THE MOST TRUSTED COPYCAT RECIPES
THE MOST TRUSTED COPYCAT RECIPES
Big Boy Club Sandwich copycat recipe by Todd Wilbur

Big Boy Club Sandwich

Score: 5.00 (votes: 1)
Reviews: 1
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Menu Description: "Slices of turkey breast with bacon, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, stacked on toasted bread. Served with coleslaw."

When Bob Wian invented the first Big Boy double-decker hamburger in 1937, his restaurant business went through the roof. Soon a slew of imitators hit the market with their own giant-sized burgers: Bun Boy, Brawney Boy, Super Boy, Yumi Boy, Country Boy, Husky Boy, Hi-Boy, Beefy Boy, Lucky Boy, and many other "Boys" across the burger-crazed country.

By 1985 the Big Boy statues had become a common sight in front of hundreds of Bob's restaurants around the country. This was also the year the Marriott Corporation, which had purchased Bob's from retiring Bob Wian in 1967, created a national ballot to decide whether the Big Boy character would stay or go. Thousands of voters elected to keep the tubby little tike, but his days were numbered. In 1992, Marriott chose to sell all of the Bob's Big Boys to an investment group. Those mostly West Coast Big Boys were later converted to Coco's or Carrows restaurants, and there the Big Boy went bye-bye. The Elias Brothers, a Michigan-area franchiser for many years, purchased the Big Boy name from Marriott in 1987, and today is the sole Big Boy franchiser worldwide.

The Club Sandwich is one of Big Boy's signature sandwiches, and remains one of the most popular items on the menu since it was introduced in the mid-70s. Use my Bob's Big Boy Club Sandwich recipe below to make it at home. 

Check out my recipes for Big Boy double-decker hamburger and cream of broccoli soup here

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Get This

_main
  • 3 slices white or wheat bread
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 lettuce leaf
  • 1 slice Swiss cheese (optional)
  • 2 ounces deli-sliced turkey
  • 2 slices tomato
  • 3 slices bacon, cooked
Do This

1. Toast the slices of bread.

2. Spread the mayonnaise evenly on one face of each slice of toast.

3. Build the sandwich by first stacking the lettuce leaf on the mayonnaise on one slice of toast. You will most likely have to cut or fold the lettuce so that it fits.

4. The Swiss cheese goes on next. This is an optional step since I've been served the original sandwich with the cheese, but the description of the sandwich and the photograph in the menu exclude it.

5. On the Swiss cheese, if you use it, stack the slices of turkey. Fold over the slices and arrange them neatly.

6. Stack a piece of toast, mayo side down, onto the turkey.

7. On top of the toast, arrange the tomato slices.

8. Lay the bacon, side by side, onto the tomatoes.

9. Top off the sandwich with the last piece of toast, mayo side down.

10. Slice the sandwich with two diagonal cuts from corner to corner, in an "x."

11. Push a toothpick down through the center of each triangular sandwich quarter. Spin each slice around 180 degrees so that the center of the sandwich is now pointed out. Serve with French fries or with coleslaw arranged in the center of the plate of sandwich pieces.

Makes 1 sandwich.

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Reviews
Anna Banana
Mar 14, 2016, 22:00
I fondly remember this sandwich; my grandparents frequented Bob's. This is exactly how I remember it.

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    Cheesecake Factory Cuban Sandwich

    After a recent search for the best Cuban sandwich from a national chain, I found the winner at Cheesecake Factory. It had all the elements you want from a good Cuban: roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, all on a toasted roll. After just one bite, I knew I needed to clone it, and my fate was sealed.

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    Maggiano's Italian Meatballs

    Not sure why I got called out at Maggiano’s. Perhaps I asked too many questions. Whatever the reason, my cover was blown on this clandestine meatball mission.

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    “I couldn’t believe how close you got,” he said, referring to the balsamic cream sauce on the medallions. I thanked him for the compliment and told him the dish was one of my favorites, and I had to clone it right. There was a vibe of mutual respect, so I saw an opportunity to ask him questions about the chain's meatballs, including the meats used. Adrian told me that Maggiano’s uses just ground chuck and not a blend of meats often used in meatballs, such as pork and veal.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 2)
    Wahlburgers Wahl Sauce

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    The famous family was a fantastic promotion machine for the chain, but let’s face it, the restaurant wouldn’t have become successful if the food didn't taste good. The secret to the chain’s great-tasting beef patties is a custom blend of Angus chuck, brisket, and short rib, and it’s the super secret Wahl Sauce that puts their burgers over the top. Once I tasted the chain’s signature “Our Burger,” it became clear that I needed to make a home copy of that special sauce, stat.

