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Southern California—the birthplace of famous hamburgers from McDonalds, Carls Jr. and In-n-Out Burger—is home to another thriving burger chain that opened its first store in 1952. Lovie Yancey thought up the perfect name for the 1/3 pound burgers she sold at her Los Angeles burger joint: Fatburger. Now with over 41 units in California, Nevada, and moving into Washington and Arizona, Fatburger has become the food critic's favorite, winning "best burger in town" honors with regularity. 

The seasoned salt used on the beef patty is the secret here. (Hint: It's just Lawry's). And there's no ketchup on the original version, just mayo, mustard, and relish. You can follow my Fatburger recipe below for an exact copy, or go to town with any condiment combination you like.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Jerrico, Inc., the parent company for Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppes, got its start in 1929 as a six-stool hamburger stand called the White Tavern Shoppe. Jerrico was started by a man named Jerome Lederer, who watched Long John Silver's thirteen units dwindle in the shadow of World War II to just three units. Then, with determination, he began rebuilding. In 1946 Jerome launched a new restaurant called Jerry's and it was a booming success, with growth across the country. Then he took a chance on what would be his most successful venture in 1969, with the opening of the first Long John Silver's Fish 'n Chips. The name was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. In 1991 there were 1,450 Long John Silver Seafood Shoppes in thirty-seven states, Canada, and Singapore, with annual sales of more than $781 million. That means the company holds about 65 percent of the $1.2 billion quick-service seafood business.

These days, it seems there are less and less Long John Silver restaurants. Good thing you can follow my Long John Silver's Batter-Dipped Fish copycat recipe below and enjoy that same great flavor at home. 

Make my Islands French Fries copycat recipe for the classic fish 'n chips experience.

Source: Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Made fresh to order, with ripe avocados and choice of tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, red onions and fresh lime juice. Enough to share."

This 160-unit casual Mexican chain makes a nice table side guacamole that you can easily duplicate for your amigos. This is the basic formula, but you can freely adjust it to suit the tastes of your crew. It's also easy to double it (or more) for a bigger fiesta, if that's the plan. My On The Border Guacamole Live! copycat recipe is much better when slightly chilled. So, put the avocados into the fridge for an hour or two before you open them up.

Wash it all down with this copycat for On the Border's Mexican Mojito.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Tender, crispy shrimp with a sweet and spicy chili sauce that's got just the right kick."

This was another job for the micro-screen sieve. Rinsing away the mayo from a spoonful of this delicious chili sauce reveals just what I expected: sambal chunks. The minced chili peppers that sat there, now naked, in the bottom of the sieve, looked just like the type of red pepper used in sambal oelek chili sauce. And since there were bits of garlic in there too, it was clear that the bright red chili garlic sauce you find near the Asian foods in your market is the perfect secret ingredient for the fiery mixture that's used on this popular dish from Ruby Tuesday's appetizer menu. Once you make the sauce, whip up some of the secret breading for the shrimp and get on with the frying. You can use shortening or oil here, but I think shortening works best, and it doesn't stink up the house. The no trans-fat stuff is da bomb. Once all of your shrimps are fried to a nice golden brown, carefully coat the little suckers with about half of the sauce, and then serve the rest of the sauce on the side for dipping, just like they do at the restaurant.
 
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

This quickly growing chicken wing chain sells each of its 12 signature sauces in the restaurant because many of them work great as a baste or side sauce for a variety of home cooked masterpieces. The Caribbean Jerk sauce is a favorite for that reason (ranking at the top of the list with Spicy Garlic as the chain's best-seller), so I thought creating a Buffalo Wild Wings Caribbean Jerk Sauce recipe would be a useful clone that doesn't require you to fill up the fryer to make chicken wings. You can use this sauce on grilled chicken, pork, ribs, salmon or anything you can think of that would benefit from the sweet, sour and spicy flavors that come from an island-style baste.

Find more Buffalo Wild Wings copycat recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur

If you start making black bean soup in the morning using other recipes out there, you're lucky to be slurping soup by lunchtime. That's because most recipes require dry beans that have to re-hydrate for at least a couple hours, and many recipes say "overnight." But, you know, tomorrow is just too far away when you're craving soup right now. 

So, for this often requested T.G.I. Friday's Black Bean Soup recipe, I sped up the process by incorporating canned black beans, rather than the dry ones. That way, once you get all the veggies chopped, you'll be souped up in just about an hour. Friday's version of this soup has a slightly smoky flavor that's easily duplicated here with just a little bit of concentrated liquid smoke flavoring found in most supermarkets. Just be sure to get the kind that says "hickory flavor."

Try more of my T.G.I. Friday's copycat recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

My Tommy's World Famous Hamburger recipe may be for the whole hamburger, but anybody who knows about Tommy's goes there because they love the chili that's on the burger—and that's the part of this burger they seek. Turns out it's an old chili con carne recipe created back in 1946 by Tommy's founder, Tommy Koulax, for his first hamburger stand on the corner of Beverly and Rampart Boulevards in Los Angeles.

By adding the right combination of water and flour and broth and spices to the meat, we can create a thick, tomato-less chili sauce worthy of the gajillions of southern California college students that make late-night Tommy's runs a four-year habit. And if you don't live near one of the two dozen Tommy's outlets, you can still get a gallon of Tommy's famous chili shipped to you. But I hope you really like the stuff, because you'll shell out around 70 bucks for the dry ice packaging and overnight shipping. And don't expect to see the ingredients on the label (drat!) since the chili comes packed in a gallon-size mustard jug.

Check out more of my famous hamburger copycat recipes here.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

In the Bush’s Beans commercials, Duke, the family golden retriever, wants to sell the secret family recipe, but the Bush family always stops him. The dog is based on the Bush family’s real-life golden retriever, and the campaign, which began in 1995, made Bush’s the big dog of the canned baked beans market practically overnight. Their confidential baked beans formula is considered one of the top 10 biggest recipe secrets in the U.S.

Bush Brothers & Company had been canning a variety of fruits and vegetables for over 60 years when, in 1969, the company created canned baked beans using a cherished recipe from a family matriarch. Sales jumped from 10 thousand cases in the first year to over 100 thousand cases in 1970. And just one year later sales hit a million cases. Today Bush’s makes over 80 percent of the canned baked beans sold in the U.S., and the secret family recipe remains a top food secret, despite Duke’s attempts. A replica of the original recipe book—without the original recipe in it (drat!)—is on display at the company's visitor center in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee.

