Copycat Arby’s Sauce Recipe (Better Than the Real Thing)
That sweet, tangy, slightly smoky red sauce at Arby’s is one of those condiments people pocket extra packets of on the way out the door. You know who you are. The good news is you can make a full jar of it at home for under a dollar, and it tastes more like the real thing than most copycat versions floating around the internet.
Most homemade Arby’s sauce recipes fall short because they skip the ingredients that actually do the work. The original is built on tomato paste, distilled vinegar, and corn syrup.
It is not just ketchup with a splash of hot sauce. This version gets the balance right: sweet up front, tangy in the middle, a little heat at the finish. Pourable, glossy, and done in 10 minutes. Stop buying the bottle.
📌 Save This Recipe to Pinterest!
Pin this Copycat Arby’s Sauce to your Copycat Recipes or Condiments board so you can find it the next time you’re making a roast beef sandwich at home.
Jump To:
❓ What Is Arby’s Sauce?
Arby’s Sauce is the signature red condiment that’s been on the Arby’s menu since the 1970s. It’s not quite BBQ sauce and it’s not quite ketchup. It sits right between them: sweet and tangy with a thin, pourable consistency built on a tomato paste and vinegar base, sweetened with corn syrup, and finished with a mild heat from capsicum extract (which is just a fancy label term for hot pepper).
The bottled version sold at Walmart lists water, corn syrup, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, and dehydrated garlic and onion as its main components. This recipe works from those exact same flavor anchors using ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
⚖️ Arby’s Sauce vs. Horsey Sauce
People mix these up constantly, and they are not even close to the same thing. Arby’s Sauce is the sweet, tangy red sauce. Tomato-based, thin, slightly smoky. Horsey Sauce is the creamy white condiment made with horseradish. They’re different in every way except that they both belong on a roast beef sandwich at the same time. This recipe covers the red sauce.
If you want to make the Horsey Sauce too, that’s just mayo, prepared horseradish, and a pinch of sugar, and we’ll cover it in a separate post.
💖 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
A 16-ounce bottle of Arby’s Sauce at Walmart runs about $3.48. This batch costs $0.72 and makes roughly the same amount. You probably have most of these ingredients on hand right now. It takes 10 minutes on the stove. And once you taste what this sauce actually does to a roast beef sandwich versus plain ketchup, you’ll wonder why you ever settled for the packet version in the first place. Some things are genuinely worth making from scratch. This is one of them.
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Ketchup: this is your tomato base and gives the sauce its body. Great Value works perfectly here. Use whatever you have in the door of your fridge.
Distilled white vinegar: this is the ingredient most copycat recipes leave out, and it’s exactly why most of them taste flat. The real Arby’s sauce lists distilled vinegar as the fourth ingredient on the label. Do not skip it.
Brown sugar: the commercial sauce uses corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup for sweetness. Brown sugar gives you the same depth without any specialty ingredients. Light or dark both work. Dark brown sugar pushes the molasses flavor forward a little more, which isn’t a bad thing.
Worcestershire sauce: this is what adds the savory backbone, the layer of flavor you can’t quite identify but definitely notice when it’s missing. One tablespoon is all it takes.
Smoked paprika: the bottled sauce lists “spice and spice extractives” in the ingredients. Smoked paprika is the closest pantry match for that subtle smoky character. Regular paprika will work in a pinch but the depth won’t be the same.
Garlic powder and onion powder: both confirmed on the real ingredient label. Not optional.
Tabasco: the original contains extractives of capsicum, which is hot pepper extract. Six drops of Tabasco hits that same note without adding any noticeable vinegar flavor at this quantity.
Cornstarch: the commercial version uses modified cornstarch as a thickener. A single teaspoon here gives you that glossy, pourable consistency instead of something that looks and pours like watered-down ketchup.
Water: Arby’s sauce is noticeably thinner than ketchup straight from the bottle. The water brings it to the right consistency. Don’t skip this either.
👩🍳 How to Make Copycat Arby’s Sauce
Combine the ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and Tabasco in a small saucepan. Whisk everything together until the brown sugar is fully dissolved and you don’t see any dry spots. In a separate small bowl, stir the cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth, then whisk that slurry into the pan.
