Many fast food joints have a signature or secret sauce. From McDonald’s Big Mac sauce to Raising Cane’s Cane’s sauce, a signature sauce can be an important aspect of a restaurant’s identity that brings customers back time and time again. At Culver’s, many people dip their chicken tenders or coat their beef burgers in the chain’s signature sauce, which is quite different from other brands. While many restaurants’ secret sauces consist of some variation of ketchup, mustard, mayo, and barbeque sauce, Culver’s describes its sauce as “creamy and tangy with notes of buttermilk, Parmesan cheese, a touch of spice and just a hint of savory bleu cheese.”
Culver’s doesn’t fully explain what the sauce is made of, but the nutrition and allergen information gives a full ingredient list. The top three listed ingredients are soybean oil, cultured buttermilk, and Parmesan cheese, which makes sense given that buttermilk and Parmesan are the top two tasting notes. After that, the next ingredients are water, egg yolk, distilled vinegar, and blue cheese. It also contains small amounts of lots of different spices, including jalapeño and several other types of peppers, dried garlic, and onions. Because of this, the sauce is not safe for those with milk or egg allergies, but it is free from all other major allergens, including gluten. However, note that cross-contamination is almost always a possibility at a fast-food joint unless they take specific measures to avoid it, so be sure to ask the employees if you have a serious allergy.
Culver’s signature sauce made its debut in 2023
Unlike some chains that have had their signature sauces for most of their history, Culver’s only released its signature sauce in 2023, according to a press release on the chain’s website. In the article, director of menu development Quinn Adkins said, “When we set out to make a signature sauce, we wanted to make sure it was truly an ‘only at Culver’s’ experience that perfectly complements our menu. Our signature sauce is unique – the flavor melds and changes depending on which menu offering it’s accompanying.”
The signature sauce seems to be well-loved by customers. On an r/Culvers Reddit thread, user u/james_landon_wolf said “dude. that sauce is unnecessarily good. especially on pretzel bites.” User u/kgiann added, “It somehow goes with most of the menu — chicken tenders, burgers, fries, cheese curds, the cod.” Others noted that it may put some off because of some notorious myths about blue cheese, but it’s still a beloved sauce that perfectly complements the chain’s menu, fulfilling the duty of a signature sauce.