I chose to hack the “Country Style” version of Bush’s Beans because I don’t think the Original flavor has enough, uh, flavor. Country Style is similar to Original, but richer, with more brown sugar. My Bush's Country Style baked beans copycat recipe starts by soaking dry small white beans in a brine overnight. The salt in the water helps to soften the skins, but don’t soak them for more than 14 hours or the skins may begin to fall off. You can skip this step if you've got a fancy Instant Pot using my directions below. 

My first versions tasted great but lacked the deep brown color of the real Bush’s beans, which include caramel coloring—an ingredient that can be hard to find on its own. I eventually discovered that the “browning” sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, will add the dark caramel color needed to our home version of the beans so that they’ll look just like the real thing.

This recipe was our #5 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1) KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken (#2), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4).

Anyone who loves Olive Garden is probably also a big fan of the bottomless basket of warm, garlicky breadsticks served before each meal at the huge Italian casual chain. My guess is that the breadsticks are proofed, and then sent to each restaurant where they are baked until golden brown, brushed with butter and sprinkled with garlic salt. Getting the bread just right for a great Olive Garden breadstick hack was tricky—I tried several different amounts of yeast in all-purpose flour, but then settled on bread flour to give these breadsticks the same chewy bite as the originals. The two-stage rising process is also a crucial step in this much requested Olive Garden breadstick copycat recipe.

Complete the bottomless experience with my Olive Garden Italian salad dressing recipe.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Slow-cooked marinated domestic pork ribs lightly seasoned with Jerk spices and basted with BBQ sauce."

An island taste in the secret jerk paste formula permeates the ribs as they slow cook in low heat. Halfway through cooking the ribs are wrapped in foil to begin a braising process that tenderizes the meat. And for a big finish, the racks are tossed on the grill just before serving then basted with a delicious scratch sauce. Follow the grilling instructions here and you won't lose any meat from your ribs sticking to the barbecue grate. Start by grilling the ribs bony-side-down so that some of the fat from the ribs melts onto your grill. Now when you flip the racks over onto the meaty side the grill is well-lubricated, giving you beautiful grill marks on the good part, and no sticking. And don't freak out about that whole habanero pepper included in the jerk paste. Sure, it may be one of the world's hottest peppers, but the paste goes a long way, and you should only detect a hint of heat on the finished product. If you're a chilihead, go ahead and add more than one. Serve up these babies with a side of my hacked Sweet Potato Chips clone for an authentic CIP experience.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

I've never met a macaroni & cheese I didn't like. But there are a few restaurants that push this common side dish to a higher level. I've had mac & cheese made with three or four cheeses, and some that come drizzled with truffle oil. I've had mac & cheese with green pepper in it, and onion, and parsley, and bacon—it all works for me. But at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, it's about the chipotle. The smoky jalapeño flavor sets this one apart from others, and makes this one of the top side dishes at the upscale steakhouse chain.

For my Fleming's Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese recipe below, you'll start with a cheese sauce made with smoked cheddar. There's some minced jalapeño and green onion in there, plus a little ground chipotle pepper. A nice finishing touch comes from the breadcrumb topping that's made with Japanese breadcrumbs, or panko, which is flavored with more ground chipotle. The pasta shape used at Fleming's is called cellentani, which looks like long corkscrews. You could also use cavatappi pasta which are shorter corkscrews, or just go for the traditional elbow macaroni which can found pretty much anywhere.

Find more of my copycat recipes from Fleming's Steakhouse here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Three flour tortillas stuffed w/marinated chicken, teriyaki sauce, Jack cheese, pineapple, lettuce, tomatoes & scallions."

If you love the sweet taste of teriyaki marinated chicken, you'll dig my Yaki Soft tacos recipe that's just like the dish at the Hawaiian-themed burger chain. Sure, Islands is famous for its burgers, but many also go for the several choices of soft tacos—and Islands Yaki soft tacos that I've cloned here is the top-seller. 

After testing all popular brands of teriyaki sauce on the market, I found that none have the heavy ginger notes of the chain's version, so you'll want to make the sauce from scratch. Which is really no big deal, since it's an easy process. You'll end up with a Teriyaki sauce/marinade that's better than any store version, and you can use it in all sorts of recipes. When you buy the canned pineapple, go for the 20-ounce can or get two 8-ounces cans. You'll need that much since you'll use the pineapple chunks in both the sauce and on the tacos (and you'll even use some of the juice from the can in your Teriyaki sauce). When chopping the chunks, take the time to slice each chunk into quarters (lengthwise, with the grain) so you get thin pineapple pieces that are the exact size of the stuff they use in the restaurant. Or you can find smaller  pineapple chunks in some stores (see Tidbits).

Source: "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2" by Todd Wilbur.

There's no chocolate in it. Or coffee. Or Coca-Cola. The ingredient rumors for the Skyline Chili secret recipe are plentiful on the Internet, but anyone can purchase cans of Skyline chili from the company and find the ingredients listed right on the label: beef, water, tomato paste, dried torula yeast, salt, spices, cornstarch, and natural flavors. You can trust that if chocolate were included in the secret recipe, the label would reflect it—important information for people with a chocolate allergy. 

Use my Skyline Chili recipe to re-create that unique flavor with a special blend of easy-to-find spices plus beef broth and a few other not-so-unusual ingredients. Let the chili simmer for an hour or so, then serve it up on its own or in one of the traditional Cincinnati-style serving suggestions (the "ways" they call 'em) with the chili poured over spaghetti noodles, topped with grated Cheddar cheese and other good stuff:

     3-Way: Pour chili over cooked spaghetti noodles and top with grated Cheddar cheese.
     4-Way: Add a couple teaspoons of grated onion before adding the cheese.
     5-Way: Add cooked red beans over the onions before adding the cheese.

Check out more of my recipes for other popular soups and chilis here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

In the early 90's Boston Chicken was rockin' it. The home meal replacement chain's stock was soaring and the lines were filled with hungry customers waiting to sink their teeth into a serving of the chain's delicious rotisserie chicken. The chain was so successful with chicken, the company quickly decided it was time to introduce other entrée selections, the first of which was a delicious barbecue sauce-covered ground sirloin meatloaf. 

