Flavorful and delish, this famous copycat Arbys sauce recipe makes sandwiches sing! No more waiting for a fast food run. Throw it on a pile of roast beef or a sandwich of any kind!
Original post: March 2016 | Updated: May 2023 and October 2024
Why This Copycat Arby’s Sauce Recipe Works
I absolutely adore Arby’s roast beef sandwiches totally slathered in their famous sauce. The day I created a homemade version of this red sauce was a momentous one. Here are a few reasons you should give it a try:
- It is such a simple recipe, made using only a few ingredients.
- No more throwing Arby’s sauce packets in my pocket, ha!
- Copycat Arby sauce tastes just like the real deal.
- It is so delicious atop a heaping pile of roast beef, chicken sandwiches or homemade beef n cheddar sandwiches.
- This easy recipe produces one of the best sauces your lips will ever taste.
- No high fructose corn syrup involved here!
What Is Arbys Sauce
Arby sauce is unique and isn’t quite like any other variety of barbecue sauce you’ve had before. It is known for being added as part of the chain fast food restaurant’s popular roast beef sandwich recipe to give it a delicious kick.
It’s not a super thick sauce, but it is packed with flavor. Once you’ve had it, you will fall in love!
What Does Arby’s Sauce Taste Like
Arby’s sauce is deep red in color and unique in flavor, with its tangy bbq sauce appeal. It has a sweet yet tangy flavor that you’ll find irresistible slathered on your next Arby’s roast beef sandwich.
Recipe Ingredients
Ketchup – Decrease amount of ketchup in the recipe by half for a less tomato flavor.
Seasonings – Onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt and pepper are a small but mighty seasoning trio.
Brown sugar – Use light or dark brown sugar.
Tabasco sauce – Add extra hot sauce for a more spicy flavor.
Worcestershire sauce – If you love this special sauce as much as I do, add a few extra splashes!
How To Make Arbys Sauce
Just a couple of items from the grocery store and you’ll have the perfect condiment to put on sandwiches and meat!
Step 1
Combine ketchup, water, brown sugar, garlic powder and onion powder, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a small saucepan.
Place over medium heat until boiling. Reduce to Low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until a creamy consistency has been achieved.
Step 2
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Slather your favorite sandwich with it, alongside a serving of air fryer steak fries or curly fries!
Recipe Notes
- Don’t shy away from adding other spices! A dash of smoked paprika is a delicious addition.
- Serve as a dipping sauce for a roast beef sandwich or burger.
- Add 1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar to the mixture for an added tang.
What To Do With Homemade Arby’s Sauce Copycat Recipe
Unless you have a deli slicer tucked away in your pantry, thinly slicing roast beef like the fast food chains do is tough. But this tasty sauce is great for a lot of recipes!
- You will love it on any meat-packed turkey or deli sandwich or dunk grilled meat into it.
- It is also a great dip for French fries, potato chips or onion rings.
- Kick grilled cheese sandwiches or cheese quesadillas up a notch with it.
- Use it as a dunker for chicken nuggets or chicken tenders.
- Mix it with ranch sauce for another unique dip, a “red ranch sauce!”
- Add it to a Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese.
- Slater it over top your next batch of Instant Pot Chicken Breasts.
How Long Does Arbys Sauce Last
Store this sauce in a glass mason jar or an airtight container for up to 2 weeks for best results.
Can You Buy Arby’s Sauce
If you don’t have the time to make it yourself, you can now purchase your very own squeeze bottle!
Best Homemade Sauces and Toppings
- Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Avocado Ranch Dressing
- Everything But The Bagel Seasoning
- Ginger Sauce
- BBQ sauce
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Best Copycat Recipes
- Cranberry Bliss Bars – the copycat of the famous Starbucks treat! A delicious blondie packed with cranberries, white chocolate chips and a hint of orange.
- Enjoy Chinese takeout at home with this Easy Orange Chicken!
- This Asian-inspired sauce is a replica of that famous ginger sauce recipe (a Benihana copycat!) you love so much.
- Easy Mongolian Beef takes less than 30 minutes to make and tastes even better than your favorite Chinese takeout.
- Easy Pad Thai with Shrimp and Tofu is done in less than 30 minutes cook time, allowing you to skip the cost and calories of take-out.
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Copycat Arbys Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat until boiling. Reduce to Low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.1 cup ketchup, 1 tbsp water, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Tabasco sauce, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper
- Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Serve as a dipping sauce with roast beef sandwiches or burgers.
