Copycat Burger King Zesty Sauce Is Packed With Ingredients

What puts the zest in Burger King's Zesty Sauce? That would be horseradish, an ingredient that was once in such short supply that the chain ran low on the condiment that typically accompanies its onion rings. While the crisis may be over, you may still wish to make the sauce at home so you can have as much as you want when you want. This is likely to be a less embarrassing option than trying to talk the cashier into giving you 20 sauce packets with a single order of onion rings.

Mashed developer Miriam Hahn, who created this copycat Zesty Sauce recipe, is herself a huge fan of horseradish. As she tells us, "I think it is one ingredient that isn't used enough." Horseradish, however, isn't the only thing going on in this sauce. It has a mayonnaise base, as many creamy sauces do, and also includes ketchup and mustard. It gets a little zing to go with the zest from vinegar and lemon juice and a hint of heat from cayenne. Rounding out this powerbomb symphony of flavors is salt, sugar, and even a tiny bit of soy sauce.

Making this sauce couldn't be much easier since all you need to do is to measure out all of the ingredients into a bowl, a bucket, a boot (a clean one, we hope), or any other vessel of your choice and then stir them all together. Stick the sauce in the refrigerator so that all of the different flavors can meet, mingle, and marry (group marriages are sanctioned in the condiment community) and after an hour or so your sauce will be ready to provide some much-needed zest to bland foods in need of an upgrade.

If you want to put your Zesty Sauce to its original purpose, you can always make copycat Burger King onion rings, but it also makes a great dip for fries. Hahn suggests using it as a salad dressing, too, since in her opinion it's "great for people that love Thousand Island dressing but want more zip." She also likes to use it to add some flavor to plant-based burgers, falafel, and roasted cauliflower sandwiches. Whatever you do with your Zesty Sauce, though, you'll need to use it up fairly quickly as it will only last for five days in the refrigerator.