Offering the other entrées presented the company with a dilemma: what to do about the name. The bigwigs decided it was time to change the name to Boston Market, to reflect a wider menu. That meant replacing signs on hundreds of units and retooling the marketing campaigns. That name change, plus rapid expansion of the chain and growth of other similar home-style meal concepts, sent the company into a tailspin. By 1988, Boston Market's goose was cooked, and the company filed for bankruptcy. Soon McDonald's stepped in to purchase the company, with the idea of closing many of the stores for good, and slapping Golden Arches on the rest. But that plan was scrapped when, after selling many of the under-performing Boston Markets, the chain began to fly once again.  Within a year of the acquisition Boston Market was profitable, and those meals with the home-cooked taste are still being served at over 700 Boston Market restaurants across the country.

Use my Boston Market Meatloaf copycat recipe below to copy the flavor of that first non-chicken dish, a delicious barbecue sauce-covered ground sirloin meatloaf. You might also like to try my Boston Market side-dish recipes here.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

The little red packets of viscous hot sauce at the fast food giant have a cult following of rabid fans who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on large quantities. One such fan of the sauce commented online, "Are there any Wendy's employees or managers out there who will mail me an entire case of Hot Chili Seasoning? I swear this is not a joke. I love the stuff. I tip extra cash to Wendy's workers to get big handfuls of the stuff." Well, there's really no need to tip any Wendy's employees, because now you can make as much as you want in your own kitchen with my Wendy's Hot Chili Seasoning copycat recipe below. 

The ingredients listed on the real Hot Chili Seasoning are water, corn syrup, salt, distilled vinegar, natural flavors, xanthan gum, and extractives of paprika. We'll use many of those same ingredients for our clone, but we'll substitute gelatin for the xanthan gum (a thickener) to get the slightly gooey consistency right. For the natural flavor and color we'll use cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder, then filter the particles out with a fine wire-mesh strainer after they've contributed what the sauce needs.

My recipe makes 5 ounces of sauce— just the right amount to fit nicely into a used hot sauce bottle—and costs just pennies to make.

Try your Wendy's hot chili seasoning clone on a homemade bowl of Wendy's Chili.

Older than both McDonald's and Burger King, Jack in the Box is the world's fifth-largest hamburger chain, with 1,089 outlets by the end of 1991 in thirteen states throughout the West and Southwest. The restaurant, headquartered in San Diego, boasts one of the largest menus in the fast food world.

The Jack in the Box Taco has been served since the inception of the chain, with very few changes over the years. I've duplicated this classic here in my Jack In the Box taco recipe below for you to enjoy anytime.

If you're a fan of Jack in the Box Jumbo Jack or any of Jack's Shakes click here for my clone recipes.

Source: Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Over the years I've hacked a bunch of items from Chili's menu, including their Fajitas, Baby Back Ribs, Salsa, Chili Queso, Southwestern Eggrolls, Chicken Crispers, Boneless Wings, and more, but it wasn’t until recently that I got the chance to create a recipe for the Chili's award-winning Original Chili. Why it took so long, I have no idea.

The chili served at Chili’s is a Texas-style con carne recipe, which traditionally means no beans and no tomato. You won’t find any beans in this recipe or chunks of tomato, but their chili does have a tomato base to boost flavor, so I’m adding that into the mix by including one 6-ounce can of tomato paste. As it turns out, that small can is just the right amount.

The preparation technique for my Chili's Original chili copycat recipe is simple: brown the beef, drain off the fat, then add some of the fat back to the empty pan to sauté the onions and peppers in. When those are done, you add the beef back to the pan along with the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1½ hours. That will be just long enough to braise the beef and tenderize it, and to thicken the chili to a perfect consistency.

When the chili’s done, top each serving with a cheddar/pepper Jack blend, and some crispy tortilla bits. Then pass out the spoons.

Check here more of my Chili's copycat recipes.

My new favorite caramel corn is from Popcornopolis. Its caramel coating is lighter in color and flavor than the dark molasses-heavy caramel coating on old-school caramel corn, like Cracker Jack. The flavor is more buttery, like butter toffee, with just a hint of molasses knocking at the back door.

To create my Popcornopolis caramel corn recipe I worked with several versions of butter toffee candy, adding light brown sugar to bring in the molasses, and after several attempts finally landed on just the right combination of ingredients to best duplicate the flavor, color, and texture of the real thing.

You'll want a candy thermometer for this recipe for the best results, but if you don't have one you can estimate when the candy is done by using the time cue in the steps.

Vanilla is added at the end, so we don't cook out the flavor. You'll also add a little baking soda at the end, which will react with the acid in the molasses and create tiny air bubbles so the hardened candy has a more tender bite to it.

Check out our other candied popcorn clone recipes including Cracker Jack, Poppycock, Fiddle Faddle, Screaming Yellow Zonkers, and Crunch 'n Munch. 

To get their Extra Crispy Chicken so crispy, KFC breads the chicken two times. This double breading gives the chicken its ultra craggy exterior and extra crunch, which is a different texture than the less crispy original recipe fried chicken that’s breaded just once and pressure fried.

As with my KFC Original Fried Chicken recipe, we must first brine the chicken to give it flavor and moisture all the way through, like the real thing, then the chicken is double breaded and deep-fried until golden brown. KFC uses small chickens which cook faster, but small chickens can be hard to find. If your chicken parts are on the large side, they may not cook all the way through in the 12 to 15 minutes of frying I’m specifying here. To be sure your chicken is cooked, start frying with the thickest pieces, like the breasts, then park them in a 300-degree oven while you finish with the smaller pieces. This will keep the chicken warm and crispy, and more importantly, ensure that they are cooked perfectly all the way through.

On my CMT show Top Secret Recipe I chatted with Winston Shelton, a long-time friend of KFC founder Harland Sanders. Winston saw the Colonel's handwritten secret recipe for KFC Original Recipe chicken, and he told me one of the secret ingredients is Tellicherry black pepper. It's a more expensive, better-tasting black pepper that comes from the Malabar coast in India, and you should use it here if you can find it. Winston pulled me aside and whispered this secret to me when he thought we were off-camera, but our microphones and very alert cameramen caught the whole thing, and we aired it.

I first published my KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken recipe in Even More Top Secret Recipes, but recently applied some newly acquired secrets and tips to make this much-improved recipe of one of the most familiar fried chicken recipes in the world. 

My improved KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken copycat recipe below was our #2 most popular in 2019. Check out the other four most unlocked recipes of the year: Texas Roadhouse Rolls (#1), Olive Garden Braised Beef Bolognese (#3), Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (#4), Bush's Country Style Baked Beans (#5).

