During a trip to Brazil in 2004, Mike Kurtz first sampled pizza topped with chile-infused honey and fell in love with the flavor. He enjoyed the distinct sweet-and-spicy taste so much that he began developing his own version of hot honey when he returned to Brooklyn, New York. He experimented with various formulas using different types of chile peppers until he perfected his hot honey recipe, which he bottled for personal use and to share with friends.

In 2010, while working at Paulie Gee’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn, Mike brought his hot honey and generously drizzled it over the pizza. Customers loved it and asked to buy bottles of the honey for home use, so Mike sold his hot honey by the bottle from the pizzeria. Eventually, word spread about Mike’s Hot Honey, and when Whole Foods became interested in his product, Mike realized its huge potential. Since then, sales have steadily increased each year for the condiment, and in 2025, the brand’s revenue is projected to reach $60 million. 

Like Mike, I also experimented with various types of red peppers for my Mike’s Hot Honey copycat recipe, and Scotch Bonnet peppers worked the best. These chilies have a Scoville rating similar to that of the Brazilian peppers Mike uses, so the heat level should be very close.

After removing the stems and seeds from the peppers, simply purée them in a blender and then mix the concentrated pepper juice with honey and vinegar. This will yield about ½ cup of homemade hot honey for you to use as you see fit.

Find more of my copycat recipes for condiments here.

I’m not sure when it happened, but it appears Taco Bell recently changed its seasoned beef recipe. I hacked the recipe several years ago for the book TSR Step-by-Step, and I recall the recipe had much more oat filler, so that’s how I cloned it. Taco Bell came under fire in 2011 for the significant amount of oats in the recipe that the chain was listing as “spices,” and after that, Taco Bell was more transparent about ingredients. But somewhere along the way it appears the company tweaked the recipe to include less filler and more flavor, so I decided I had to create a new Taco Bell seasoned beef copycat recipe. 

You can use my recipe below to make the famous Chalupa—which the restaurant makes by deep-frying the flatbread used for Gorditas. You can also use this new, improved Taco Bell seasoned beef recipe for anything you’re copying, whether it's tacos, burritos, Enchiritos, Mexican Pizzas, or a big pile of nachos.

The secret ingredient in our hack is Knorr tomato bouillon. This flavor powder adds many ingredients found in the original recipe and provides the umami savoriness that’s required for a spot-on clone of the famous seasoned ground beef. To get the right flavor, you need to find "Knorr Tomato Bouillon with Chicken Flavor" powder, in a jar. Not the bouillon cubes.

Try my Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme copycat recipe below, and find copycat recipes for Taco Bell mild, hot or diablo sauce here.

In Los Angeles in 1957, Del Johnson noticed an article in the Wall Street Journal about a successful $1.09 per steak steakhouse chain with locations in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Inspired by the article, Del decided to open his own steakhouse in L.A., but with a twist that would save him money. His idea was to develop a steakhouse where customers would order their food at a food counter and pick it up when it was ready. Doesn't sound that exciting, but the concept was a hit. After the first Sizzler was open for a year, Del decided to run a two-day, one-cent anniversary sale: buy one steak at the regular price and get a second for just a penny. Del said, "We opened at 11:00. People were lined up from 11:00 until 9:00 at night, and we sold 1,050 steaks in one day and about 1,200 the second day."

Sizzler serves a slice of tasty cheese toast with every meal. Use my Sizzler cheese toast recipe for a simple hack that goes well with just about any entrée.

Update 8/24/21: A Sizzler employees revealed that the chain uses whipped butter, mixed with grated Parmesan cheese spread onto the bread before cooking. If you use this technique or mine below, your results should be the same. 

Try my Sizzler Cheese Toast copycat recipe below, and find more of my Sizzler copycat recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur. 

My Girl Scout Samoas / Caramel DeLites copycat recipe isn't quick, but it's fun.The process involves baking shortbread cookies, coating them with caramel, sprinkling freshly toasted coconut onto the caramel, dipping the bottom of the cookies into chocolate, and then adding a chocolate drizzle over the top.

It takes time to make each one, but the technique I'm revealing here produces a delicious copycat version of Girl Scout Cookies Samoas that will satisfy anyone who loves the snack, which are the #2 most popular of the brand (Thin Mints are #1, and here's my version). This is the perfect recipe to make when you can recruit some joyous and enthusiastic kitchen helpers.

Click here for more of your favorite Girl Scout Cookies. 