Notes
- Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Serve as a dipping sauce with roast beef sandwiches or burgers.
- Decrease amount of ketchup in the recipe by half for a less tomatoey flavor.
- Add extra hot sauce for a spicier sauce!
This is a good base start to the recipe I added everything but made some modifications of my own I added a little bit of vinegar about a dash and added some nutmeg a dash of liquid smoke and some Carolina inspired bbq sauce and it’s not exact but it’s pretty dang close and I love it thanks for the great inspiration and sharing your recipe Megan this is definitely a keeper for me!!
I’m glad you tweaked it to make it your own! Thanks, Ren for sharing.
It’s not exact but it is really close I modified it and added some nutmeg a dash of liquid smoke and some Carolina inspired bbq sauce and it’s extremely close added a little bit more of some of the ingredients listed and I do have to say not bad at all will definitely keep this recipe it’s a great starter for sure thanks for sharing Megan!!
Just piling on with a spices comment! I added nutmeg because my hubby hates clove. I could definitely taste clove in the Arby’s packet I used to compare. And, hubby preferred the homemade! So it’s not exact, but I would consider it a win. I will consider reducing ketchup next time. Oh, and I also added about a tablespoon of ACV to thin the mixture. Verdict: not a direct copycat but if it’s preferred to what you’re copycatting it’s all good😃👍
Thank you Kris for the detail! We all enjoy different tastes and it’s good to experiment and enjoy the process too.
You almost got it. To be fair most “copycat” recipes for this sauce is wrong. Almost every recipe gets the main ingredient wrong. It’s the most obvious ingredient and the one that you instantly taste when eating real Arby sauce. It’s cloves. You can’t mistaken the taste because its so strong in the sauce’s taste. There’s also a hint of nutmeg in there too. The Arby’s sauce packets themselves list “spices” as an ingredient. Those are the spices. There’s one other spice that I THINK is in it but I’m not 100% certain unless I tested it out and that’s Star Anise. But 100% there’s extra cloves in their recipe and a hint of nutmeg. If I ate it blindfolded I’d say: “this sauce has worcestershire sauce and cloves in it”. If you have Allspice that would probably work just fine. People often describe it as having a taste similar to cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Thank you!
I definitely agree with Immaculate Taste Buds. There is absolutely a hint of clove in Arby’s Sauce. Most copycat recipes miss that! Maybe add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of ground clove to your recipe.
Yes, give it a shot! Thanks!
Why would you ever buy store bought again. This is so easy and so good!
I think so too – it’s great to be able to have it on hand when you want it!
Hi Megan! Kitchen-newbie here… How do I effectively freeze and unfreeze these recipes? (Would an ice-cube tray work, then package in baggies in the freezer to take out desired quantity, or rather small glass jars; but won’t they crack when unfreezing?) Can I use the thawed sauces the same way I would’ve used the pre-frozen ones? #pleasehelpthenewbie 🙂 [I also saw thatvall the sauces freeze well, except the Alfredo; did I understand correctly?]
Hi Tess, great questions! You can definitely freeze small batches of arby’s sauce in glass containers. I like to let them sit in the fridge as they thaw. You shouldn’t have any issues with cracking unless you heat the glass as its frozen. The reason the alfredo doesn’t freeze as well as its primarily cream and they tend to thin out and separate when thawing so I prefer to eat it fresh. If you don’t have glass containers, you can use tupperware dishes and I’ve even used ziplocs. Your idea to use the ice cube tray and move to a ziploc is perfect too.
No vinegar?!
Save yourself the trouble. Equal parts A1 and ketchup. Easy
Thank you for your suggestion. I prefer it the way I made it – but everyone enjoys different flavors!
This was amazing! I used it on sandwich with a bit beef. Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing.
Years ago, my friend would buy bottles of Arby’s horsey sauce and use it on spinach when she made it.
Today I got the bright idea to check and see if I could make it myself, and as a result we’re having spinach and horsey sauce! Thank you,
this is great.
I do agree with what somebody else said about it having cloves in it.
What a great tip, Deanna. Thank you for sharing that! Glad you found the way you like it!
You can also spare yourself the effort of making this, and just mix ketchup and worcestershire sauce to taste.
This turned out amazing!! I did do some of the others suggestions. I added 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/8 tsp cloves and 1 1/2 TBLS white vinegar. Simmer about 10-15 min let cool and poured into a squeeze bottle for our copycat Arby’s Beef N Cheddars! YUMMZY!!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing what change ups you enjoyed.