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

Understanding the 'secret sauce' Ford created the repair hotline about six months ago, Farley said, because of dealers' requests. —Jamie L. Lareau, Freep.com, 9 July 2025

The burger features a double patty of wagyu beef, American cheese, secret sauce, and other toppings on a Martin's potato roll. —Mackensy Lunsford, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

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

But what if our siblings were the secret sauce that brought out a greater positive and negative influence? —Brooke Lea Foster, People.com, 30 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