Menu Description: "Freshly prepared alfredo or marinara sauce, served warm."

The soft breadsticks served at Olive Garden (here's my clone) taste awesome by themselves, but dunk them in one of these warm sauces and...fahgeddaboutit. You can use these clones as dipping sauces or pour them over the pasta of your choice to duplicate a variety of entree items available at the chain. Use the Alfredo sauce over Fettuccine and you get Fettuccine Alfredo. Pour the marinara sauce on Linguine and you've cloned Olive Garden's Linguine alla Marinara. Make up your own dishes adding sausage, chicken or whatever you have on hand for an endless variety of Italian grub.

Find more of your favorite copycat recipes from Olive Garden here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

It took chefs several years to develop what would eventually become KFC's most clucked about new product launch in the chain's 57-year history. With between 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat, depending on the piece, the new un-fried chicken is being called "KFC's second secret recipe," and "a defining moment in our brand's storied history" in a company press release. The secret recipe for the new grilled chicken is now stored on an encrypted computer flash drive next to the Colonel's handwritten original fried chicken recipe in an electronic safe at KFC company headquarters. Oprah Winfrey featured the chicken on her talk show and gave away so many coupons for free grilled chicken meals that some customers waited in lines for over an hour and half, and several stores ran out and had to offer rain checks. Company spokesperson Laurie Schalow told the Associated Press that KFC has never seen such a huge response to any promotion. "It's unprecedented in our more than 50 years," she said. "It beats anything we've ever done."

When I heard about all the commotion over this new secret recipe, I immediately locked myself up in the underground lab with a 12-piece bucket of the new grilled chicken, plus a sample I obtained of the proprietary seasoning blend, and got right to work. After days of nibbling through what amounts to a small flock of hens, I'm happy to bring you this amazing cloned version of this fast food phenomenon so that you can now reproduce it in your own kitchen. 

Find the smallest chicken you can for my KFC grilled chicken copycat recipe, since KFC uses young hens. Or better yet save some dough by finding a small whole chicken and cut it up yourself. The secret preparation process requires that you marinate (brine) your chicken for a couple of hours in a salt and MSG solution. This will make the chicken moist all the way through and give it great flavor. After the chicken has brined, it's brushed with liquid smoke-flavored oil that will not only make the seasoning stick to the chicken, but will also ensure that the chicken doesn't stick to the pan. The liquid smoke in the oil gives the chicken a smoky flavor as if it had been cooked on an open flame barbecue grill.

The grilled chicken at KFC is probably cooked on ribbed metal plates in specially designed convection ovens to get those grill marks. I duplicated that process using an oven-safe grill pan, searing the chicken first on the stove top to add the grill marks, then cooking the chicken through in the oven. If you don't have a grill pan or a grill plate, you can just sear the chicken in any large oven safe sauté pan. If you have a convection function on your oven, you should definitely use it, but the recipe will still work in a standard oven with the temperature set just a little bit higher. After baking the chicken for 20 minutes on each side, you're ready to dive into your own 8-piece bucket of delicious indoor grilled chicken that's as tasty as the fried stuff, but without all the fat.

Check out the video demonstration of this recipe.

You might also like my copycat recipes for KFC's signature sauces and sides. Find all of my KFC copycat recipes here.

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

Menu Description: "Create your own Thai lettuce rolls! Satay chicken strips, carrots, bean sprouts, coconut curry noodles and lettuce leaves with three delicious spicy Thai sauces—peanut, sweet red chili and tamarind-cashew."

Cheesecake Factory's #1 appetizer is finally fauxed, and I've got every secret component for an impressive knockoff here in one recipe: delicious duplicates of the three amazing dipping sauces, perfect sweet-and-sour cucumber slices, and an easy coconut curry marinade clone for the chicken that also doubles as a sauce for the noodles. 

Get ready to blow everyone away when you unveil this build-it-yourself Cheesecake Factory Thai Lettuce wraps copycat recipe at the table. The final dish will serve twice as many people as the restaurant version, and you'll most likely have enough leftover sauces to serve it again if you want to get more chicken.

Click here for more amazing Cheesecake Factory copycat recipes.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Grilled beef medallions drizzled with balsamic glaze, served over fettuccine tossed with spinach and gorgonzola-alfredo sauce."

This menu item builds on Olive Garden's great Alfredo sauce recipe with the addition of Gorgonzola cheese. The tangy cheese sauce works well with the sweet-and-sour balsamic reduction drizzled over the beef medallions. 

You'll want to track down three 6-ounce sirloin steaks or whatever cut you prefer and slice each of them into four 1 1/2-ounce fillets. Get pounding with a kitchen mallet and make those steaks about 1/2-inch thick, and they will grill up to the same size as the medallions on the original dish. Between the pounding and the meat tenderizer in the beef seasoning, you will turn even the cheapest cut of beef into a tender morsel. Build your dish as described below, and you will have re-created the taste and presentation of the original rich, tasty, fulfilling dish.

Try my Olive Garden Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo recipe below, and find more of your favorite dishes from Olive Garden here.  

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "12 oz. ribeye steak seasoned with Cajun spices and topped with roasted herb jus and spicy Cajun butter."

Three secret formulas must be hacked before we can consider this dish a complete culinary carbon copy of Chili's signature Cajun Ribeye. The Cajun seasoning, the herb jus, and the Cajun butter comprise the flavorful hat trick that earns this dish its signature-item status. 

Use my Chili's Cajun Ribeye recipe below to make each component from scratch. Everything is pretty easy. Rustle up some ribeyes from your favorite butcher, and fire up the grill. Sprinkle the seasoning on the steak before it's grilled, and then add the jus and herb butter just before serving. That's it. Once you've assembled these three simple secret recipes below, you're just minutes away from an impressive, flavor-filled steak.

Find more of your favorite Chili's copycat recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "A grilled tilapia fillet brushed with a sweet and spicy glaze and garnished with red chili tapenade, cilantro and sesame seeds." 

Here's a great way to prepare that next batch of fresh fish fillets when you're contemplating a new taste. If you and your diners love spicy food this is the perfect clone, since the top secret glaze and tapenade recipes I've included here both come packing heat. You can make the sauces several hours—or even days—ahead of time, and then when you're ready to eat, the fish will cook up in less than 10 minutes. Chili's calls this "grilled" tilapia on the menu, but don't expect to find grill marks on the fish. It appears the restaurant uses a flat griddle or saute pan to cook the fish, since the tender tilapia would fall through the grate on a barbecue grill. Don't limit this recipe to tilapia. The intense glaze and tapenade will perk up a variety of fish fillets, from sea bass to salmon.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Chopped lettuce, basil, salami, chilled roast turkey breast, diced tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese tossed in our herb-mustard Parmesan vinaigrette topped with scallions."

