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

Examples of secret sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Partnership is the secret sauce for advancement as the sun joins Jupiter. —Usa Today, USA Today, 24 June 2025

That stew of dreams and hunger—that’s Silicon Valley’s secret sauce. —Bill Fischer, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025

Turner is now tasked with continuing to deliver its secret sauce for brands like Taco Bell—which reached $1 billion in operating profit for the first time in 2024. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 18 June 2025

May 2025 Three of Pentacles: Collaboration is your secret sauce this May, Gemini. —Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for secret sauce

• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• blas