Drinks

The most popular and notorious cocktail at this 157-unit casual chain is the pumped-up piña colada-style drink served in a heavy 18-ounce schooner with a rim of toasted coconut. The menu warns customers that they are allowed only two of these cocktails since each is made with a supersized 2-ounce shot of Pusser's rum.

Pusser's Rum is the best choice here if you want a perfect clone of Cheddar's Painkiller, but you can certainly make this drink with your choice of any good gold rum. But watch out. At home, there's no 2-drink limit. And these are so good that you might forget how many you’ve downed!   

Now, how about some Cheddar's incredible Santa Fe Spinach Dip?    

The imaginary drink from J.K. Rowling's books became a reality when the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter appeared in 2010. Since then, many hacks for the beverage have emerged online. The only problem is, if Rowling's reported requirements for the drink are true, then almost all of those copycats recipes got something very wrong.

Learn more and get my recipe for free on my Food Hacker Blog here.

Many new food product ideas emerge from corporate test kitchens, but Starbucks’ Pink Drink was born on social media. That’s where customers learned to request coconut milk in their orders of the chain’s strawberry-acai refreshers drink, and when they gave it a good shake, it turned pink. That was in 2016. When high demand persisted for the “secret menu” item, Starbucks added the Pink Drink to its permanent menu one year later, in 2017.

You'll have no trouble creating my Starbucks Pink Drink copycat recipe as long as you procure a bottle of the strawberry acai-flavored Dr. Smoothie Refreshers. This lightly caffeinated concentrated drink mix can be found online in 46-ounce bottles and will be enough to make 11 (16-ounce) Pink Drink clones. You’ll also need coconut milk that isn’t too thick or chunky (Goya brand is good) and freeze-dried strawberries.

Finish the drink by shaking everything together in a shaker with ice, then pour the pink goodness into a 16-ounce glass and consume with glee.

Find more of my Starbucks copycat recipes here. 

This quenching combination of Grey Goose vodka, fresh lemonade, and Chambord raspberry liqueur was invented in 2007 by Grey Goose ambassador and restauranteur Nick Mautone for the vodka sponsorship deal struck with the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Nick came up with a drink made with the refreshing flavor of raspberry lemonade, and the cocktail stick with three frozen honeydew melon balls resembling tennis balls was his perfectly inspired garnish.

The popularity of the summer concoction at the U.S. Open peaked in 2023 when 460,275 Honey Deuces were sold in commemorative cups for $22 each. Sales of the drink that year reached over $10 million, and at the 2024 tournament, with an upped $23 price tag, sales are expected to be even higher.

I designed my custom version of the Grey Goose Honey Deuce recipe for a 16-ounce glass, so I retooled the recipe shared by Grey Goose, which is measured to fit in a 12-ounce highball glass. Also, their recipe doesn’t mention how to make good lemonade, so I devised an easy formula that will give you 16 ounces of lemonade, which will be enough for four cocktails.

Before making your drinks, use a melon baller to make honeydew melon balls. Pierce three on a cocktail stick for each drink you plan to make and freeze them for about an hour. Your serve.

Find more of my famous drink copycat recipes here.

Check out my McDonald's Shakes recipes below and see how simple it is to re-create any of the three flavors of McDonald's thick shakes from scratch. Just three ingredients for each clone. Really. And the secret ingredient for the chocolate and strawberry flavors is Nesquik mix. Throw everything in a blender and press a button. And if you want your shake thicker, just put it in the freezer for a while. Ah, creamy, frosty goodness.

Now, how about a Big Mac and homemade McDonald's french fries?

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Copy the famous and very popular Bloody Mary Mix from that couple with only a letter as a last name. It's a simple-to-make blend of tomato juice and spices with some prepared horseradish and canned jalapeño juice thrown in for a "spicier, zestier" drink. 

Make my Mr and Mrs T Rich and Spicy Bloody Mary Mix copycat recipe and serve with vodka over ice, for a delicious cocktail, or sip it straight.

Click here to see if I copied more of your favorite drinks.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can re-create the European-style coffees that come in rectangular tins at a fraction of the cost. Use my General Foods International Coffee recipes for perfect home clones of Cafe Vienna, French Vanilla Cafe, and Suisse Mocha. 

Since these famous instant coffee blends are created by Maxwell House, it's best to use Maxwell House instant coffee, although I've tried them with Folger's and Taster's Choice, and the recipes still work out fine. You'll also need a coffee bean grinder to grind the instant coffee into powder. When you're finished making the mix, you can store it for as long as you like in a sealed container, until you're ready for a hot coffee drink. When that time comes, measure some of the mix into a cup and add boiling water. Stir well and enjoy while watching shows about Europe on the Travel Channel to enhance the experience.