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

Dairy stand owners Abraham and Mahala Stouffer opened their first Stouffer’s restaurant in Cleveland in 1924, and by 1990, the Stouffer’s name was on 68 restaurants and 40 hotels. But by 1992, the company's frozen food business, which started in the '50s, was so successful that Stouffer's sold off its hospitality segment to focus on the brand's booming frozen food empire. 

It’s not clear when the company’s spaghetti and meatballs were first sold in freezer sections, but many of Stouffer’s first products were inspired by meals served at the chain’s restaurants, including the popular macaroni and cheese (cloned here), Salisbury steak, corn soufflé, and stuffed peppers.

For my Stouffer’s Spaghetti and Meatballs copycat recipe, I started with the meatballs by first defrosting a frozen serving of the dish, then separating the sauce from the six ½-ounce balls of meat. Using the ingredients list as a guide, I made several batches of tiny meatballs with a combination of beef and pork, along with breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, seasoning, and a little beaten egg to hold everything together, until I achieved a good match. Once I had enough meatballs for six servings of the dish, it was time to move on to the sauce.

The sauce came together nicely after sautéing some onions and garlic in oil, then adding tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and seasonings. After simmering the sauce for 30 minutes, I placed six meatballs on a small pile of cooked spaghetti, then poured the sauce over everything, creating a perfect match to the 12 5/8-ounce single-serving of the famous frozen entrée.

If you're still hungry, check out my copycat recipes for other famous entrées here.

A good coffee house will have good coffee cake, and Starbucks is no exception. The world's biggest coffee chain offers cake that is moist and buttery, with a perfect cinnamon streusel crumb topping and a strip of cinnamon sugar through the middle. You may find slight variations of the cake at different Starbucks locations. Sometimes the cake is topped with chopped pecans and some may be dusted on top with a little powdered sugar. My Starbucks classic coffee cake copycat recipe below clones the basic recipe. If you want nuts on top, mix 1/2 cup of chopped pecans into the streusel topping before adding it.

What's coffee cake without coffee? Find your favorite Starbucks drink recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

After hacking the recipes for Costco’s other popular muffins, including the Blueberry Muffins, Almond Poppyseed Muffins, and Lemon Raspberry Muffins, I would be remiss not to satisfy my fellow chocoholics by cracking the formula for the big box chain’s delicious Triple Chocolate Muffins. And I decided that these need to be really big. Much to the chagrin of many customers, Costco recently reduced the size of all their muffins, so for this recipe, these muffins have been re-created in their former “jumbo” size.

My Costco Triple Chocolate Muffins copycat recipe is simple, requiring basic ingredients, including chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and Dutch-process cocoa (the dark one), for a rich, dark chocolate flavor. You’ll need a jumbo muffin pan to make these like the big muffins Costco used to sell, but you can also use a standard muffin pan to make smaller muffins if that’s all you’ve got.

Find more favorite famous bread recipes here. 

James Dunn and Edward Parsons combined parts of their surnames to name the restaurant they opened at the original Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, California, in 1938. The eatery served a variety of diner foods, including sandwiches, burgers, and pies, but it’s the huge buttery pancakes that made the restaurant so iconic. Many who have tried these say they’re the best pancakes they’ve ever tasted. And yet, nobody has cracked the secret of the 88-year-old recipe. Until now.

There are enough rumors about the recipe to drive a food hacker crazy. Some suggest the batter takes hours to make, while others say the dry ingredients are pre-mixed in secret and cooks simply add buttermilk. Some claims suggest the recipe requires a special flour, while others say it’s just all-purpose flour. When I asked a server about the recipe, she claimed she couldn’t offer any information, or she would get fired and I would go to jail. Yes, she really said that.

But according to my tests with several batches, the recipe requires two major tweaks to an ordinary pancake recipe to make these “legendary.” For my Du-Par’s Legendary Buttermilk Hotcakes copycat recipe, I increased the number of eggs typically used in pancake batter to re-create the custardy texture of the original. The second big secret is butter. The most notable step that makes Du-Par’s pancakes special is the clarified butter generously ladled over the top before serving.

The steps are simple, the recipe is easy, and the pancakes are incredible. This is one you need to try.  

Find more cool breakfast copycat recipes here.

As you can probably guess, KFC's Extra Crispy Tenders are chicken tenderloins coated with the same delicious breading as KFC’s Extra Crispy Chicken. These tenders come in servings of two, three, six, or twelve, with your choice of dipping sauces on the side including buffalo, barbecue, and the new Finger Lickin' Good Sauce.

