secret sauce

noun

1

: a sauce that adds an important element to a dish and that has ingredients which are typically kept secret

A frank of beef, pork, and veal … is split lengthwise, coated with secret sauce, and cooked on a grill.

—Jane and Michael Stern

called also special sauce

2

: an element, quality, ability, or practice that makes something or someone successful or distinctive

If leadership has a secret sauce, it may well be humility. A humble boss understands that there are things he doesn't know.

—The Economist

called also special sauce

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The beloved Big Mac sauce, often referred to as Mac sauce, special sauce or secret sauce, tastes similarly to thousand island. —Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2023

That seems to be Oregon State’s secret sauce. —oregonlive, 6 Jan. 2023

The alcohol in this product is the secret sauce. —Carolyn Forté, Good Housekeeping, 14 Oct. 2022

But if Quinn is in possession of the secret sauce, why did his last three Falcons teams finish 19th, 20th and 27th in takeaways? —Dallas News, 4 Aug. 2022

The difficulty is kind of like the secret sauce. —Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2022

The secret sauce? —Michael O'sullivan, Anchorage Daily News, 6 May 2022

Davis' secret sauce? —Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2022

His approach seems counterintuitive, but Maginnis explains the secret sauce to his success with his easy-to-follow daily guidelines. —Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 5 Apr. 2023

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 2