Find more recipes for your favorite famous drinks here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

If you love the taste of Sunny D but wish it were made with more than just 5 percent real fruit juice, this is the recipe for you. Rustle up some frozen juice concentrates and let them thaw out before measuring. Since tangerine juice concentrate is tough to find on its own, I designed my Sunny Delight copycat recipe with the orange/tangerine blend concentrate from Minute Maid.

You can find more of my copycat recipes for famous drinks here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

If you've never had a Chelada, the idea of mixing beer with Clamato juice may make your stomach turn. This odd combination of beverages has origins in Mexico that date back to the 1940s, when beer was mixed with lime, salt, and hot sauce or salsa. 

In early 2008, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) and Cadbury-Schweppes (Clamato) teamed up to produce the first canned Chelada beverage, which they dubbed "The Red One," and after a successful launch in select western states, the product is now exploding across the country. Many swear by the drink as a remarkable hangover cure, and after some extensive personal experimentation, I must concur. Try my easy Budweiser Chelada recipe below and see for yourself.

Click here for more famous drink recipes. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Drink in the passions of Spain! A delightful mix of Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon, Shakka Apple Liqueur, Dole pineapple juice, Ocean Spray cranberry juice, and grenadine. Garnished with maraschino cherry, orange, lime and fresh apple."

The menu description for this quenching Applebee's red apple sangria specifies brand names that the restaurant uses to create this drink. For the best clone, I suggest you use the same brands. However, if you must substitute with other brands, I don't suspect anyone will care. I certainly won't, and I promise not to tell anyone your secret. If you can't find Shakka brand apple liqueur, use any sour apple flavored liqueur. If you don't have Sierra Mist lemon-lime soda, you can use Sprite or 7-Up. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

With over 120 restaurants in 28 states, Joe's Crab Shack is one of the country's largest seafood restaurants. The chain is famous for its BBQ crab and hourly server line dances, but Joe's also has an impressive cocktail menu. When the weather's frigid, this coffee drink with a kick is a great way to warm up the innards.

Find more of your favorite recipes from Joe's Crab Shack over here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

This recipe clones a delicious smoothie-type cocktail using strawberry puree that you make from a thawed box of the frozen sliced strawberries. One ounce of puree goes into the glass first before you add the drink creating the cool layering effect.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

In the southwestern cities where Z'Tejas serves these incredible margaritas, they are truly legendary. The secret mixture is made fresh every day in a freezing dispenser machine with a dirt-cheap brand of tequila and custom-made sweet-and-sour mix. Perhaps that's the beauty of the drink. It's one of the most potent margaritas around, but with the addition of sweet liqueurs, its strength is well hidden. Even though the chain uses a special machine to make this one, preparing your own clone doesn't require any special equipment. It does take patience, however. Most good things do. But before long you'll be enjoying either a clone of Z' Big Stick with three layers of liqueurs, or a copy of the Famous Chambord Raspberry Margarita, the drink that earns "Best Margarita in Town" awards for the chain on a regular basis. 

You can, of course, drink the basic margarita base without the liqueurs, but the added liqueurs give the drink its charm. To create the margarita, you must mix all the ingredients in a pitcher and put it in the freezer for at least 4 hours, even overnight if you can. The cocktail won't freeze solid since there's tequila in there. When it's frozen, you take it out, and give it a little stir until it's the perfect slushy consistency.

This recipe clones the tall, 14-ounce drink served in a pilsner glass with layers of Chambord, Midori, and blue curacao. The restaurant limits customers to just two of these drinks per visit. Try it and you'll find out why.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

America’s biggest coffee-house chain has come up with another way to sell us a seasonal pumpkin drink, and this one is pretty damn good. Cold brew coffee is mixed with vanilla syrup and ice, then a pumpkin spice flavored cream is layered on top. If it's in a clear glass, you'll see the creamy topping slowly sinking to the bottom like a lava lamp, and the color of the drink will change to a light autumn brown.  

To make our own Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew drink at home, we'll start by making the secret pumpkin spice syrup from my Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe posted here, but this time I’m adding an extra tablespoon of pumpkin. You’ll have plenty of this syrup left over to make several more drinks.

The rest of my Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew recipe is easy: Grab your favorite cold brew coffee and mix it with some vanilla syrup (like this one from Torani). The cream topping is made by mixing cream with 2% milk in a blender, just until thick. After adding the pumpkin syrup, you pour the topping over your coffee and top it off with pumpkin spice.

You've just hacked Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew. Now, how about making some of their famous pastries?

Chick-fil-A’s popular Frosted Lemonade is a delicious, blended combination of lemonade and the chain’s trademarked Icedream soft serve product. Just like Dairy Queen’s famous soft serve, Icedream looks and tastes like ice cream, but it contains considerably less butterfat since it’s made with milk, rather than cream.

