Ever since I put up my post Steak Sauce, Hot Sauce, What Sauce? I’ve been a bit obsessed with a sauce called Fry Sauce. Chica was the one who told me about Fry Sauce and so I started looking into it. She told me about Some Dude’s Fry Sauce which is a kicked up version of the stuff.
What is Fry Sauce. Basically Fry Sauce is Ketchup and Mayo mixed together. The traditional recipe is two parts mayo to one part ketchup. I had a buffalo chicken sandwich for lunch and got fries with it so I went and put some Hellman’s mayo into a small Solo container. I also grabbed 4 packets of Heinz ketchup and a second Solo Container.
I assembled my ingredients and started work on my first attempt at Fry Sauce. I added the ketchup to the mayo.
I then stirred the contents together and there was way too much for one of the solo cups. So I poured half into the other cup.
The consistency was very pourable. It also coated the fries very well. I took my first bite.
It was pretty tasty. The overall taste was milder than ketchup and had a very creamy consistency.
I plan to experiment with different ingredients to make a very tasty sauce. I also tried to contact Some Dude’s Fry Sauce there may or may not be some info coming soon about that.
My Fry Sauce obsession will come to a head with a contest in the next month or so. It is going to be a recipe contest and I am hoping that people will enter. I’ll mix up their recipes and have friends over for a taste test, video the whole thing and crown a winning recipe. Details like rules, times and prizes are TBA right now. I’m looking for a sponsor for the prizes. I think this will be a lot of fun, and tasty too.
Add pickle relish to what you just made…. then you have thousand island, and oh my goodness!!! Great on fries.
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Christine,
Yes you certainly do. But I’m looking for something different, I plan to make quite a few recipes. I hope you stick around and enter the contest when I decide to have one.
Try yoghurt instead of ketchup and it’s a lot healthier.
Emjoy your weekend!
That is what I have been putting on my tenderloin sandwiches all these years! I didn’t know it had a name. The next time you are in Indiana, you have to have a breaded tenderloin. I know just the place to get a great one.
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Laane,
I will have to try that, however doesn’t sound that tasty. Sorry but yogurt is no substitute.
Karen,
If I come by back that way I will have to pick one up. Sounds very tasty.
Ooh! Glad ya finally made yourself some. It’s the only thing that should go with fries, ketchup alone with fries is just to salty. I dunno what I could do differently, but I think I got something figured out. 🙂
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I plan to try a few things with this. I hope I hear from the Some Dude’s people soon. That would be cool if I could get a contest going.
Fry Sauce was invented by regional fast food restuarant “Arctic Circle” in Utah 60 years ago. “Real” fry sauce is more than just ketchup and mayo. http://www.arcticcirclerest.com/g_frySauce.html
The interesting thing is that you can get fry sauce at *any* burger joint in Utah including places like Arby’s and McDonald’s, but you usually have to ask in those national brand chains because they hide it behind the counter. They’ve got to stock it because people in Utah demand their fry sauce and if you don’t have it, expect your sales to drop.
Bill,
Thanks for the reply. I found that info too during my search for the history of fry sauce. I think that was from wikipedia.
You are missing one viable ingredient in your Fry Sauce.
Keep me posted on the recipe contest! When I enter my recipe you will then see the missing ingredient!
If you are not going to have a contest then I will just give you my recipe! It is especially good on fried green tomatoes!
Pokey Girl,
I will be doing the contest so if you are not already subscribed then please do so, so that you don’t miss out. I really want to know the ingredient though. I’m curious.
I can’t wait to see the results of the contest!
I live in Beatrice, NE and we had an Arctic Circle here in town until last year.
Everyone around here referred to it as “burger sauce” instead of fry sauce.
If you inquire to Arctic Circle through their web site about how to buy some of their sauce they will give you name of a distributor (sorry, I don’t have it handy or I would post it here) and sometimes they will send you a free bottle.
I’ve tried all the recipes I can find online and some are close (pretty much ketchup, mayo, and some dill pickle juice), but just not exactly it. If you taste mayo though you’ll notice quite a few differences in the brands, so I’m thinking it may be a matter of a mayo that’s regional to Utah. I’ve also wondered if a touch of buttermilk wouldn’t be worth trying, but haven’t yet.
I even submitted it to Top Secret Recipes (a web site for a series of recipe books that clone resturant foods) a couple times but so far they haven’t taken up the challenge . . . maybe if a bunch of us hit the web site and request it . . .
Anyway, I look forward to the contest!
Take Care,
Steve
Steve,
Thanks very much for all the info. I a love that people are finding this post and are interested in it. I will have to have the contest very soon. I will check out Arctic Circle for their burger sauce. Maybe they would be a sponsor.
Hi Drew,
I found the bottle to the fry sauce Arctic Circle sent me a while back (it’s now empty, darn it anyway!).
