Big Mac sauce recipe revealed: How to make it at home

THE ingredients in the beloved Big Mac sauce have been known for some time, but no one has put out a recipe. Until now. Here’s how to actually make it.

THE world’s most iconic burger celebrates its 50th birthday this year.

The Big Mac (originally named ‘The Aristocrat’) was introduced in Pittsburgh in 1967, and has gone on to become a worldwide phenomenon.

Today, the Big Mac can be ordered in every corner of the world, and although the exact ingredients and sizes change slightly from country to country, one crucial element remains consistent: the ‘special sauce’.

Shrouded in secrecy, the sauce is what makes a Big Mac a Big Mac. But what is it? And what makes it so ‘special’?

As with the ‘ingredients’ list on any packet of food sold at a supermarket, the official McDonald’s website includes a list of the secret sauce’s ingredients, but it stops short of providing quantities. So, keen to crack the burger’s secrets once and for all, we took to the test kitchen with a mountain of mayo and a pile of pickle relish and started experimenting.

After almost a dozen trials, and consuming a dangerous amount of homemade Big Macs, here’s what we believe to be the definitive Special Sauce recipe, finally revealed:

Put some spices and pickle relish in your mayo, and you’ve got the magic sauce. Picture: Tristan Lutze

BIG MAC SPECIAL SAUCE RECIPE

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp gherkin relish

2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp crushed mustard seeds

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Stir all ingredients together until well combined.

Serve on a burger, or as a dipping sauce for fries.

Tristan Lutze is a food writer and photographer. You can see more of his work on Instagram, Facebook or at TristanLutze.com.