Copycat Whataburger Sweet And Spicy Sauce
The sweet and spicy bacon burger from Whataburger is one of my favorite fast food dishes of all time. I order it every visit. So being the guy that I am, I decided that I needed to replicate the sauce at home.
I tried to replicate the sauce by just tasting the sauce scraped off the top of the burger. But it wasn’t until I asked for a small side cup of the sauce (which they kindly obliged) that I was able to fully taste it. As soon as I opened the cup there was a strong smell of acidity and jalapenos. The taste was a well balanced combination of sweet, heat, tomatoes and acidity. Brown sugar, ketchup and pickled jalapenos is what you’ll need to make this copycat version.
Why you should make this copycat sweet and spicy sauce
- It’s delicious – If you’ve landed on this page, you know how good sweet and spicy bacon burger is from Whataburger. Now you can make it at home for a fraction of the price.
- It’s actually pretty easy – I wanted to make this recipe very approachable so you only need 5 ingredients. Most of which I usually have in my panty/refrigerator.
- It’s versatile – Of course the main use is for burgers but fries, tator tots, hot dogs are all good uses as well.
Cooking Tips
- Don’t burn it– There is a good amount of sugar in the sauce so take it easy with the heat.
- Fine dice is required – Like I mentioned, the original sweet and spicy sauce is well balanced. So take your time to dice the pickled jalapenos very fine. Or, just run it through a blender.
- Use the right ketchup – The Whataburger ketchup just hits differently than others. If you haven’t tried it yet I genuinely feel bad for you. It’s the only ketchup that we use in my house.
Copycat Whataburger Sweet and Spicy Sauce
The sweet and spicy bacon burger is one of the best fast food items on the planet. And now you can make it at home.
Servings: 4
Cost: $2
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos finely diced*
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch for the corn starch slurry
- 1/2 teaspoon water for the corn starch slurry
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine the water, ketchup, finely diced jalapenos and brown sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Make the corn starch slurry by combining the cornstarch and water in a small container and shaking or whisking vigorously.
- Once the jalapeno/sugar/ketchup mixture is starting to bubble and well mixed, add the corn starch slurry and whisk to combine.
- Return the mixture to a slight bubble and then remove from heat. Can be used right away or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Optionally, you can run the sauce through a blender at the end instead of dicing the jalapenos.