It has an ingredient list! Labels in the USA list the ingredients by the largest to the smallest ammount by weight.
The ingredient list is:
tomatoe concentrate
soy bean oil
whole egg
distilled vineger
high fructose corn syrup
corn syrup
water
egg yolks
sugar
salt
lemon juice concentrate
onion powder
spices
natural flavors
calcium
disodium EDTA (to protect flavor)
oleoresin paprika
I’ll have to do some more research on the ingredients, but I think I’m seeing ketchup and mayo. High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and sugar kinda surprise me – three different sweeteners? They may just be components of the ketchup or mayo though, I’ll have to look at the various brands ingredients lists.
The oleoresin paprika is kinda interesting, I looked it up on Wikipedia and it seems it is used to give color but can also be used to add spice as it has the same chemical in it that’s in hot peppers. It’s probably doing both duties here, giving color and adding heat. I’m thinking adding just a dash of hot sauce to the mix just to see how it changes things.
The lemon concentrate also surprises me – I was truly expecting dill pickle juice as the “pucker agent”. It still may be though and the dill is lumped in under the spices and natural flavors.
Anyway, gives some fodder for research (shows I ws completely wrong on the buttermilk or cheese flavor!).
Take Care,
Steve
Steve,
I hope you enter the contest because you’ve done some major research on this and I think you’ll have a great recipe.
Mark Wilbur who writes the Top Secret Recipe books has an email link on his web site for recipe requests. I’ve requested he try to clone the Arctic Circle Fry Sauce recipe a couple times but got no response nor has the recipe showed up. You’d think this would be duck soup for him to do and I know it would be popular with many.
Maybe if a bunch of us requested he try to clone it it will get his attention!
Here’s the link:
request@topsecretrecipes.com
I appreciate your confidence in me Drew, but I’m a terrible cook! I once burnt alphabet soup – the little letters get crispy!
So I don’t think I have much chance of cracking this recipe alone, though it is fun (& tasty!) trying!
Take Care,
Steve
I’ll have to check that out. Thanks Steve.
I use to work for Artic Circle. One of my jobs was making fry sauce once a week. It’s more simple that you might think. I cannot remember the exact quantity mixture of each but I could get close. I was mixing it in a large quantity. Each store was responsible for making their own sauce back in the 70’s. I recently visited Utah, and yes I just had to stop at an Artic Circle for lunch, as I do on every visit. You mix equal parts of Ketchup and Mayo. We used one gallon size. We then added one cup of dill pickle juice, and about a half cup of lemon juice, and a small amount of mustard, but I cannot remember how much. That’s it. No egg or anything else. Today they might add additional items to it, but when I use to make it, it was exactly as I listed above.
Wow Jim, that is pretty awesome. I swear that more and more people find this site and want to know about Fry Sauce. I will certainly pass this along on my main post. You might like to know that I make my fry sauce with equal ketchup and mayo and pickle juice. I also add the Red Robin seasoning to it and it is awesome!
Wow Jim good info! I’ll give it a shot!
Unfortunately I don’t think there was a standard recipe “back in the day”, I think every store made it basically the same way but could tweak the recipe to whatever they liked. I’ve talked to former employees who said they used to make it too and ketchup and mayo in varying ratios have been listed by many as the only ingredients, many, many mention dill pickle juice, some but not as many mention vinegar and lemon juice, some mention a dash of onion powder or a dash of garlic too. I think the whole idea of having the secret sauce made for the franchise and then shipped to the franchisees from one supplier was to gain consistancy over the product so every store would have exactly the same sauce.
BTW, from what I was told by the owner of the franchise that closed in our town a year or so ago, they were given an emergency recipe of two parts of their white sauce used on their chicken to one part ketchup.
I think where you see reference to eggs and stuff is because mayo is just basically egg whites and oil whipped together.
Good info – I’ll give a shot at some with some pickle juice and half as much lemon juice and see what we get, then add a little mustard and see what it does.
Gee . . . another excuse for a fry fest!!!!!!
Take Care,
Steve
Steve,
You are always so on top of this Fry Sauce discussion. Good deal!
I grew up in Idaho, and we always made our own fry sauce. My grandmother’s recipe was just ketchup, mayo, lemon juice with a sprinkle of lawry’s seasoning salt.
Debra,
I love it when people find my blog and my love of Fry Sauce, I also love it when people tell my their recipes. Thanks so much. And thanks for visiting.
I just found this post because I was looking for a recipe for Red Robin’s fry sauce. I did not know this was local to Utah. But the best fry sauce is Red Robin’s. If you ever get a chance to try it, it is very tangy they must use bbq sauce instead of ketchup and I dont know what other seasonings. If you do your contest, invite them to enter. I would love to know what they put in it.
