What Exactly Is Arby's Red Ranch Sauce (And Is It Actually Ranch)?

If you've sunk your teeth into a Beef N' Cheddar sandwich from Arby's, you have probably noticed a certain sauce that helps bring the sandwich to life. Stacked between a toasted onion roll, thinly sliced roast beef is topped with melted cheddar cheese and slathered with Red Ranch sauce. Created in 1978 as a culinary experiment by the Arby's research and development team, the Beef N' Cheddar sandwich set out to saddle up beside the original classic Arby's Roast Beef sandwich, providing sandwich lovers a new ordering alternative. But what is Arby's Red Ranch, really? Well, it's not actually ranch.

The sauce is a bit of a misnomer, as the listed ingredients don't include what you might otherwise expect out of a ranch-based recipe. Instead, the sauce is made up of high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, corn cider and distilled vinegars, tomato paste, and an assortment of spices. It even includes beet juice for its trademark color. It's no wonder that Arby's attributes its zesty Red Ranch sauce to helping turn a classic roast beef into an elevated thing of beauty. With subtle heat balancing out tangy sweetness, this is the kind of sauce that can tie a recipe like the Beef N' Cheddar together.

Though Arby's unique Red Ranch sauce may be regarded as a restaurant-exclusive secret special sauce, the company has posted the full ingredient list to make this sauce on its website. Unfortunately, while Arby's sells other kinds of sauces in markets, this Red Ranch sauce can't actually be picked up and purchased off a shelf. As a result, copycat recipes can be found online, with chefs mixing together ketchup, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and onion powders, and spices to recreate the zesty condiment at home.

As tasty as the sauce might be when slathered on top of Arby's unconventionally prepared roast beef sandwiches, the homemade flavorful condiment makes an equally delicious dipping sauce for fries, onion rings, and morsels of steak taken off the grill. Plus, without any of the typical creamy ingredients used to make ranch, those who aren't fans of mayonnaise or sour cream may take a liking to the Arby's variety.

If you can't be bothered to mix up the perfect combination of ingredients for yourself, however, you'll need to know what sandwich to ask for when you head into Arby's to sample the sauce. Arby's Red Ranch sauce comes specifically with orders of Classic, Double, and Half Pound Beef N' Cheddar sandwiches. Additionally, the zingy condiment is also drizzled onto the Super Roast Beef sandwich, a sandwich that is only available in select stores.