Shack Sauce Recipe

I’d argue that Shake Shack’s Shack Sauce is nearly as necessary on a Shack Burger because the patty itself—it is what differentiates the Shack Burger from Shake Shack’s common cheeseburger. It is by all accounts a “secret” recipe that was going to take a little bit of hard-core investigative journalism to uncover.

My first try was to play the Shack-virgin card. After I bought to the entrance of the road on the Higher West Aspect location one Monday afternoon, I innocently requested the cashier, “So, what is the Shack Sauce?”

Her response: “It is mayo-based. Candy, bitter, sizzling.”

I went fishing: “How spicy is it? Prefer it’s bought sizzling sauce in it or one thing?”

However she did not take the bait: “Somewhat spicy. But additionally candy and bitter.”

One final attempt: “So, candy like thousand Island? Prefer it’s bought relish in it?”

She’s an inscrutable clean wall: “No, no relish. Mayo-based, candy, bitter, sizzling.”

I give in: “Okay, give me a Shack Burger, further Shack Sauce on the aspect.”

Upon tasting it, my fast ideas are mayo, ketchup, a bit of yellow mustard, a touch of garlic and paprika, maybe a contact of cayenne pepper, and an elusive bitter high quality that I am unable to fairly pinpoint. It is positively not simply vinegar or lemon juice, nor does it have the cloying sweetness of relish. Pickle juice? Cornichon? Another kind of vinegar? I am unable to determine it out. This was going to take a bit of extra effort.

My subsequent technique was a bit of extra drastic: “by accident” strolling by means of the hidden door within the downstairs rec-room that results in the kitchen within the hopes of taking a sneaky look at their pantry for hints. No good. I bought midway by means of the door, solely catching a glimpse of some cans lining the right-hand wall earlier than it was identified to me by a pleasant worker that the restrooms have been truly behind the doorways clearly labeled “restroom.”

I sat on the bench outdoors considering a little bit of dumpster diving when a thought struck me: Perhaps I used to be going about this all unsuitable.

I walked again into the restaurant, went straight as much as the supervisor, and requested level clean: “Is the Shack Sauce a secret, or are you able to inform me what’s in it?”

Somewhat snicker, after which, “It is principally mayo, with some ketchup, mustard, a couple of spices, and pickles blended in.”

“So, pickle relish, or pickles?”

“Precise pickles—the sliced pickles we serve with the burgers. I could not provide you with actual tablespoon measure or something as a result of I do not know them off hand, however that is the overall thought.”

Be aware to self: At all times ask properly earlier than shifting on to breaking-and-entering.

The remainder was simple: I introduced the additional sauce house, then tinkered round with a blender and my spice rack till I bought a reasonably damn-close approximation. Are you able to select which is the true sauce within the pic above?

As for making use of the sauce, the important thing right here is beneficiant, even protection. For the sake of absolute authenticity, I transferred the sauce to a squeeze bottle, and squeezed out three traces onto the highest half of the bun, going backwards and forwards 3 times alongside every line.