It's the delicious herb-mustard Parmesan vinaigrette that makes this salad so good. And since freshly made dressings are way better than anything you'll buy in a store, here's a great recipe for vinaigrette that you can use either on the CPK Original chopped salad here, or on any salad you assemble with ingredients on hand. After heating up these vinaigrette ingredients for a couple of minutes, let the mixture cool, and then drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the dressing as you blend it with an electric mixer on high speed. This will create an emulsion to thicken the vinaigrette and hold all the ingredients together even as the dressing chills.

Try more of my CPK copycat recipes for appetizers, soups, and pizza here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Marinated chicken breast topped with fiery kung pao sauce, mandarin oranges and pineapple pico de gallo."

This Friday's low-fat creation does not skimp on flavor. A marinade, a spicy sauce, and a fresh salsa all pitch in for some big-time taste bud satisfaction. Sprinkle mandarin orange sections over the top if you've got 'em, and you will completely re-create the look and taste of this great dish at home.

Try my T.G.I. Friday's Dragonfire chicken recipe below, and click here for dessert ideas.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

After years of fielding requests to clone the delicious signature soup from this 100-unit chain, I was finally able to secure a couple carry-out samples from Max & Erma's at the Cleveland airport while I was there on a biz trip. Wrapped in a bundle of napkins and tucked into a carry-on bag, my samples arrived home in Vegas still warm and ready for analysis. 

For my Max & Erma's Tortilla Soup recipe, you'll need some white and dark fillets of chicken and a half pound hunk of cheese to shred. It's all that Cheddar cheese that makes this tortilla soup so good. And you'll definitely want to shred your own, since the pre-shredded stuff—while also more expensive—just doesn't melt as well in the chicken broth as cheese that's been shredded just before it goes into the pot. 

Update 2/8/17: This recipe may work better if you first make a sauce with the cheese before adding it to the soup. After step #2, combine 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of flour in a medium saucepan. Whisk in 1 cup of milk until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat and stir in the cheese until it's melted. Keep the cheese sauce warm over low heat until you need it. Reduce the cornstarch to 1 tablespoon and dissolve it into the chicken broth in a large saucepan. Add the chicken, sautéed vegetables, and remaining ingredients for the soup (except the cheese sauce) and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese sauce and simmer the soup for another 10 minutes while you bounce to step #4.

Find more of your favorite famous soup recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Tender, crispy wild gulf shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce."

Bonefish Grill proudly refers to this appetizer as the "house specialty." And why not, it's an attractive dish with bang-up flavor, especially if you like your food on the spicy side. The heat in my Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp recipe comes from the secret sauce blend that's flavored with chili garlic sauce, also known as sambal. You can find this bright red sauce where the Asian foods are in your market—and while you're there, pick up some rice vinegar. Once the sauce is made, you coat the shrimp in a simple seasoned breading, fry them to a nice golden brown, toss them gently in the sauce, and then serve them up on a bed of mixed greens to hungry folks who, hopefully, have a cool drink nearby to mellow the sting.

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

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Irresistible, creamy cheeses and elbow noodles golden fried to perfection."

When T.G.I. Friday's vice president of research and development Phil Costner was in Las Vegas at Fix restaurant in the Bellagio in 2006, he tried a version of this fantastic finger food and immediately went to work locating a supplier to develop the dish for his chain of 550 restaurants. Now Fried Mac & Cheese is one of seven "radically new" finger foods on Friday's appetizer menu that includes Crispy Green Bean Fries, Potato Skinny Dippers and Triple Meat Fundido. After several hours in the underground lab I decided on a couple ways to approach this particular clone. Since Friday's Fried Mac & Cheese is made with a blend of cheeses, I'll first show you how to re-create the mac & cheese from scratch using Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. And for those of you who love shortcuts, head on down to the Tidbits at the bottom of the recipe and I'll show you how to clone our T.G.I. Friday's Fried Mac & Cheese recipe appetizer much faster using frozen Stouffer's Macaroni & Cheese.
 
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Hard Rock Café Twisted Mac & Cheese Menu Description: "Twisted cavatappi pasta, tossed in a lightly spiced 3-cheese sauce with roasted red peppers and topped with Parmesan parsley breadcrumbs."

The rock-and-roll theme chain peps up old-school macaroni and cheese with roasted red bell pepper, a breadcrumb topping, and a delicious sauce made from three cheeses. For a home clone of this hip appetizer, I found that it's best to shred your own Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, since the pre-shredded type sold in bags doesn't melt as well and you'll likely end up with grainy sauce. Grainy is not good for a sauce. You can use bottled roasted red bell pepper for convenience, or you can roast your own pepper with the tips provided in the Tidbits below. And don't worry about tracking down the hard-to-find cavatappi pasta twisted tubes. Any pasta shape will do here, including the ubiquitous mac & cheese standard: elbow macaroni.

Find more of your favorite Hard Rock Cafe dishes here. 
 
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.
 

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.

Menu Description: "Grilled Asian-spiced chicken w/carrots, water chestnuts, green onions & almonds. Served with crisp Bibb lettuce and sesame-ginger & peanut sauces for dipping."

Chili's take on the appetizer made popular at P. F. Chang's Asian Bistro got diners across the country wrapping lettuce around chopped chicken. Now you can bring Chili's version of the Asian tacos home along with the mega-addictive sesame-ginger and peanut dipping sauces with my recipe for Chili's lettuce wraps.

After you make the sauces and prepare the chicken, assemble the wraps by arranging some sliced chicken into the center of a leaf of butter lettuce, sprinkle on some shredded carrot, perhaps a few crunchy bean threads, add a little dipping sauce, and open wide.

Find more of your favorite Chili's copycat recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Whip out the food processor and fire up the grill because you'll need these essential tools to clone one of the best restaurant salsas in the business. The key to re-creating the flavor of Chevys salsa is to fire roast the tomatoes and the jalapeños, and to add a little mesquite-flavored liquid smoke. The restaurant chain uses a mesquite grill, so follow the steps in my Chevys Fresh Salsa recipe below to get the same smoky flavor as the popular restaurant version.