Hi Kristine,
I’ve been to Red Robin many times, never saw that they had fry sauce. There is a sauce with the onion rings and it seems BBQ based. I’m not a fan though. Too BBQ for me.
Red Robin’s is best??? That’s burger sauce sacrelege!!! The best is the ORIGINAL fry sauce -> Arctic Circle sauce from Utah!!! 8->
You really must go to one of their restaurants though as even though you can buy their sauce from their supplier via mail order it just doesn’t taste the same as in the restaurants.
I’m serious – make your next vacation a trip to Utah and an Artic Circle!!! 8->
Steve,
I couldn’t agree more. I will have to get to Arctic Circle some day.
Our Arctic Circle has been closed for a year or so. I’ve been making my own and even got a bottle of their sauce for Christmas (a relative ordered it from their supplier), but last month I had the opportunity to visit a fry sauce oasis in the form of an actual Arctic Circle restaurant and I ordered a Bounty Burger and large fries and asked for a big handful of sauce cups . . . Man! That first bite was wonderful, and those fries . . . oh the fries . . . (insert Homer Simpson drool sound effect here).
Just nothing like the real thing!!!
Making me so jealous.
I’m tempted to make my Fry Sauce, Mayo, Ketchup, Pickle Juice, pickle chip, red robin seasoning. Then I will sneak it in with me to Five Guys, their fries are the best!
I have been trying to replicate Arctic Circle’s fry sauce since they closed down their restaurants out here. I don’t think it has pickle juice since I hate pickles and LOVE their fry sauce.
All I can say is try it!
I think pickle juice gets it closer to the real thing, but I’ve tried tons of recipes since our AC closed and so far none are spot on so maybe the pickle juice is not correct, but sure seems to move it closer to my taste buds.
Some use vinegar, lemon juice, etc. – just something to add some tartness.
Have fun, please post what recipe you eventually develop!
Kirsten,
As Steve says below your message, keep trying different things to get the tart taste. I think that Steve will eventually replicate the sauce, he’s been trying so many ways.
Steve,
I think it is great that you follow this post and help everyone out with their fry sauce questions. Thank you.
Hi Drew,
I’m hoping someday someone will crack this recipe and share it here! 8->
It’s not just mayo and ketchup – that’s for sure, but mayo and ketchup is -close-, it just needs a couple tweaks, but my taste buds, patience, and culinary expertise aren’t that good so so far the recipe has eluded me!
A friend of mine suggest varying mayo brands as they all do have a slightly different flavor and it seems to be a subtle difference we are missing . . . you never know, it’s probably some Mormon Mayo they’re using! LOL
This is a fun thread to follow – thanks so much for starting it and maintaining it!
Take Care,
Steve (who’s son just left for Army bootcamp so is sitting by phone waiting for a call . . . remember what I said about my patience above! ;->)
There is a restaurant down the road from me (in Puyallup) called Herfy’s and it makes outrageous fry sauce. Best hamburgers and fries, too. 🙂
I have been mixing ketchup and mayo at home for years but honestly it’s well, sucky, LOL Thanks, Steve.
Hi Kirsten,
Mayo & ketchup, yeah, it’s not very exciting. I like it, but it is kinda flat. The dill pickle juice really helps. I also like a touch of cheese whiz! Though it isn’t very close to the Arctic Circle sauce.
I gotta pull a Drew one of these days and mix up a bunch and have some helpers taste and rate for me.
Welcome aboard!
Steve
Kirsten,
The way I have been making this lately is ketchup and mayo (slightly more ketchup) a teaspoon of Red Robin seasoning and 2-3 dill pickles, thin slices, plus some dill pickle juice, blend it up nice and man is it tasty.
Steve,
The cheez whiz did nothing for me. Most of the folks who tried that sauce weren’t fans either. I suppose that I could try it gain in a different amount. You should have a huge mixing contest and then get the best you can. Good luck sent along to your son. He is doing this country a great service.
Hi Drew,
Yeah, my family isn’t a fan of it either but my friend in the UK said it was popular over there and when I tried it I found that I liked it too. I don’t put much in though, just a touch I’ve found works really well. I don’t mind it with more in it, but less was better to me and if I leave it out now I miss it, so it gets just a touch now. A place here in town used to serve fries with melted cheddar cheese over them and I always liked that too (tater tots topped with melted Velveeta Mexican cheese and some gaucamole is wonderful too!).
It’s all a matter of taste – heck, my Mom likes horseradish on peanut butter and toast! Yuck!!!
I started out trying to duplicate the Arctic Circle sauce but I keep getting distracted as though the stuff I’m trying may not be that close to Arctic Circles it’s usually darn tasty and then I gotta tweak on it to make it better rather than trying to make it an Arctic Circle clone!
What a silly pass time we have, huh? Oh well, we could be doing worse things with our time!
Thanks for the well wishes for Kyle! I’m sure he’s doing fine.