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    Marie Callender's Fresh Strawberry Pie

    Every March through November, Marie Callender’s sells fresh strawberry pies made with the chain’s signature flakey crust piled high with whole strawberries tossed in a sweet glaze and finished with a crown of whipped cream.

    The pies are made-to-order to ensure the freshness of the berries, but the glaze that’s added to the beautiful berries tastes like the everyday goopy red stuff found in grocery store produce sections that’s usually made with corn syrup and other crud, and no natural fruit. For my Marie Callender’s Fresh Strawberry Pie copycat recipe, I set out to improve the glaze by making it with real strawberry puree, hoping to get a tastier finished product. Thankfully, it worked out. The new glaze was vibrant and fruity; it transformed into a nice gel and didn’t upstage the strawberries. This small change makes a strawberry pie that’s even better than the original.

    I designed the glaze to use frozen strawberries, so it’s quick and easy, and I’m also including scratch recipes here for the whipped cream and pie crust. You can buy each of these pre-made to speed up your build, but taking a little time to make the whipped cream and/or crust from scratch will absolutely be worth the extra effort. Also, I slightly tweaked my previous Marie Callender’s pastry formula to make it more closely match the current pie crust served at the chain.

    Try my Marie Callender's Fresh Strawberry Pie copycat recipe below, and find more of my Marie Callender's pie recipes here.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 2)
    Crumbl Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie

    To ensure success for their new cookie store, cousins Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan knew they had to start with a great cookie recipe. Batch after batch, the partners baked milk chocolate chip cookies and shared them with taste testers for helpful advice on how to improve the recipe, until finally, they had created the very best cookie. In 2017, the cousins opened their first Crumbl cookie store in Logan, Utah to sell their new milk chocolate chip cookies. Just 7 years and over 200 cookie recipes later, Crumbl had grown to over 900 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, and the chain now sells over 1 million cookies a day. Each week, the rotating menu features 6 cookie flavors, but a few special cookies, like this classic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie are almost always on the roster due to their popularity.

    To create my Crumbl Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie copycat recipe I started with the cookie chain’s list of ingredients. I designed a recipe using that information then systematically tweaked the formula through more than 35 batches, making minor adjustments each time. Through that process, I discovered the perfect ratio of brown sugar to white sugar improved texture and I found that baking the cookies at a higher temperature worked best for crispy edges and chewy middles. I also found that one egg isn’t enough, and two eggs are too much, so beating two eggs and measuring ¼ cup after the foam settled was the most reliable method.

    Crumbl uses a large scoop to portion these cookies, but you can use your hands to form the dough into mounds with rough tops, and then be sure to bake the cookies on parchment paper. I found silicone baking mats to be too slippery, causing the cookie to spread from the bottom and split. And don’t wander too far from the oven. Your cookies are done when they’re light brown around the edges and still appear uncooked in the center, so keep at least one eye on them.

    Find more famous cookie copycat recipes here.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 3)
    The Old Spaghetti Factory Rich Meat Sauce

    Since 1969, The Portland, Oregon-based Old Spaghetti Factory has been filling bellies with a comfort food menu full of fabulous pasta choices, and this signature meat sauce has been the sauce of choice at the 43-unit chain for more than five decades.

    To reverse-engineer the sauce for my Old Spaghetti Factory Rich Meat Sauce copycat recipe, I started by rinsing the original sauce in a wire mesh strainer to see what secrets could be revealed. Once the solids were visible, I noted the size and ratios of ground beef, onion, celery, and garlic, and I also noticed that there were no bits of tomato left behind. This meant the tomato was puréed, but rather than using canned tomato purée, I opted for richer tomato paste. Lemon juice helped match the zing of the original, and I rounded out the flavor with just a bit of sugar.

    This recipe will make 3½ cups of meat sauce, which is enough for several huge plates of pasta. Use it on spaghetti as they do at the restaurant, or whatever pasta shape you prefer.