Chevys uses chipotle peppers, which are smoked red jalapeños. But unless you grow your own jalapeños, it may be difficult to find the riper red variety in your local supermarket. If you can't find the red ones, the green jalapeño peppers will work fine. Adjust the number of jalapeños you use based on the size of the peppers that are available: if you have big jalapeños, you need only 6, and you'll need around 10 if your peppers are small.

Check out my recipes for Chevy's flan, chili con queso, and more here.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–2 tablespoons
Total servings–16
Calories per serving–10
Fat per serving–0g

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Ah, chicken gizzard. It took me more than eighteen years to find a recipe that requires chicken gizzard -- not that I was looking for one. But I've seen the ingredients list on the box that comes from the supplier for the Cajun gravy from Popeyes, and if we're gonna do this one right I think there's got to be some gizzard in there. The gizzard is a small organ found in the lower stomach of a chicken, and your butcher should be able to get one for you. After you sauté and chop the gizzard, it is simmered with the other ingredients until you have a thick, authentic Southern gravy that goes great over the Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuits clone, or onto whatever begs to be swimming in pure flavor. Get ready for some of the best gravy that's ever come off your stovetop.

Try my Popeyes Cajun gravy recipe below, and complete your meal with my recipe for Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.

Source: "Top Secret Recipes Unlocked" by Todd Wilbur.

My KFC gravy recipe here duplicates the tasty tan stuff that's poured over fluffy mashed potatoes at the Colonel's chain of restaurants. And since the original recipe contains MSG (as does their chicken), my recipe was designed with that "secret" ingredient. You may choose to leave out the MSG, which is a natural amino acid found in vegetables and other foods, but your clone won't taste like the real thing without it.

Try my KFC Mashed Potatoes & Gravy copycat recipe below, and check out more of my KFC hacks here.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Exclusive signed copy. America's best copycat recipes! Save money and amaze your friends with all-new culinary carbon copies from the Clone Recipe King!

For more than 30 years, Todd Wilbur has been obsessed with reverse-engineering famous foods. Using every day ingredients to replicate signature restaurant dishes at home, Todd shares his delectable discoveries with readers everywhere.

Now, his super-sleuthing taste buds are back to work in the third installment of his mega-bestselling Top Secret Restaurant Recipes series, with 150 sensational new recipes that unlock the delicious formulas for re-creating your favorite dishes from America's most popular restaurant chains. Todd's top secret blueprints and simple step-by-step instructions guarantee great success for even novice cooks. And when preparing these amazing taste-alike dishes at home, you'll be paying up to 75 percent less than eating out!

Find out how to make your own home versions of: Pizza Hut Pan Pizza, T.G.I. Friday's Crispy Green Bean Fries, Buca di Beppo Chicken Limone, Serendipity 3 Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, P.F. Chang's Kung Pao Chicken, Max & Erma's Tortilla Soup, Cracker Barrel Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake, Olive Garden Breadsticks, Cheesecake Factory Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake, Carrabba's Chicken Bryan, Famous Dave's Corn Muffins, Outback Steakhouse Chocolate Thunder from Down Under, T.G.I. Friday's Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs, and much, much more...

Simple. Foolproof. Easy to Prepare. And so delicious you'll swear it's the real thing!

You may also like Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2, and Top Secret Recipes Step-by-Step

Contents
Applebee's Apple Walnut Chicken Salad
Applebee's Chocolate Mousse Dessert Shooter
Applebee's Grilled Shrimp 'N Spinach Salad
Applebee's Key Lime Pie Dessert Shooter
Applebee's Red Apple Sangria
Applebee's Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Shooter
Applebee's Tomato Basil Soup
Applebee's White  Peach Sangria
Bahama Breeze Island Onion Rings
Bahama Breese West Indian Patties
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Chili
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Famous Pizookie
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp
Bonefish Grill Citrus Herb Vinaigrette
Bonefish Grill Saucy Shrimp
Buca di Beppo Garlic Bread and Garlic Bread with Mozzarella
Buca di Beppo Chicken Limone
Buffalo Wild Wings Asian Zing Sauce
Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce
California Pizza Kitchen The Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad
California Pizza Kitchen Original Chopped Salad
Carrabba's Spicy Sausage Lentil Soup
Carrabba's Chicken Bryan
Cheeseburger in Paradise BBQ Jerk Ribs
Cheeseburger in Paradise Sweet Potato Chips
Cheeseburger in Paradise El Cubano Sandwich
Cheesecake Factory Famous Factory Meatloaf
Cheesecake Factory Miso Salmon
Cheesecake Factory Pineapple Pisco Sour
Cheesecake Factory Thai Lettuce Wraps
Cheesecake Factory Banana Cream Cheesecake
Cheesecake Factory Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake
Chili's Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers
Chili's Cajun Ribeye
Chili's Firecracker Tilapia
Chili's Quesadilla Explosion Salad
Chili's Nacho Burger
Chili's White Chocolate Molten Cake
Cracker Barrel Cole Slaw
Cracker Barrel Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake
Cracker Barrel Macaroni n' Cheese
Denny's Cherry Cherry Limeade
Denny's Pancake Puppies
Denny's Broccoli Cheese Soup
Famous Dave's Corn Muffins
Famous Dave's Smoked Salmon Spread
Famous Dave's Wilbur Beans
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse Wicked Cajun Barbecue Shrimp
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse Fleming's Potatoes
Fuddruckers Hamburger Seasoning
Gordon Biersch Cran Blueberi Lemonade Cocktail
Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries
Gordon Biersch Raspberry Iced Tea Cocktail
Gordon Biersch Warm Apple Bread Pudding
Hard Rock Cafe Tupelo Style Chicken
Hard Rock Cafe Twisted Mac & Cheese
Hooter's Fried Pickles
Houston's House Vinaigrette
Houston's Couscous
IHOP Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes
IHOP Corn Cake Pancakes
IHOP Funnel Cakes
IHOP Shortcake Pancakes
Joe's Crab Shack Crab Nachos
Joe's Crab Shack Great Balls of Fire
Joes Crab Shack Spicy Boil
Joe's Crab Shack BBQ Crab
Joe's Stone  Crab Garlic Creamed Spinach
Joe's Stone  Crab Grilled Tomatoes
Joe's Stone  Crab Jennie's Potatoes
Joe's Stone  Crab Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes
Margaritaville Havanas and Bananas Cocktail
Margaritaville Incommunicado Cocktail
Margaritaville Volcano Nachos
Margaritaville Jerk Salmon
Mastro's Steakhouse Gorgonzola Macaroni & Cheese
Mastro's Steakhouse Steak Seasoning
Mastro's Steakhouse Warm Butter Cake
Max & Erma's Tortilla Soup
Mimi's Cafe Buttermilk Spice Muffins
Mimi's Cafe Carrot Raisin Nut Muffins
Mimi's Cafe Five-Way Grilled Cheese
Olive Garden Breadsticks
Olive Garden Dipping Sauces for Breadsticks
Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Olive Garden Black Tie Mouse Cake
Olive Garden Mango Martini
Olive Garden Pomegranate Margarita Martini
Olive Garden Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta
Olive Garden Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo
On the Border Guacamole Live!
On the Border Mexican Mojito
On the Border Smoke Jalapeno Vinaigrette
Outback Steakhouse Bleu Cheese Chopped Salad
Outback Steakhouse Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Outback Steakhouse Outback Rack
Outback Steakhouse Three Cheese Au Gratin Potatoes
Outback Steakhouse Victoria "Crowned" Filet w/Horseradish Crumb Crust
Outback Steakhouse Chocolate Thunder from Down Under
P.F. Chang's Asian Pear Mojito
P.F. Chang's Chang's Key Lime Martini
P.F. Chang's Spicy Green Beans
P.F. Chang's Kung Pao  Chicken
P.F. Chang's Chicken in Soothing Lettuce Wraps--Improved
P.F. Chang's Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps
Pizza Hut WingStreet Traditional Chicken Wings--Hot, Med, Mild
Pizza Hut Tuscani Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Pizza Hut Pan Pizza
Red Lobster Peach-Bourbon BBQ Scallops
Red Lobster Maple-Glazed Salmon & Shrimp
Red Robin Campfire Sauce
Red Robin Creamy Artichoke & Spinach Dip
Red Robin Red's Homemade Chili Chili
Red Robin The Royal Red Robin Hamburger
Romano's Lemon Passion
Roy's Hawaiian Martini
Roy's Classic Roasted Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi
Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé
Ruby Tuesday Apple Salad
Ruby Tuesday Queso Dip & Beef Queso Dip
Ruby Tuesday Thai Phoon Shrimp
Serendipity 3 Frrrozen Hot Chocolate
Simon Kitchen & Bar Wok-Seared Edamame
Spago Butternut Squash Soup
Spago Pumpkin Cheesecake
T.G.I. Friday's Candy Apple Martini
T.G.I. Friday's Crispy Green Bean Fries
T.G.I. Friday's Parmesan-Crusted Sicilian Quesadilla
T.G.I. Friday's Jack Daniel's Glaze
T.G.I. Friday's Sesame Jack Strips
T.G.I. Friday's Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
T.G.I. Friday's Dragonfire Chicken
T.G.I. Friday's Fried Mac & Cheese
T.G.I. Friday's Pomegranate Martini w/Candy Apple
T.G.I. Friday's Tuscan Portobello Melt
T.G.I. Friday's Tuscan Spinach Dip
Trader Vic's World-Famous Mai Tai
Traders Vic's Tom Ka Gai Soup

