Big Mac Sauce is Not Just Thousand Island Dressing
March 4, 2010 at 12:01 am Chad Upton 4 comments
There is no shortage of McDonald’s secrets. In a previous post, I talked about the secret markings on McDonald’s cups that indicate proper ice and soda levels.
Now, I want to talk about the Big Mac. It was invented by Jim Delligatti, one of the earliest McDonald’s franchisees. It was so popular at his restaurants, McDonald’s made it a national menu item in 1967.
The Big Mac has two 1.6 oz beef patties, lettuce, cheese, onions and of course Big Mac Sauce. It’s commonly believed that Big Mac Sauce is simply Thousand Island Dressing, but if you read the ingredient list that McDonald’s publishes in its “nutritional” information, there are two unique ingredients that differentiate it from Thousand Island Dressing: mustard and garlic.
All of these ingredients are sandwiched between a bottom bun, called “the heel” and a top bun, called “the crown.” The middle bun also has a name, it’s called “the club.”
I went through a Big Mac phase in my teenage years, I think most guys do. But, one of my favorite things to do was put Big Mac Sauce on french fries, that is a golden secret. In-N-Out Burger knows this secret already — they put Thousand Island Dressing on their “animal style” fries.
Broken Secrets
Written By: Chad Upton
Photo: Phil Dragash (creative commons)
Sources: Wikipedia, Big Mac Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing
Entry filed under: Despite Popular Belief, Food and Drink. Tags: big, club, crown, dressing, heel, island, mac, mcdonald's, thousand.
Broken Secrets 
1.
ascott@supnet.net | March 27, 2013 at 1:23 pm
holy crap im wrong
2.
bb | November 15, 2013 at 4:18 pm
In their `big mac’ sauce, there is NO thousand island dressing involved. However, according to a 1968 manager’s manual, they do have a area in that manual should they ever run out of `mac sauce’, to make more using WishBone Deluxe French dressing.
3.
Chuck Kopsho | March 4, 2017 at 11:38 pm
It’s always been my contention that the Big Mac sauce IS Thousand Island Dressing. The only reason is the Big Mac sauce includes is mustard and garlic. But basically it’s TID.
4.
Deanne | October 27, 2020 at 3:51 am
You forgot pickles in your list of toppings. ;)