The In-N-Out Sauce Fact That Proves Some Recipes Are Timeless

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." A phrase that more restaurants and fast food chains should consider before altering their menus and recipes. The label "new and improved recipe" is more often met with disappointment than enthusiasm from fans who have come to expect a certain taste and consistency from their favorite chains. However, there are many reasons why a restaurant might make alterations to their recipes – stock shortages, rising prices, and even ease of production, especially amongst fast food chains that need to churn out a large number of food items in a very limited amount of time. Very few restaurants are serving the same exact recipes made way back in the day, which makes In-N-Out all the more unique.

In-N-Out has made very little changes to how it prepares and presents its very limited food offerings, from the way the french fries are cut down to the tiny details in its sauce recipe. In fact, In-N-Out's burger sauce has been made the exact same way since the first restaurant opened its doors in 1948. The flavor is simultaneously creamy and tangy, with crunchy bits of savory dill pickle in what many assume to be a mayonnaise and tomato-based sauce, although the exact recipe is still unclear. While fans are glad that the fast food chain has not made any changes to its iconic sauce, curious burger lovers may never know exactly what it takes to make the zesty spread since In-N-Out has kept that secret safely under wraps.

Unfortunately for fans who are looking to recreate the recipe at home, the West Coast-based burger chain is extremely tight-lipped about the secrets that make its sauce so deliciously distinct. Contrary to popular belief, In-N-Out special sauce is much more than just Thousand Island dressing. While the two may look similar, In-N-Out's sauce actually has a much more complex flavor profile and a different consistency than the sauce you can find in bottles at your local grocery store.

Daily Meal's recipe for In-N-Out sauce consists of eight common ingredients that are all probably already residing in your kitchen, and the results are a very close copycat of In-N-Out's original recipe. However, like many other attempted recreations, no one has been able to fully capture the fast food chain's sauce, leaving fans simultaneously frustrated and amazed at how well In-N-Out has kept this secret over the years. Reddit users have speculated about the correct combination of ingredients, as well as the specific amounts of each ingredient you need to use to achieve In-N-Out's secret sauce at home, and have found success adding unexpected items like minced garlic, tomato paste, and various types of mustard. However, the exact recipe continues to remain a mystery, which keeps fans coming back to In-N-Out time and time again.

For over 75 years, In-N-Out has been serving up pretty much the same exact foods the same exact way for one reason: People love it. When you have a product that has been a favorite for multiple generations, so much so that people will travel great lengths to get their hands on one, you don't mess too much with a good thing. Per NPR, founder Harry Snyder was known for his motto, "Keep it simple; do one thing, and do it the best you can." In-N-Out's menu clearly reflects this attitude, serving a limited menu of burgers, fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes, focusing on quality and freshness rather than limited-time promotional items and ever-rotating inventory like you can expect at many other fast food joints.

In-N-Out's menu has hardly changed over the years, but the restaurant's innovation has forever changed the way that Americans interact with fast food. In 1948, after opening the first-ever In-N-Out location in Baldwin Park, California, its founder invented the two-way speaker box as a way for employees to take customers' orders without leaving the kitchen. This innovation created the first modern-day drive-thru speaker and ushered in a whole new way for hungry customers to grab their meals fast and efficiently. To this day, nearly half of Americans prefer using a drive-thru to retrieve their food, and they have In-N-Out to thank for it. That, and its iconic sauce.