Steve Ellis used his Culinary Institute of America training to develop a simple menu for the first Chipotle Mexican Grill he opened in 1993 near the University of Denver. Today Chipotle has grown to more than 700 units, and the chain continues to serve a relatively limited selection (compared to other Mexican chains) of burritos, tacos, and salads that are made-to-order, with unprocessed and hormone-free ingredients. 

Just as when ordering a burrito or taco, you get to choose the meat, beans, salsa, and cheese that will top your romaine lettuce salad. The finishing touch is an amazing house dressing that's made fresh every day. It's sweet, it's tangy, it's smoky, and it's packing some heat. It's also a quick recipe to duplicate with just a blender and a dozen common ingredients, including ground chipotle chile, which you can usually find near the ground cayenne. After you whip up my Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette recipe below, let it chill out in the fridge for an hour or two. If you do, you'll have a perfect flavor match and enough dressing for at least 10 salads.

Now, how about making Chipotle's famous barbacoa, carnitas, carne asada or pollo asado? Find all of those recipes and more here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Spicy, shredded beef, braised with our own chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano."
 
The original Mexican dish barbacoa was traditionally prepared by cooking almost any kind of meat goat, fish, chicken, or cow cheek meat, to name just a few, in a pit covered with leaves over low heat for many hours, until tender. When the dish made its way into the United States via Texas the word transformed into "barbecue" and the preparation changed to incorporate above-ground techniques such as smoking and grilling.

The good news is that we can re-create the beef barbacoa that Chipotle has made popular on its ginormous burritos without digging any holes in our backyard or tracking down a local source for fresh cow faces. After braising about 30 pounds of chuck roasts, I finally discovered that the secret to making perfect barbacoa is a taste-alike adobo sauce that fills your roast with flavor as it slowly cooks to a fork-tender delicacy on your stovetop over 5 to 6 hours.

Part of the secret for great adobo sauce is toasting whole cumin seeds and cloves and then grinding them in a coffee grinder (measure the spices after grinding them). Since the braising process takes so long, start early in the day and get ready for a big dinner, because I've also included clones here for Chipotle's pico de gallo, pinto beans, and delicious cilantro-lime rice to make your burritos complete. You can add your choice of cheese, plus guacamole and sour cream for a super-deluxe clone version. 

Try my Chipotle Barbacoa copycat recipe below, and check out my clone recipe for Qdoba Grilled Adobo Chicken.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

Panera Bread's Baked Spinach and Artichoke Egg Souffle reminds me of a breakfast Hot Pocket, if a Hot Pocket tasted really good. With eggs, cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts baked into a buttery crust, this super-cool presentation will earn you big bonus points from your crew in the a.m. And the best part about my copycat Panera spinach souffle recipe is you won't stress out over making the dough from scratch since you use premade Pillsbury Crescent Dough that comes in a tube. Just be sure when you unroll the dough that you don't separate it into triangles. Instead, pinch the dough together along the diagonal perforations to make four squares. After the dough is rolled out, line four buttered ramekins with each square, fill each ramekin with the secret egg mixture, and bake. 

Find more of your favorite recipes from Panera Bread here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Made from scratch in our kitchens using fresh Grade A Fancy Russet potatoes, fresh chopped onion, natural Colby cheese and spices. Baked fresh all day long."