Heat over medium, whisking occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. You’re looking for the sauce to thicken slightly and coat the back of a spoon while still pouring easily. Pull it off the heat and let it cool completely before you transfer it to a jar or squeeze bottle. It will thicken a little more as it cools, so if it looks thinner than expected right off the stove, that’s normal. Give it time.
💡 Expert Tips
Always make the cornstarch slurry separately. Dumping dry cornstarch straight into a hot liquid gives you lumps. Mix it with cold water first in a small bowl, then add it to the pan. Takes 10 extra seconds and saves you from ruining the batch.
Don’t skip cooling. This sauce tastes noticeably better after 30 minutes in the fridge than it does straight off the stove. The flavors need time to settle into each other. If you’re tasting it hot and something seems off, give it a chance to cool before you start adjusting.
Taste and fix before it cools. Once you pull it off the heat, give it a taste. Want more tang? A splash more vinegar. Too sharp? A pinch more brown sugar. The sauce is forgiving. Adjust to your preference while it’s still warm and easy to fix.
Store it in a squeeze bottle. This sauce is meant to pour and drizzle, not be scooped with a spoon. A squeeze bottle is the right tool and it makes a difference in how you use it.
🎨 Variations
Spicier version: Double the Tabasco or add a pinch of cayenne pepper. The original has a mild background heat. This kicks it up without changing the overall flavor profile.
Smokier version: Add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke along with the smoked paprika. This pushes the sauce closer to a true BBQ flavor, which works great as a burger glaze, a wing sauce, or a meatloaf topping.
No cornstarch: Skip it and just cook the sauce down an extra 5 minutes to reduce. It’ll be a little thinner but the flavor is the same. Works fine as a dipping sauce.
🥗 Dietary Notes
This recipe is naturally gluten-free as written. Check your Worcestershire sauce label to confirm, since most brands are gluten-free but a few use malt vinegar. It’s also dairy-free. If you’re avoiding anchovies (present in most Worcestershire sauces), substitute an equal amount of soy sauce or coconut aminos. The flavor shifts slightly but it works.
⏰ Make-Ahead
This sauce is genuinely better made the day before. Overnight in the fridge gives the flavors time to fully develop and the texture time to set properly. Make a double batch on Sunday and you’ve got condiment duty covered for the week.
💸 Budget101® Price Breakdown: Copycat Arby’s Sauce
Ingredient |
Walmart Item |
Pkg Price |
Amount Used |
Cost Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ketchup |
$1.94 |
1 cup (8 oz) |
$0.49 |
|
Distilled white vinegar |
$1.18 |
2 tbsp |
$0.05 |
|
Brown sugar |
$1.97 |
2 tsp |
$0.02 |
|
Worcestershire sauce |
$1.23 |
1 tbsp |
$0.06 |
|
Smoked paprika |
$1.47 |
1/4 tsp |
$0.02 |
|
Garlic powder |
$1.47 |
1/4 tsp |
$0.02 |
|
Onion powder |
$1.47 |
1/4 tsp |
$0.02 |
|
Tabasco pepper sauce |
$1.98 |
6 drops |
$0.02 |
|
Cornstarch |
$1.12 |
1 tsp |
$0.02 |
💸 |
Cost |
|---|---|
🧾 Homemade Batch (approx. 1.5 cups) |
$0.72 |
🏪 Arby’s Sauce Bottle, 16 oz (Walmart) |
~$3.48 |
👨👩👧👦 Servings |
~12 (2 tbsp each) |
💰 You Save |
~$2.76 per batch |
Walmart prices verified June 2025. Prices may vary by location.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
The obvious use is a roast beef sandwich. Deli-sliced roast beef on a toasted roll with a generous drizzle of this sauce is exactly what the whole recipe is designed for. But don’t stop there. Use it as a dipping sauce for fries, brush it on baked chicken thighs in the last 10 minutes of cooking, stir it into a burger mixture before it hits the pan, or spread it across a meatloaf in place of plain ketchup. It works anywhere you’d use a tangy tomato condiment and want a little more going on.