Take Care,
Steve
Fry sauce is not made with Ketchup, and Mayonnaise. There are other ingredients that are added, which are kept secret by the inventor Arctic Circle fast food restaurant. So, if you are trying to taste the real thing you should contact them, not Some Dudes Fry Sauce. It might be close to the original, but it is certainly not the same. You need to live in Utah(where it was invented), or Idaho in order to taste it. Although, Arctic Circle is pretty good about letting you purchase it through them, because they know how popular it is to the residents of Utah, and Idaho, so they are willing to get them some because they can’t get it elsewhere. Good luck with your attempt, many companies have tried to copy that recipe, one you mentioned already being Some Dudes Fry Sauce, McDonald’s, and Burger King. Anyone other than Arctic Circle, and you are just trying a poor attempt at the original, because Arctic Circle’s is made fress every three weeks, and has no preservatives, all the others do. Take Care.
Brad,
Are you saying that Ketchup and Mayo are not in fry sauce at all? Everything I have read tells me otherwise. But then you say there are other ingredients that so are there other ingredients in addition to Ketchup and Mayo? I will see about contacting Arctic circle and see if I can get some to try. Looking at the website it seems that you have to contact them via U.S. Postal Service.
Arctic Circle Restaurants
P.O. Box 339
Midvale, Utah 84070
Then I guess they get in touch with you? I can try the phone number too.
You are pretty adamant about this, did you work for Arctic Circle? Or just very loyal to the region. Thanks for contacting me and leaving the comment.
Hi Drew, we’re down at Ft Sill for my son’s bootcamp graduation and I’m using a laptop with a funky keyboard that’s driving me nuts, but you know how it is with fry sauce – I’ve always got to comment!
I agree that fry sauce is not just ketchup and mayo mised together but I do think they are in it. I’ve tried all ratios of ketchup and mayo and nothing matches it that close. I’ve tried many different brands too, but I can only try national brands so you never know, there may be some local flavor of ketchup or mayo we don’t have access to to try. Down here in Lawton we ate at a place called Whatta Burger today and they have their formulation of ketchup – it’s tarter and tastes kinda like a bbq sauce, so you never know – it definitely might be a proprietary ketchup or mayo we’re missing.
Getting a bottle from Arctic Circle helps, but you really gotta try an Arctic Circle burger and fries to truly have the experience!!!
Steve
Steve,
If I could get out that way I am sure to stop in to an Arctic Circle, every time the fry sauce comments come up it makes me want to get on a plane and fly right there, however, just can’t do it, wish I could.
Ketchup that tastes like BBQ sauce, gross. Sorry but I like my ketchup to taste like tomatoes.
Congratulations to your son. You must be a very proud Dad. I admire his commitment to serve America.
Hi Drew,
Yeah, I know how it goes – I’d love to road trip out to Utah and bite into an Arctic Circle burger and fries myself but I just can’t justify it either!
I didn’t particularly care for the Whattaburger ketchup either!
To most closely simulate the Arctic Circle experience you gotta have the larger crinkle cut fries, not the skinny ones that fry up crispy like you get at McD’s, etc.. The oil makes a difference too – solid lard, Crisco, etc. more closely matches what they used than oil that stays liquid does.
Mmmmm, Arctic Circle, drool, drool, drool . . . if they can pull off a Big Lebowski convention you’d think we could pull off an Arctic Circle fry sauce one! Maybe we need to plan one, maybe five years from now (so we have time to talk the wives into it!)???
TTYL,
Steve
Steve,
I’m now jonesing for some Fry Sauce but having pizza tonight.
fry sauce is my obsession. i actually found this by googling “whats in fry sauce”
i hate mayo but i love me some fry sauce!
brianne,
Always nice to meet another fry sauce fan. Thanks for checking out my blog, there are quite a few Fry Sauce related posts here actually.
Hey Drew, this is from 2005 but it says that Arctic Circle is now printing ingredients on the little fry sauce tubs! Since we don’t have an AC any more I can’t confirm it, anyway it says it’s ketchup, mayo, and buttermilk . . . i -knew- buttermilk was in it! Back to the kitchen . . . 8->
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2201366813&topic=427#/topic.php?uid=2201366813&topic=427
i love artic circles fry sauce!! the one in my nearby hometown just went out of business 🙁
Erica,
Sorry to hear that they went out of business near your house. I hope one day to try the sauce at a real Arctic Circle.
I just followed this recipe to do and they smell great (i tried 1 is well 😀 ) I have a cooking recipe site as well and I’d like to exchange links with you. Let me know if this is possible. Thanks.
Hi Samantha,
I do something a little different than most for exchanges. If you add my photo-a-day widget to your blog I add you to my blogroll of Photo-A-Day hosts. Info can be found here https://benspark.com/photoaday