Copycat Arby's Beef and Cheddar with Arby's Red Ranch Sauce
An identical, homemade Arby's roast beef sandwich with homemade Arby's red ranch sauce and Arby's cheese sauce, stacked high with shaved roast beef on a large poppy seed onion brioche bun.
Servings: 6 sandwiches
Calories: 478kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs roast beef deli shaved or thinly sliced
- 6 hamburger buns
- 1 egg white beaten, or whole egg; for buns
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds for topping buns
- tablespoon dehydrated minced onion for topping buns
Arby's Cheese Sauce
- 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded, off the block; can substitute medium or mild
- 4 oz American cheese from the deli, shredded off the block
- ¼ cup half and half can substitute milk
- ¼ teaspoon paprika regular sweet, not smoked
Arby's Sauce Recipe
- 1 cup ketchup
- ⅛ cup apple cider vinegar can substitute white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoon mayonnaise
Instructions
Prepare Roast Beef and Buns
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Wrap the shaved roast beef in foil like a "packet" and keep in the oven to heat through.
- Arrange buns on a baking sheet.
- Brush tops of buns with beaten egg white (or whole egg, or butter); then sprinkle with poppy seeds and minced onion.
- Bake for 5-6 minutes.
For the Arby's Cheese Sauce
- Combine the shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces), American cheese (4 ounces, shredded or cut into cubes) with half and half (¼ cup) and ¼ teaspoon paprika in a small saucepan on medium-low heat.
- Cover, and stir occasionally until melted, smooth and combined. Turn off heat, or leave on lowest setting while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Arby's Red Ranch Sauce
- In a small saucepan, bring the ketchup (1 cup), apple cider vinegar (⅛ cup), sugar (½ tsp), paprika (½ tsp), garlic and onion powders (¼ tsp), salt (½ tsp), and water (¼ cup).
- Simmer the ingredients in the saucepan on medium high heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the mayonnaise (2 tsp) until combined.
Assemble the Sandwiches
- Top the bottom bun first with a splat of homemade Arby's sauce, then pile with roast beef, then spoon over cheddar cheese sauce, followed by more Arby's sauce. Top with top onion and poppy seed bun.
- The prepared sandwiches can be kept warm in the oven at 170 degrees Fahrenheit until ready to eat, for up to one hour.
Notes
Recipe Notes:
- If you don't want to make the Arby's red ranch sauce from scratch, you can substitute Catalina or Dorothy Lynch dressing.
- If you don't want to make the cheese sauce from scratch you can use pre-made, canned cheddar cheese sauce; heat on the stove top or in microwave until warm.
- The thinner the roast beef is sliced the better. Often, you can go to the deli and ask the butcher to shave the roast beef off on the thinnest setting possible. This is going to give you the most accurate replica of what an Arby's sandwich signature is; a pile of razor thin meat on a bun.
- You can buy store bought or use your favorite homemade bun recipe, but make sure to really mince the onion very small, just like what's atop the Beef n Cheddar bun.
- When creating the onion poppy seed buns, it's important to immediately wrap the finished buns tightly in foil so that they don't dry out. The steam will also help to keep them soft.
- Extra Arby's sauce can be kept in the refrigerator in a container for a month.
- Don't use a higher than medium heat setting when making the cheese sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 2938mg | Potassium: 590mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 630IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 766mg | Iron: 4mg