post Simplest Fermented Hot Sauce Recipe appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

Jack in the Box mayo-onion sauce is made from mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, onion powder, and mustard. Reproducing the sauce is as simple as mixing the ingredients and allowing to sit for a few hours for the flavors to meld.

If you were a fan of the Bonus Jack and pre-1999 Jumbo Jack, check out my recipe for Jack in the Box secret sauce.

The quest for mayo-onion sauce

I started trying to make this sauce in order to recreate the original Ultimate Cheeseburger. It was a simple but amazing burger. It consisted of two patties, three types of cheese and mayo-onion sauce, on a bun. You could optionally get a version with bacon. It came wrapped in a half-foil sheet before Jack in the Box went to all paper wrapping. I wish I could find a photo of the burger to show you!

I searched Google every so often when I would think about trying to recreate that burger. I finally came across the definitive list of ingredients by locating the Jack in the Box website from 2002 on archive.org. There was a page that lists every ingredient in every menu item including all sauces, sodas and even the burgers (100% beef, phew).

Once I knew the ingredients, it was a simple matter of experimenting with ratios and taste testing in order to nail the recipe.

Recipe notes

I believe this recipe is indistinguishable from the original. It’s impossible to compare it side-by-side, though, since Jack in the Box has since phased out the sauce completely. But, if you were a fan of any of their sandwiches that used this sauce, you’ll immediately recognize the slightly sweet, slightly tart, oniony kick.

The recipe is listed below and is very simple and flexible. I tested with common ingredients found in most kitchens so you shouldn’t need to go to the store for anything. The only optional ingredient you might not have is xanthan gum, which I discuss below.

If you’re trying to make this as close to the original as possible, here are a few notes:

• Most onion powder is actually finely granulated onion. This will leave a slight grainy texture to the sauce. If you want it ultra smooth like the original, look for onion powder that is truly powdered. Here is an Amazon link for an ultra fine onion powder for about $3.
• Ground mustard powder is ideal. Yellow mustard will taste the same, but the turmeric added for color will make your sauce slightly yellow. The original sauce is very white.
• Corn syrup works slightly better than regular sugar since it will mix with the ingredients easier. If you’re using corn syrup you can mix all the ingredients at the same time instead of first dissolving the sugar.
• The easy way to adjust the intensity of this sauce is to mix all the ingredients first, except for the mayonnaise. Then add half as much mayonnaise and taste the result. If it’s too powerful you can continue to add more mayo until you get to the flavor you like.

Do I need xanthan gum?

Xanthan gum is listed in the original ingredient list and I used it in my testing while developing this recipe. It’s a common fast food ingredient and does give the final sauce a very familiar texture and mouthfeel. It’s fine to leave it out if you don’t have any, though. The only difference is that the sauce will be slightly thinner. If the end result is too thin for you, another option is to use cornstarch. I would add just a pinch or two of cornstarch to the vinegar mix (before adding the mayo) and then microwaving a few seconds until just bubbling. It should thicken slightly.

Xanthan gum is super useful and used in all sorts of processed foods. It’s also super cheap on Amazon. A tiny amount of Xanthan gum lasts FOREVER! I only use a pinch here and there. I’m still using some that I bought more than 10 years ago. Here is a high quality vegan brand on Amazon for less than $5.

The recipe

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Jack in the Box mayo-onion sauce

A recreation of this iconic sauce from Jack in the Box that was used on the Sourdough Jack, Chicken Supreme, Ultimate Cheeseburger (pre-2002) and Hot Ham and Cheese.

Cuisine American

Keyword jack in the box, mayo, onion, sauce

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp granulated sugar or corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp dry mustard powder or yellow mustard
• 1 pinch xanthan gum optional
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise

Instructions

• Mix the vinegar, sugar, onion and mustard until the sugar dissolves
• Add a pinch of xanthan gum while mixing and allow to sit until it thickens slightly
• Add mayonnaise. You can use it immediately, but it will get better as it sits. Allow at least an hour for the best flavor.

Notes

This should make enough sauce for about four burgers or sandwiches.

The post Jack in the Box mayo-onion sauce recipe appeared first on Frugal Cooking.