    Find more copycat recipes for famous sauces here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix

    The Old El Paso brand started life in 1917 as The Mountain Pass Canning Company, but the name changed when the company was sold to its new owner in El Paso, Texas. The company initially specialized in canned tomatoes and pinto beans but expanded its line over the years. In 1969, Old El Paso became the first American company to sell a national line of Mexican meals in supermarkets and the first to advertise Mexican food. This growing market for Mexican cuisine established by Old El Paso is why U.S. stores created a Mexican food section for the first time in 1970.

    Many of us who grew up with "family taco night" are familiar with the packet of spices added to browned ground beef for a quick and easy taco filling. When the seasoned beef is added to crispy or soft taco shells with your favorite combination of cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, or whatever, any day becomes Taco Tuesday.

    My Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix copycat recipe includes all the spices you'll need for a perfect match to the real thing and just the right amount of cornstarch to thicken it up. And it's a cinch to make. Once you've mixed these ingredients in a small bowl, add the blend to 1 pound of cooked ground beef with water, cook until thick, and fill your tacos just like you did with the original from back in the day. 

    Now, how about a cold margarita?

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 1)
    Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi

    This top entrée pick from Cheesecake Factory is a classic dish, but its preparation is far from traditional, and perhaps that's why it's so popular.

    The creamy scampi sauce is flavored with a handful of whole roasted garlic cloves, plus shallot, basil, and tomato. The shrimp are lightly battered and fried until golden, then arranged upright around the plate to keep their crunchy coats from sogging.

    In addition to all the secrets you’ll need to assemble two servings of my Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi copycat recipe, I’ve also included a cool technique for easily roasting the garlic cloves in just 15 to 20 minutes, and you won’t even need to peel the cloves. After your garlic cools, the skins will slip right off.

    Now, how about dessert? Find my copycat recipes for Cheesecake Factory's signature cheesecakes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Bonefish Grill Imperial Dip

    It’s creamy and cheesy and doesn’t skimp on shrimp and scallops. Bonefish Grill’s Imperial Dip might very well be the best seafood dip at any chain, and after several visits in the early evening to take advantage of the Happy Hour price, I got even happier when I could construct a great clone.

    Sitting at the bar allowed me to chat up the server and obtain several helpful preparation tips. That’s when I discovered that shrimp stock is the secret to the dip’s great taste. And that’s why my Bonefish Grill Imperial Dip copycat recipe starts with an easy way to make your own stock with the shells harvested from the shrimp that goes in the dip.

    After sautéing the shrimp and scallops, it takes just minutes to prepare a sauce with the shrimp stock, cream, and cheese. Then, everything is combined and poured into a cast iron skillet. After a quick broil to brown the top, you’ll have a great match to the real thing, except your version will be three times bigger.

    You might also like my recipes for Bonefish Grill's Saucy Shrimp and Citrus Herb Vinaigrette.

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  • Not rated yet
    KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Hot & Spicy Wings

    If you like chicken wings with a strong, spicy punch that doesn't overwhelm the great flavor, these are the wings for you. The Colonel's new extra-crispy chicken wings don’t rely on a zesty sauce for heat because it’s built into the delicious extra-crispy breading. And by soaking the wings in a chili brine, you'll get great flavor that goes through to the bone.

    The secret ingredient in my KFC Hot & Spicy Wings copycat recipe is ground habanero pepper, which you can find online. For wings as hot as the originals, you'll need this ground pepper to add to the breading and the brine.

    Another secret to re-creating the KFC experience is to let the fried wings rest in a warm, but not hot, oven for at least 20 minutes before serving as soon as they're done frying. An oven set to 250 degrees simulates the holding station at the restaurant where fried chicken pieces rest until an order comes in. This simple step is a crucial one for crispy wings that taste just like the real deal.

    How about some famous coleslaw or wedge potatoes? Check out my collection of KFC clone recipes here.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 3)
    Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog

    Online taste tests and reviews routinely mention Farmland Fresh, Darigold, and Southern Comfort as America's best egg nog brands. And of the three, Southern Comfort, a brand famously known for fruit-flavored whiskey, often takes the top spot with its delicious “traditional” egg nog. Which, ironically, contains no booze.