📦 Storage Tips
Transfer the cooled sauce to a sealed jar or squeeze bottle and refrigerate. Because this recipe doesn’t contain sodium benzoate (the preservative in the commercial version), the shelf life is shorter than what you get from the bottle. Plan to use it within 2 weeks. A vacuum-sealed jar between uses will push that timeline further and works well for any homemade condiment you want to keep fresh longer.
⏳ How Long Does It Keep?
Up to 2 weeks in the fridge in a tightly sealed container. If you want to freeze it, pour it into an ice cube tray, freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a labeled freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge. The texture holds up well.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s as close as you’re going to get at home. The original uses corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup for sweetness, modified cornstarch as a thickener, and capsicum extractives for heat. All of those have direct pantry substitutes in this recipe. Side by side, the flavor is nearly identical.
You can, but the flavor will shift. Apple cider vinegar has a fruitier edge that changes the profile slightly. The original uses distilled vinegar, so white vinegar is the accurate choice. If ACV is all you have, use it and add a tiny pinch more sugar to balance the extra acidity.
Yes. Without it the sauce will be thinner and pour more freely. Just cook it down an extra 5 minutes to reduce. The flavor is exactly the same. Works fine for dipping.
Soy sauce is the best 1-for-1 swap and gives you similar savory depth. Coconut aminos works if you’re avoiding soy. The flavor won’t be identical but it will be close.
Yes. Whisk everything together cold, skip the stove, and refrigerate for at least an hour before using. The cornstarch won’t activate so the sauce will be thinner, but the flavor comes through once the ingredients have time to meld.
More vinegar or more salt. Add white vinegar in 1/2 teaspoon increments until the tang comes forward, then check the salt. Flat sauce is almost always a seasoning issue.
No. The color is similar but the flavor is different. Arby’s sauce is lighter, thinner, and noticeably more tangy and sweet, with less smokiness than a standard BBQ sauce. It lives in the space between ketchup and BBQ sauce and doesn’t fully belong to either category.
About $0.72 per batch using Great Value ingredients from Walmart, which works out to about $0.06 per serving. A 16 oz bottle of the real thing runs about $3.48 at Walmart. The math is not complicated.
Yes. Pour it into an ice cube tray, freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a labeled freezer bag. Thaw in the fridge overnight. The texture holds up well after thawing and you can pull out exactly as much as you need.
Everything. Arby’s sauce is a sweet, tangy red tomato-based sauce. Horsey Sauce is a creamy white condiment made with mayo and horseradish. They are both served at Arby’s and they’re often on the same sandwich, but they are not the same product and are not interchangeable.
📝 Printable Recipe Card
Copycat Arby's Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 drops Tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cold water ((for slurry))
Instructions
- Combine the ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and Tabasco in a small saucepan. Whisk until the brown sugar is fully dissolved.1 cup ketchup3 tablespoons water2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar2 teaspoons light brown sugar1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika1/4 teaspoon garlic powder1/4 teaspoon onion powder1/4 teaspoon salt6 drops Tabasco sauce
- In a separate small bowl, stir the cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth. Whisk the slurry into the saucepan.1 teaspoon cornstarch1 tablespoon cold water
- Heat over medium, whisking occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and cool completely before using. The sauce thickens a little more as it cools.
- Transfer to a sealed jar or squeeze bottle and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Equipment
If you altered the ingedients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cooking/baking time.
Nutrition
🛒 Walmart Grocery List
Everything for this recipe is available at Walmart. Grab it all in one trip. And if you want to know how to calculate what any recipe is actually costing your household per serving, the Budget101 recipe cost calculator walks you through the exact method we use for every price breakdown on this site.
- Great Value Tomato Ketchup, 32 oz
- Great Value Distilled White Vinegar, 32 oz
- Great Value Light Brown Sugar, 32 oz
- Great Value Worcestershire Sauce, 10 oz
- Great Value Smoked Paprika
- Great Value Garlic Powder, 3.4 oz
- Great Value Onion Powder
- Tabasco Original Red Pepper Sauce, 2 oz
- Great Value Cornstarch, 16 oz
Did you make this Copycat Arby’s Sauce? Leave a comment below and let us know how you used it. And go pin it to your Copycat Recipes board on Pinterest so it’s there the next time you need it.
