The Mysterious Third Ingredient Of Chick-Fil-A's Signature Sauce

Chick-fil-A has gained unsavory attention for its recent tradition of getting banned from places, which is bad news for people who disagree with the anti-LGBTQ views of the chain's owners, yet love its famous Chick-fil-A sauce. 

As you might know, the esteemed dipping sauce's "notes of honey mustard and a smoky tang" come from a base of honey mustard and barbeque sauce, and it was created in an accident when an employee mistakenly added a bunch of BBQ sauce to the original recipe." This happy accident led to a culinary creation so beloved that even Walmart created a copycat version of it. 

While Chick-fil-A sauce 1.0 was basically just a honey mustard dressing before barbeque sauce entered the equation, that doesn't mean the sauce Chick-fil-A customers know and love is only about those two things. In fact, the sauce has a third ingredient, which helps it taste as special as it does. So, what is this mysterious third ingredient of Chick-fil-A's signature sauce? 

The original Chick-fil-A sauce recipe was created by Hugh Fleming, who operated a franchise in Fredricksburg, VA. It indeed includes a third major ingredient, which is simply Chick-fil-A coleslaw sauce (per the Free-Lance Star). A look at the sauce's official ingredients certainly seems coleslaw-y enough to back this claim up.

Still, the chicken chain has also made a contradicting statement about the nature of the third ingredient. In 2012 Chick-fil-A's official Twitter account casually announced that their signature sauce used honey mustard, barbeque sauce ... and ranch dressing. However, Twitter user ColdDimSum has since challenged this by noting that the sauce's list of ingredients doesn't seem to support this statement. "Is it?" they asked the chain. "Because you don't list buttermilk or sour cream as an ingredient or allergen and it also has implications for those keeping Kosher." 

Could it be that the fast-food chain was attempting to throw wool over the eyes of prospective copycat sauce purveyors? Or are they simply using some really, really weird variation of ranch? Regardless of the truth, it looks like the true nature of the sauce's third ingredient remains a delicious mystery.