    But the first egg nog, invented in medieval Britain, was quite intoxicating. It was a warm drink made with milk and sherry, and thickened with plenty of egg yolks. That’s a much different beverage experience than today’s branded egg nog, often served cold. And the cartons of egg nog from your market are now made with non-traditional ingredients such as corn syrup, and much of the egg yolk has been replaced with cheaper and longer-lasting natural gums, like carrageenan and guar gum.

    But, for my Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog copycat recipe, we'll turn back the clock and make egg nog more traditionally, with plenty of real egg yolks to thicken the batch, and no gums or corn syrup. My easy recipe will give you around 36 ounces of fresh homemade egg nog. And it’s up to you to add any booze.

    Make more fun, famous drinks with my recipes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Outback Steakhouse Bestselling Cocktails

    Since cocktails are amongst the biggest moneymakers at most restaurants, chains like Outback are constantly fiddling with creative new drink formulas, hoping one will break out as the next Wallaby Darned, the chain’s most famous bestselling cocktail (cloned here).

    Most of the chain's new drinks are usually quite delicious, but apparently not delicious enough, since the next seasonal batch of new drink recipes will often replace them. But these two cocktails are a couple of standout exceptions that have been on the menu for some time. They’re both fruity and smooth and refreshing and they each feature rum. 

    Use my Aussie Rum Punch recipe here to make a drink just like the original with white rum and Malibu rum, plus mango, cranberry, and lime juices, and finished with a splash of Sprite. The Castaway Cocktail recipe is made with Absolut Mandarin vodka, two kinds of rum, plus pineapple, blood orange, and lemon juices.

    Instead of using flavored syrups as they do in the restaurant, these recipes are made with real fruit juices, so even though they might look different than the drinks at the chain, they’ll taste just as good. And perhaps even a little better.

    See if I cloned more of your Outback Steakhouse favorites here.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 1)
    Legal Sea Foods Signature Crab Cakes

    This 31-unit Boston-based seafood chain got its name from "Legal Cash Market", the grocery store that founder George Berkowitz's father, Harry, opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1904. In 1950 George opened a fish market next door to his dad's store and called it "Legal Sea Foods", and eighteen years later it expanded into a thriving restaurant business. In 1986 NBC's Today named Legal Sea Foods "The Best Seafood Restaurant in America." 

    One of the signature dishes at the chain is Legal's Signature Crab Cakes, which are filled with big chunks of lump crab and served with a top secret mustard dipping sauce. My Legal Sea Foods crab cakes recipe below is simple to prepare, as is the sauce. Get your mouth ready.

    Source: Top Secret Recipes Step-by-Step by Todd Wilbur.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 1)
    Cheesecake Factory Stuffed Mushrooms

    Despite years of numerous requests to clone the stuffed mushrooms at The Cheesecake Factory, I never ordered the popular appetizer before embarking on this food hacking mission. But let me tell you, once I had my first bite of these mushrooms, with the perfect stuffing, creamy Madeira wine sauce, and crispy Parmesan topping, I understood all the big raves. Not only is this one of the best appetizers on the chain's menu, but these are far and away the best stuffed mushrooms I've ever had. And my Cheesecake Factory Stuffed Mushrooms copycat recipe would have to be just as good, no matter how long it took. 

    After many hours in the lab washing mushrooms, chopping mushrooms, and eating them, I finally worked up this hack that I'm convinced would fool even the biggest fans of the dish in a side-by-side taste test.

    I've duplicated many popular dishes from Cheesecake Factory. See if I cloned your favorites here.

    Source: Top Secret Recipes Step-by-Step by Todd Wilbur.

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  • Score: 3.00 (votes: 2)
    El Pollo Loco Shredded Beef Birria

    Birria was invented over 400 years ago when an increasing goat population became a problem for residents of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Their solution: eat them.

    But goat meat can be tough and gamey, so a low and slow braising method was developed to make the meat tender and tasty. A broth flavored with chili peppers and spices was combined with the meat in a covered pot which was then buried in the ground with hot coals. Early the next day, the braised birria is ready to eat, which is why the dish became a traditional Mexican breakfast food.

