Definition of secret sauce
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
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