For my Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade copycat recipe, cream-less ice cream is not a necessity. Regular ice cream works just fine here, although light ice cream, which is usually made with a milk base (Blue Bell Vanilla Light Ice Cream is one example), also makes a great clone.

Give the fresh lemonade you make here a little time to chill in your freezer before adding it to your blender with the other ingredients. In a matter of seconds, when all the ice is crushed, you’ll have two frosty 16-ounce drinks that taste just like the real deal, but at a mere fraction of the cost.

Try more of my Chick-fil-A copycat recipes like their famous chicken sandwich here. 

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.

At only 10 1/2 ounces per serving you might think this drink a bit wee. But I assure you, one of these packs a wallop, and two will get you speaking in haiku. This delicious raspberry margarita, along with an incredible southwestern cuisine, is making this small chain a big success story.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

This flavor variation from the Orange Julius company may be called Banana Julius, but they also add a little orange juice to the mix. Make sure your bananas are ripe for this clone, so you get a nice sweet drink with the perfect thickness just like the original Orange Julius Banana Julius.

Click here for my recipe for the classic Orange Juliius.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

In 1919, when Roy Allen and Frank Wright started selling their new root beer beverage to a thirsty America, national Prohibition was taking its grip on the country. Their timing couldn't have been better. No longer able to legally drink real beer, thirsty patriots had to settle for this sweet, foamy concoction derived from roots, herbs, and berries. Roy and Frank had thirteen years of Prohibition to make their mark and their fortune from this refreshing drink. By 1933, when Prohibition came to a screeching halt, Roy and Frank had 171 stands in various shapes and sizes, each with the familiar A&W logo on them, all across the country. These drive-up stands with their tray boys and tray girls bringing cold drinks out to the cars were an inspiration for many other roadside stands and diners, and the prelude to the popular fast food drive-thrus of today. You can still get a foamy mug of A&W root beer at outlets across the country, or just enjoy some from a 12-ounce can.

But if it's some home cloning you'd like to get into, check out my improved A&W root beer recipe that was first printed in More Top Secret Recipes. The beauty is you won't have to worry about collecting roots, herbs, and berries like the pros do when making A&W root beer. Instead ,you just need to get some root beer extract, manufactured by McCormick, that you'll find near the vanilla in your local supermarket. Make up some root beer syrup, let it cool off in the fridge, and you can whip up 10 servings of A & W root beer by combining the syrup with soda water whenever you're ready to drink it.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits and Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Sure, Roy Allen and Frank Wright are better known for the exquisite root beer concoction sold first from California drive-up stands under the A & amp;W brand name. But these days the company makes a darn good vanilla cream soda as well. And the formula is one we can easily clone at home by combining a few simple ingredients. Most of the flavor comes from vanilla, but you'll also need a little lemonade flavor Kool-Aid unsweetened drink mix powder. This mix comes in .23-ounce packets and provides the essential citric acid that gives my A&W cream soda recipe the slight sour flavor of the real thing. Once you make the syrup, let it cool down in the fridge, then combine the syrup with cold soda water in a 1-to-4 ration, add a little ice, and get sipping.

You might also want to try my A & W root beer recipe here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits and Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Use my 7-Up recipe below to make a home clone of this refreshing citrus beverage in no time at all. Just add lemon and lime juice to a syrup solution, along with a little Kool-Aid lemonade drink mix for that special tang thanks to included citric acid, and you're almost there. When the syrup has cooled, mix it into some cold soda water in a 1 to 4 ratio. That's it. You've just made this clone of 7-UP yours.

Find more famous drink recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits and Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

In the first book, Top Secret Recipes, I included a recipe for homemade Orange Julius that was often requested for demonstrations on TV talk shows. Just about every time I did those demos, I was asked how to make other Julius flavors. So here they are: my Orange Julius Strawberry Julius and Pineapple Julius copycat recipes. Each one is made like the orange version but has chunks of real fruit thrown in, just like the real thing.

What other famous drinks can you make at home? Click here to find out. 

Source: More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Coffeehouses have replaced many of the old Orange Julius stands, but there's still a nostalgic group of us who long for the frothy juice drinks invented decades ago by Julius Freed. Today Orange Julius has tailored its business to meet the changing demands of its customers by including several varieties of fruit drinks and updated smoothies on its menu. But it's the foamy fruit juice creation developed in the late twenties that made the company famous, and that's what I've cloned here in my Orange Julius copycat recipe, an improved version that's found in the book Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes. The flavor and consistency is better now, plus we use the blender to dissolve the sugar before adding the ice. Use pasteurized egg whites found packaged in your local supermarket or just use egg substitute, which is also made from pasteurized egg whites.

Try other popular Orange Julius flavors like Banana, Strawberry-Banana, and Pineapple.