    But customers at El Pollo Loco usually have their birria for lunch and dinner. And, while I lack a formal survey, I am nearly positive that everyone is happy that this version isn’t made with goat meat. Instead, my version of El Pollo Loco Shredded Beef Birria is made by braising a 2 to 3-pound chuck roast in a secret combination of peppers and spices for 3 hours or until your beef is tender enough to shred with a couple of forks.

    Strain the braising sauce left in the pan to make the delicious consommé, then use this shredded beef on tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or whatever sounds good. Add some cilantro and chopped onion to the consommé and serve it on the side for dipping, just like they do at the restaurant chain.

    Pair my El Pollo Shredded Beef Birria copycat recipe below with my copycat recipes for El Pollo Loco avocado salsa, pinto beans, Spanish rice, and bbq black beans.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 2)
    Costco (Kirkland) Almond Poppyseed Muffins

    The real Costco muffins taste great, but they may not be as wholesome as you would like them to be. The dough has been conditioned with gums to thicken, ingredients to emulsify, and to preserve shelf-life the muffins contain no butter. Plus, the flavors you taste—including butter, almond, and vanilla—are all artificial.

    I attempted to stay true to the original formula in my first take on the famous muffins with this copycat recipe for Costco’s Blueberry Muffins. In that hack, I chose to avoid butter like the real muffins do, opting instead for margarine. And since the Costco muffins contain no buttermilk, I also stayed away from that ingredient, even though I love its magical properties for baking.

    This time, for my Costco Almond Poppy Muffins recipe, I’m taking a different approach to hacking the muffins with more whole egg, real butter, and, yes, buttermilk to bring great flavor and a better crumb to our finished product. Without all the dough conditioners found in the original, these home-cloned muffins are less rubbery and slightly crumblier than Costco’s, and the flavor is better, because it’s real.

    Find more favorite famous bread recipes here

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 1)
    Outback Steakhouse Spicy Jammin' Meatloaf

    You may never use traditional meatloaf toppings again once you taste how Outback Steakhouse kicks up its ground steak meatloaf entrée. Ketchup and barbecue sauce seem like mundane toppers after you taste these clones of the chain’s amazing Fresno chili jam and creamy peppercorn sauce—one sweet, the other savory—that take your meatloaf to the next level.

    The Fresno chili jam presented the biggest hacking challenge of the two sauces. I had to work through several batches to find the perfect ratio of red bell peppers to Fresno chilies to tone the heat down to an edible level. Also, I was not expecting tomato juice. My first batches omitted that ingredient, but on a return visit to Outback, my server helped provide some valuable intel on the sauce's contents.

    At the restaurant, this meatloaf is pre-baked and chilled. When an order comes in, a couple of slices are seared in a sauté pan or on a flat grill until browned and hot, then they’re topped with the two warmed sauces and served. You can use the same trick in my Outback Spicy Jammin' Meatloaf recipe below: make the meatloaf in advance of the meal, then just slice what you need and sear it before serving.

    Find copycat recipes for more of your favorite Outback dishes here

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  • Not rated yet
    Yard House Miguel's Queso Dip

    If the chef who created this creamy queso dip was willing to put his name on it, you figure it’s got to be good queso. For his hit appetizer, Yard House executive chef Miguel Mata blends three cheeses with roasted poblano pepper and a custom red sauce made with guajillo and chipotle peppers. That tasty sauce, hacked here for the first time, gives the queso its special flavor and heat, and this recipe-within-the-recipe will produce enough sauce for several batches of queso dip, or to use any way you want. Yard House serves the killer red sauce on this queso and on their chicken nachos.

    To make my Miguel’s Queso Dip copycat recipe you'll need Velveeta queso blanco, a white cheese that melts easily in your microwave or on the stove. After loading the melted queso blanco into a shallow dish with the poblano and secret red sauce, top it with shredded pepper Jack and cheddar, broil until bubbly, and serve with corn tortilla chips and flour tortillas on the side for dipping.

    This dip might make you thirsty. In that case, you can find some of my famous cocktail recipes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Red Lobster Lobster & Langostino Pizza

    Top a Margherita pizza with big chunks of lobster and langostino, and you've got Red Lobster’s famous thin-crust Lobster and Langostino Pizza appetizer. And—as with a traditional Margherita pizza—there is no sauce, just mozzarella, tomato, and basil. Its simplicity is what makes it simply delicious.