To duplicate these chicken fingers at home, we’ll resort to a similar prep technique to the one used for the Extra Crispy Chicken: the chicken is brined for 2 hours to give it more flavor and juiciness, then the tenders are double-breaded for an extra-crunchy coating.

An important secret revealed in this breading recipe is the use of a specific type of ground black pepper. For the best copy of KFC Extra Crispy Tenders, you'll want to use Tellicherry black pepper, which is premium black pepper ground from mature peppercorns that have had time to develop more flavor. The unique aftertaste of KFC chicken is attributed to this special spice, so it’s worth the time to track it down.

Tellicherry black pepper costs a little more than the younger, more common black pepper, but if you want a good clone of the famous crispy fried chicken, it’s an essential ingredient. Be sure to grind the pepper fine before adding it.

Try my KFC Extra Crispy Tenders copycat recipe below, and pair it with my super popular KFC Coleslaw recipe.

The delicious Cheesecake Factory Pork Belly Sliders appetizer features four little sandwiches, each packing big flavor. Smoked pork belly is slathered with barbecue sauce, then stacked on soft slider buns with spicy sauce, creamy coleslaw, and crispy fried pickles. Smoked pork belly is the star, so you’ll either smoke some yourself using a smoker or use your grill with the technique described in the Tidbits below. For my Cheesecake Factory Pork Belly Sliders copycat recipe, you'll need around 10 ounces of pork belly to get 6 ounces when smoked, or 1½ ounces per sandwich.       

The coleslaw is easy, the spicy sauce is easy, the barbecue sauce is premade (bottled), and the fried pickles are a simple exercise in breading and frying that anyone can master. After the pork belly is perfectly smoked and fall-apart tender, stack everything on your favorite toasted soft slider rolls and let the devouring begin.

Click here for more clone recipes for Cheesecake Factory's famous cheesecakes, appetizers, entrées, soups, and more! 

Chipotle’s new sauce, inspired by a traditional Argentinian recipe, is made to enhance several of the chain’s dishes, especially the carne asada. The Mexican restaurant modifies the classic sauce, which typically includes parsley, garlic, oil, vinegar, oregano, peppers, and salt. Instead of parsley, Chipotle uses cilantro and adds lemon juice, lime juice, and smoked paprika to the mix.

My Chipotle’s Red Chimichurri Sauce copycat recipe is simple. After roasting the minced garlic, mix it with all the other ingredients in a small bowl... and wait. Yes, patience is a virtue when it comes to this sauce. Let your chimichurri sit for at least an hour, and you'll be rewarded with a flavorful sauce that elevates dishes like burrito bowls, grilled salmon, chicken, steak, and many other dishes that need a boost of great flavor.

Find more of my Chipotle copycat recipes here.

Menu Description: "We use only the 'best of the breast' chicken tenderloin in our recipe. Our dumplins are made from scratch, then hand-rolled and cut into strips before simmering to perfection in chicken stock."

By 1977 there were 13 Cracker Barrel stores located in Georgia and Tennessee, with all of them based on founder Dan Evins' original concept of a restaurant and store built around gasoline pumps. But with the oil embargo and energy crisis of the mid-seventies, Cracker Barrel started building stores that did not offer gas. Eventually, all of the original 13 stores were converted so you can no longer "filler-up" while you fill yourself up.

An old-time favorite at Cracker Barrel is the Chicken & Dumplins found on the lunch and dinner menu. The nice thing about this home version of the popular classic dish is that it creates its own tasty gravy. As the "dumplins" dissolve, the flour thickens the stock into a creamy sauce.

Try my Cracker Barrel Chicken & Dumplins copycat recipe below, and find more Cracker Barrel copycat recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

The nautical-themed store that Joe Columbe opened in Pasadena, California, in 1967, took its name from the well-known Los Angeles bar, Trader Vic’s. And if you look closely around the store, there’s a good chance you’ll spot the plastic lobster they hide there every day.

The chain has gained popularity for its branded products, which began with granola in 1972. One of its most popular items is this hot dip, a seasonal product available after the summer Hatch chile season. If you want to knockoff this delicious dip today, and Hatch chilies aren’t available where you are, don’t worry. Anaheim peppers are similar and can be found year-round. 

For my Trader Joe’s Roasted Hatch Chile and Jalapeño Dip copycat recipe, you’ll roast some garlic and peppers, then combine them with cream cheese, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and spices. Heat it in your oven for 15 minutes, then bust out the chips or crackers for a big serving of the popular dip, which is more than twice the size of the original.