In the late sixties, Dan Evins was a Shell Oil "jobber" looking for a new way to market gasoline. He wanted to create a special place that would arouse curiosity, and would pull travelers off the highways. In 1969 he opened the first Cracker Barrel just off Interstate 40 in Lebanon, Tennessee, offering gas, country-style food, and a selection of antiques for sale. Today there are over 529 stores in 41 states, with each restaurant still designed as a country rest stop and gift store. In fact, those stores which carry an average of 4,500 different items apiece have made Cracker Barrel the largest retailer of American-made finished crafts in the United States.

Those who know Cracker Barrel love the restaurant for its delicious home-style breakfasts. This casserole, made with hash brown-sliced potatoes, Colby cheese, milk, beef broth, and spices, is served with many of the classic breakfast dishes at the restaurant. My Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole recipe is designed for a skillet that is also safe to put in the oven (so no plastic handles). If you don't have one of those, you can easily transfer the casserole to a baking dish after it is done cooking on the stove.

Love Cracker Barrel? Check out my other clone recipes here.

Source Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Marinated in teriyaki and topped with grilled pineapple, Cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. Dude, you'll be like, ready to ride the pipeline on Oahu's North Shore after you chomp on this!"

Here's customer choice number one from Red Robin's huge burger menu. According to Red Robin servers, the beef they use for all their burgers is ground from Angus flank steak. That beef makes a great burger, but it can be hard to find. For my Red Robin Bonzai Burger recipe, try to find Angus beef. If that's not available, pick up some ground chuck. Make sure the fat content is at least 15 percent, since low-fat ground beef makes burgers that are too dry and short on flavor. 

I tested a half-dozen popular teriyaki glazes in the stores and nothing comes close to the stuff they use at the restaurant, so I've included a recipe here to make your own. Be sure to watch your marinated meat and pineapple slices closely on the grill, since the sugar in the teriyaki marinade could burn over the open flame. If you're grilling outside, keep the lid open. And don't hit the La-Z-Boy until this burger's done.

Find more of my Red Robin copycat recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Our award-winning Baby Back Ribs are slow-roasted, then basted with Jim Beam Bourbon BBQ Sauce and finished on our Mesquite grill."

When your crew bites into these baby backs they'll savor meat so tender and juicy that it slides right off the bone. The slow braising cooks the ribs to perfection, while the quick grilling adds the finishing char and smoky flavor. But the most important component to any decent rack of ribs is a sauce that's filled with flavor, and this version of Roadhouse Grill's award-wining sauce is good stuff. I ordered the ribs naked (without sauce) so that I could see if there was any detectable rub added before cooking and I didn't find anything other than salt and a lot of coarse black pepper. So that's the way I designed my Roadhouse Grill Baby Back Ribs recipe, and it works.

Now, how about a copycat Roadhouse Grill Roadhouse Rita to wash down those ribs.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Arthur Simms was in the restaurant business for many years before he opened the first Mimi's Cafe with his son, Tom, in Anaheim, California in 1978. Back in the Golden Age of Hollywood Arthur was the guy running things in the MGM Studios commissary where, on any given day, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable and Judy Garland might stop in for a grazing. Arthur named his New Orleans-influenced, bistro-style restaurant after a woman he met and fell in love with in Paris during the war. 

Today it's Tom who runs the show at this growing 93-unit chain where regulars return for the staple favorites including the French Market Onion Soup, Carrot Raisin Bread and the delicious corn chowder. Use my Mimi's Corn Chowder recipe below to enjoy this great soup at home.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

It's dark, moist and delicious, and it comes in a breadbasket to your table at this French-themed West Coast casual restaurant. With my Mimi's Cafe Carrot Raisin Bread recipe below, the tastiest carrot bread ever can be yours to create at home with a couple of grated carrots, molasses, raisins and chopped walnuts. You'll be baking this one in the oven for at least an hour. That should be enough time to warm up the house and send an incredible aroma wafting through every room. 

Now, how about some soup and Mimi's famous grilled cheese sandwich?

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Our famous fries are fresh cut daily from whole potatoes with the skins left on."

Not only can I show you the best way to make french fries at home in my copycat recipe for Island's top-selling version, but I'm also supplying you with a super simple way to make the same type of salt blend that Islands uses to make those fries so dang addicting. 

As with any good french fry recipe, you'll need to slice your potatoes into strips that are all equal thickness. For my Islands French Fries recipe below, you'll need a mandoline, or similar slicing device, that makes 1/4-inch slices. Once you've got your potatoes cut, you must rinse and soak them in water to expel the excess starch. The frying comes in two stages: A quick blanching stage, and the final frying to put a crispy coating on the suckers. Islands uses a combination of peanut and vegetable oils in their fryers, so you simply combine the two in your home fryer. The whole process is not that tough once you get going, and certainly worth the effort if hungry mouths are waiting for the perfect homemade french fries. However, if you want to simplify the process because your hungry mouths aren't of the patient sort, you could certainly buy frozen french fries, cook 'em up following the instructions on the bag, and then sprinkle on this garlic/onion salt blend for a quick-and-easy kitchen clone.

Click here to see if I hacked more of your favorite items from Islands.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

To copy the Taco Bell Burrito Supreme at home, you first must assemble the meaty foundation of many of the chain's top-selling products: the spiced ground beef. Toss it and seven other tasty ingredients into a large flour tortilla and fold using the same technique as taught to new recruits to the chain. Add your favorite hot sauce for a bit of heat, or clone Taco Bell Mild, Hot, Fire Border, Diablo, Baja, or Lava sauce with my recipes here.

You might also want to try my improved Taco Bell beef recipe here.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

I first created the clone for this Cajun-style recipe back in 1994 for the second TSR book, More Top Secret Recipes, but I've never been overjoyed with the results. After convincing a Popeyes manager to show me the ingredients written on the box of red bean mixture, I determined the only way to create an accurate Popeyes Red Beans and Rice recipe is to include an important ingredient omitted from the first version: pork fat. Emeril Lagasse—a Cajun food master—says, "pork fat rules," and it does. 

We could get the delicious smoky fat from rendering smoked ham hocks, but that takes too long. The easiest way is to cook 4 or 5 pieces of bacon, save the cooked bacon for another recipe (or eat it!), then use 1/4 cup of the fat for my Popeyes Red Beans and rice recipe below. As for the beans, find red beans (they're smaller than kidney beans) in two 15-ounce cans. If you're having trouble tracking down red beans, red kidney beans will be a fine substitute.

Can't get enough Popeyes? Find all of my recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.