    For my Red Lobster & Langostino Pizza copycat recipe, you'll steam a small lobster tail, fresh or frozen, then dice it. You'll do the same with the langostinos, but if you have difficulty finding some, you can also use lobster claw meat, often found in the freezer aisle.

    To keep things easy, I designed the recipe so that you won’t need to build the pizza dough from scratch. Just find a pre-made 11-inch pizza dough in a tube, add the toppings, bake at 450 degrees F (on a pizza stone, if you’ve got one), and you’ll soon have a perfect match for the popular starter from the huge seafood chain.

    Try more of my Red Lobster copycat recipes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Panda Express Sizzling Shrimp

    At the restaurant, onion, red bell pepper, broccolini, and extra-large shrimp are tossed with a new spicy sweet-and-sour sauce in Panda’s giant wok over ultra-high heat. But you won’t need a huge wok, or any wok at all for that matter, to make a home version of the new offering so that when this “limited-time-only” dish is long gone, you’ll still be able to experience its awesomeness.

    Once you make the secret sauce for my Panda Express Sizzling Shrimp recipe, most of the work is done. It only takes a few minutes to sauté everything over high heat until seared, then you toss in the secret sizzling sauce to coat, and it’s done.

    Serve this dish over white or brown rice, or with one of my popular clones here for Panda Express Fried Rice or Panda Express Chow Mein.

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 2)
    IHOP Thick 'N Fluffy French Toast

    IHOP upped its French toast game in 2022 with the introduction of a new recipe that suggests your French toast is only as good as the bread you start with, and IHOP’s new Thick ‘N Fluffy French Toast starts with thick specialty artisan bread, rather than the more commonly used Texas toast white bread.

    For my IHOP Thick 'N Fluffy French Toast recipe, you can use any thick-sliced bread from your bakery, but there are two national brands that work well: Nature’s Own Perfectly Crafted Thick-Sliced White Bread and Sara Lee Artisano. Either of those will do, but of the two, Nature’s Own is shaped more like IHOP’s version.

    Adding vanilla and a little cinnamon to the easy batter will set these waffles apart from most others, and in no time, you’ll have 6 beautiful slices of French toast for a total of 3 servings. Dust them with a little powdered sugar, add some butter and maple syrup on the side, and it’s like you just opened a mini IHOP in your house.

    This recipe was my #5 most popular of 2023. Check out the other most popular unlocked recipes of the year: Church's Chicken Original and Spicy Fried Chicken (#1), IKEA Swedish Meatballs (#2), Chipotle Guacamole (#3), Subway Cookies (#4).

    Check out this list of our most popular recipes of all-time.

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  • Not rated yet
    Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que Cracked Out Deviled Eggs

    The West Coast barbecue chain introduced these creative deviled eggs with the eye-catching name as a limited-time-only offer, but sales were so good that Lucille’s Cracked Out Deviled Eggs is now a permanent fixture on the menu.

    For this dish, the deviled egg yolks are combined with a blend of bacon, green onion, red bell pepper, and the chain’s delicious barbecue blend, then arranged on crispy onion straws with seasoned chicken cracklings poked down into the top of each egg. These tasty deviled eggs are unlike any you've had before and all the secrets you need to make a perfect copy at home are "cracked" for you here, including my newly hacked recipe for the delicious onion straws.

    Two chicken thighs will provide enough skin for you to make plenty of the cracklings, and I’ll give you all the prep details in the recipe below, along with a couple of good ways to hard cook your eggs. If you make your eggs as described, and if they’re fresh, you’ll have no ugly green ring around the yolk and the shells will practically fall off.

    Try my Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que Cracked Out Deviled Eggs copycat recipe below, and find more of my Lucille's copycat recipes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que County Fair Corn Pudding

    The menu at this 24-unit West Coast barbecue chain features everything you’d expect from a respectable barbecue chain, plus a few unique dishes that recently piqued my food hacker curiosity.

    One of the new premium sides is Lucille’s Country Fair Corn Pudding, which seems more like spoonbread than corn pudding custard, which would usually be made with more eggs and milk. But no matter what you call it, it’s really good stuff. After fiddling around with several variations I came up with a simple Lucille's County Corn Fair Pudding copycat recipe using canned or fresh yellow corn, eggs, milk, butter, and Jiffy corn muffin mix.

