Who Makes The BBQ Sauce In Texas Roadhouse Restaurants?

Have you ever sat down to a plate of succulent ribs at your local Texas Roadhouse and wondered if the barbecue sauce it comes slathered in came directly from the kitchen? It turns out that the chain prides itself on scratch-made food that's baked, cooked, and grilled in its own faculty. In fact, each batch of sauce is made in-house too by restaurant employees, who follow a well-guarded company recipe originally created by its founding chef. "100% made from scratch," one self-described employee noted on Reddit. "I've made it before with our cold prep cook."

While that recipe has never entirely escaped the clutches of the chain's employees, some hints as to what's in it have emerged over the years. The secret behind Texas Roadhouse ribs' signature taste comes from founder Kent Taylor and original head chef Jim Broyles. The pair apparently tried multiple different versions before settling on something that worked. The sauce has been described as being a St. Louis-style blend, which means it may include ingredients like apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, ketchup, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion seasoning.

Of course, the exact ingredients included, and ratio of those ingredients, has never been divulged. Despite this, fans of the steakhouse chain can continue to treat themselves to home versions of other Texas Roadhouse menu items. Sadly, this has yet to include the chain's famed barbecue sauce...

If you're making a homemade batch of ribs, you could always give our baked St. Louis-style ribs recipe a try. However, you'll have to do so without Texas Roadhouse's famed barbecue sauce. While the brand has begun selling at-home versions of its food in recent times — including frozen versions of the best Texas Roadhouse menu item, those famous rolls, the Honey Cinnamon Whipped Buttery Spread, and even a bottled version of Texas Roadhouse steak sauce made exclusively for retail — the chain hasn't put a bottle of its barbecue sauce on the market yet. Why not? Perhaps the chain doesn't want to risk its trade secrets to the wheels of mass production.

In the case of the steak sauce, the brand used in the chain's restaurants is created by The Marzetti Company (also known as T. Marzetti). This brand supplies the bottles used in each Texas Roadhouse outpost, specifically for the Roadhouse Gold Sauce, while the Classic Steak Sauce offering isn't the same as what's used in restaurants. The ingredients on the bottle blatantly explain what goes into the blend. When you pride yourself on keeping your sauce recipe secret, giving it away — even to make some extra dough — ends up feeling like a sucker's bet.