Find more of your favorite dip copycat recipes here.

The secret to super creamy cheesecake that's not cracked on top—just like those you get at The Cheesecake Factory—is baking the cheesecake in a water bath. You will need a 10-inch springform cake pan for my Cheesecake Factory Vanilla Bean Cheesecake copycat recipe, and another pan that is larger than the springform pan to hold some water for the cheesecake to sit in while it bakes. 

This cheesecake has vanilla bean seeds in each of the three layers (cheesecake filling, vanilla bean mousse, and spreaded whipped cream), so you'll need three vanilla bean pods. Those vanilla beans can be pricey at $3 to $4 per pod, but you're cloning a cheesecake that at the restaurant costs around 60 bucks for a whole 10-inch cake. Even when you figure in the other ingredients, your home knockoff will still cost much less than the real thing. And any leftovers will freeze well for a month or two.

Try more of my Cheesecake Factory hacks here.

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

Menu Description: "Lightly fried Brussels sprouts tossed in Big Poppa Smokers Desert Gold seasoning with sweet sriracha crema."

Brussels sprouts have been exploding on chain restaurant menus in recent years, and the best I've tasted are served as starters. The cruciferous wonders are usually roasted or fried, then dressed with a sauce meant to override the sprouts' inherent bitterness. And when they’re done right, those Brussels sprouts will be the most memorable dish at the table.

BJ’s preparation technique of choice for Brussels sprouts is to fry them, then sprinkle them with a lemony seasoning blend by Big Poppa Smokers just before they get drizzled with sweet sriracha crema. For the seasoning, there’s no need to buy the real thing since I’ve come up with an easy hack. And the sriracha crema copycat couldn’t be simpler, with just four ingredients.

My BJ's Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts copycat recipe makes a share plate appetizer-size serving for 2 to 4 people, but you'll have enough seasoning and sauce here for a bigger serving (such as a side dish) if you just add more sprouts.  

Now, how about a bowl of famous chili or a Pizookie from Bj's Brewhouse?

A good French onion soup is packed with onions, and since the beef broth is responsible for most of the flavor, you’ll want to pick a good one to copy this chain’s tasty take on the classic formula.

For my Outback French Onion Soup copycat recipe, I chose Swanson for the beef broth, but also found that beef broth made with Better than Bouillon worked well. With either one though, the broth wasn’t quite beefy enough so I added ½ of a small beef bouillon cube, and the flavor matched beautifully.

For the bread on top, I first tried using toasted French bread, but it was too chewy and tough to cut with a spoon, so I had to come up with another solution. Upon closer inspection of my soup sample from the restaurant, I noticed that the circular crouton looked like the bottom half of a hamburger bun. Inspired by my discovery, I toasted a hamburger bun, topped it with two slices of provolone, then broiled it until melty and browned.

This time, when my spoon cut right through the soft bread with no problem, I had a great clone.

Find more of my Outback Steakhouse copycat recipes here.

Slow-roasted prime rib with "au jus" is a specialty of the popular steakhouse chain, and now you can easily duplicate it at home with these preparation secrets.

This prime rib is served with a delicious jus for dipping, so for my Texas Roadhouse Prime Rib copycat recipe, you'll want a 5-pound roast with bones. After slicing off the bones to use in the jus, tie up the roast, rub it with the marinade/seasoning blend, and let it sit for 24 hours to soak up the goodness.

The next day, you'll sear the roast and slow-cook it for nearly 3 hours, which will give you plenty of time to make the jus with beef broth, carrot, celery, onion, and those bones you sliced off the roast. After about 90 minutes, the beef broth will have reduced to one-quarter its size and will become a fabulous sauce.

After your cooked prime rib has rested for a bit, it's ready to slice—it should be medium-rare and perfectly pink. Serve it with the warm jus and some creamy horseradish on the side.

Try more of my Texas Roadhouse Rolls copycat recipes here.

Re-create the popular bean dip at home in minutes with a food processor: just pour in all the ingredients and fire it up. With my Fritos Hot Bean Dip copycat recipe below, you can duplicate the taste of the popular dip without any added fat. If you check out the label of the real thing, you'll see that there's hydrogenated oil in there. We avoid this trans fat without sacrificing flavor in this home clone that's a healthier choice for dipping. Bring on the chips!

Try more amazing copycat recipes for famous dips here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.