    Once it's out of the oven, the corn pudding is excellent on its own, but the dish isn’t complete until it’s topped with a scoop of the chain’s top secret whipped apple butter. It’s the same delicious butter you get with a side of sugar biscuits when you sit down at your table at the restaurant, and it’s a recipe eaters have been craving. So, I whipped up a Lucille's whipped apple butter recipe that I'm including for you here as well.  

    Want another cool clone? You might also like my recipe for Lucille's Cracked Out Deviled Eggs.    

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 2)
    Burger King French Toast Sticks

    Many fast food chains have offered French toast sticks over the years, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Sonic, Roy Rogers, and Jack in the Box, but Burger King was first to introduce the morning finger food way back in 1985, and if staying power is any indication of preference, then BK is most deserving of this new top secret recipe.

    Burger King French Toast Sticks are a perfect fast food item, since they come pre-battered and par-fried, and workers just need to toss a few frozen sticks into the fryer next to the French fries for 3 or 4 minutes, and they’re ready to go, along with a handy dipper pack of maple-flavored syrup.

    But no deep-frying is necessary here for my French toast sticks copycat recipe. Instead, you’ll cook your quartered and battered white bread slices in a combination of butter and oil in a sauté pan for a couple of minutes per side, or until the sticks are nicely browned. Serve them with a side of warm maple syrup, and you can even add a dusting of powdered sugar on top if you want to get fancy about it.

    Next time you make breakfast, mix things up with some of these as a sweet, easy-to-eat starter.  

    Find recipes for more of your favorite items from Burger King here.  

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  • Not rated yet
    Terry Ho's Spicy Yum Yum Sauce

    The most famous recipe from Terry Ho’s Hibachi Express chain of fast casual Japanese restaurants located in Georgia and Alabama is the secret orange sauce served alongside every meal. In 2012, Terry bottled his famous Yum Yum sauce, claiming on the label that it’s “the best sauce ever” and is “good on everything.”

    I chose to hack the kicked-up spicier version of the sauce since it had more character than the milder original version, but if this version is too hot for your taste, reduce or eliminate the cayenne pepper and pepper sauce.

    Use my Terry Ho's Spicy Yum Yum Sauce recipe below to easily make the sauce at home. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, and then let it rest in your refrigerator. After about 30 minutes, you’ll have a cup of the delicious creamy stuff to use on shrimp, chicken, steak, or whatever you want.

    Find more of my copycat recipes for famous sauces here.  

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  • Not rated yet
    P.F. Chang's Short Rib Fried Rice

    Fried rice is one of life’s simple pleasures, but add kimchi, edamame, mushrooms, tender short rib, and a wasabi-mayo drizzle, and you’ve just elevated a common dish to something truly special. That’s why P.F. Chang’s new Short Rib Fried Rice is so popular. And that’s why it needed to be cloned, ASAP.

    As with my recipe for P.F. Chang’s Fire-Braised Short Ribs, you’ll make a tasty braising liquid with Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, green onions, and garlic, to pour over your short ribs before they slow-cook in your oven for 3 hours.

    When you're ready to serve the dish, dice the cooled short ribs, then sear them and add them to the rice along with all the other ingredients in a hot pan or wok over high heat.

    Plate the rice, drizzle wasabi-mayo sauce over the top, sprinkle on some fresh chopped green onions, and serve up a spot-on clone of the hit dish, and possibly the best fried rice you’ve ever crafted.

    Try my P.F. Chang's Short Rib Fried Rice recipe below, and find more popular P.F. Chang's copycat recipes here

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  • Not rated yet
    Maggiano's Mozzarella Marinara

    Maggiano’s transforms a normally ho-hum finger food appetizer into a beautiful starter with thick breaded chunks of mozzarella topped with more melted mozzarella and a delicious top secret marinara sauce.

    To make a dish at home that looks and tastes like the original, you'll just need to cut three slices off a 2-pound block of mozzarella. After breading the cheese using the technique here, let the mozzarella rest for a bit while you make the marinara so that the breading sticks better when the cheese chunks get fried.

    My original Maggiano's Mozzarella Marinara recipe will produce three slices of crispy cheese, just like in the photo. And if you want a bigger serving, you’ll have enough breading and marinara to double up on the recipe for a total of six breaded cheese slices.

    If you like Maggiano's, you'll also love my copycat recipe for Maggiano's Beef Tenderloin Medallions

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  • Score: 5.00 (votes: 4)
    Cheesecake Factory Chicken Piccata

    Menu Description: “Sautéed chicken breast with lemon sauce, mushrooms, and capers. Served with angel hair pasta.”

    A great chicken piccata doesn’t have to be complicated, and this fantastic take on the lemony dish from the Cheesecake Factory is a perfect example.

    Since the sauce is the key to the great taste of this entrée, I made sure to get a sample on the side for later analysis when I requested my to-go order from the restaurant. While waiting, I asked the server what was in the sauce and she listed some obvious ingredients—lemon, wine, butter, cream—and then she mentioned garlic and shallots. When I got home, I rinsed the sauce through a mesh strainer to discover how much garlic and shallot were in the sauce, but there was no physical evidence of either solid ingredient left behind in the strainer.

    I made a batch of the sauce without garlic and shallot, and it tasted flat. So on the next batch, I added the garlic and shallot back in, then strained out the solid ingredients after they contributed their goodness to the sauce. The result was noticeably better.

    After adding mushrooms and capers to the new lemon sauce, I spooned it over sautéed chicken cutlets and was rewarded with a fantastic homemade version of this amazing dish, which you can now copy at home using my Cheesecake Factory Chicken Piccata recipe below.

    Check out more of my copycat Cheesecake Factory recipes here.

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  • Not rated yet
    See's Candies Cinnamon Lollypop

    Charles See had a vision. His mother's chocolates were so good, he knew deep down that a candy store featuring Mary See's sweet creations would be a huge success, and he was right. The first See's Candies opened in Los Angeles, California in 1921, over 100 years ago, and today there are more than 200 See's Candies stores in 21 states. 

    Chocolate-covered candies are the chain's signature items, but See's is also known for the creamy rectangular lollipops that come in a variety of flavors, including caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and butterscotch. Around the holidays, sales spike for the red one: a cinnamon oil-flavored lollipop with a smooth mouthfeel. Like the other See's Lollypop recipes, this one includes butter, cream, and brown sugar, giving it a pleasant butter toffee quality.

    The trick here was finding a way to make these into rectangular suckers like the real ones without access to a lollipop mold for that shape. Fortunately, I found an ice cube tray online with perfectly-sized molds and a flexible silicone base to aid in release. With a few little tweaks, I transformed the $4 ice cube tray into a mold that can be used over and over to make 14 rectangular lollipops that look and taste just like See's. I've included that cool little trick here in my See's Cinnamon Lollypop copycat recipe, plus plenty of step photos, so yours will always come out perfect.  

    Try my version of See's Candies Butterscotch Lollypop here

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  • Not rated yet
    Pizza Hut Spicy Lover's Pizza

    To satisfy America’s growing desire for foods that bite back, Pizza Hut introduced its spiciest pizza ever in early 2022. The new peppery pies include Spicy Hawaiian Chicken and Spicy Veggie, but it’s the Spicy Double Pepperoni version, with both regular pepperoni and cupped pepperoni, that takes the top spot.

    This is Pizza Hut’s first pizza to be topped with brined red jalapeño slices, which are similar to those packed in a jar from Old El Paso. If you can’t find bottled slices, use sliced fresh red jalapeños or red Fresno peppers, or any other spicy red pepper you find in your produce section. Red jalapeños will certainly bring some sting, but most of the boom will come from the chain’s new spicy marinara sauce that’s been kicked up with added peppers, and it's hacked here for you.

    When your feisty pie comes out of the oven, hit it with some “fiery flakes” (crushed red pepper and parsley) and you’ve got a perfect hack of Pizza Hut Spicy Lover's Pizza for your pizza-loving, hungry home team who like some heat.

    Try my Pizza Hut Spicy Lovers Pizza copycat recipe below, and find more amazing pizza copycat recipes here

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I'm Todd Wilbur, Chronic Food Hacker

For over 30 years I've been deconstructing America's most iconic brand-name foods to make the best original copycat recipes for you to use at home. Welcome to my lab.

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