Fry sauce, a tangy pink concoction made from ketchup and mayonnaise, is widely considered a staple condiment in Utah. Yet this creamy, salty, and slightly sweet dip has a unique and surprisingly recent history tied to the state.
What is Fry Sauce?
Fry sauce is a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise, sometimes with additional seasonings added. The standard recipe calls for:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1⁄4 cup ketchup
- Dash of black pepper (optional)
- Dash of paprika (optional)
The ketchup gives the sauce a tangy tomato flavor and pinkish hue, while the mayo lends richness and thickness. The result is a smooth, creamy dipping sauce that goes well with fries, chips, chicken strips, and other finger foods.
Origins of Fry Sauce
While combining ketchup and mayonnaise into a dip isn’t unique to Utah, fry sauce as it’s known today traces its origins to two Salt Lake City restaurants in the 1940s-50s:
- Arctic Circle: This burger and shake chain trademarked “Fry Sauce” in 1948. Their original recipe mixed ketchup, mayo, and their secret seasoning.
- Crown Burger: This local chain claims to have invented fry sauce in the 1950s. They mixed ketchup and mayo upon customer request to dip deep-fried patties called “pastrami burgers.”
So while Arctic Circle popularized and commercialized the term “fry sauce,” Crown Burger may have been the first to actually serve the salty-sweet sauce in Utah. From these origins, fry sauce continued spreading on restaurant menus and in homes across the state over the following decades.
How Fry Sauce Took Over Utah
There are several factors that allowed fry sauce to become so ubiquitous in Utah:
- Mormon influence – The LDS avoidance of “hot drinks” like coffee led Utahans to drink more soda. Fry sauce complements salty and sweet sodas.
- Regional tastes – Utah palates seem to favor dishes with sweet and salty flavors, which fry sauce delivers.
- Cultural identity – As a food created in Utah, fry sauce let locals establish their own unique culinary tradition.
- Fast food – Chains like Arctic Circle, Crown Burger and others drove fry sauce into the mainstream.
- Fry focus – A tradition of fried foods at potlucks, restaurants, and events made fry sauce a perfect pairing.
Through some combination of these factors, fry sauce gained popularity over the post-war era until it was firmly embedded in Utah’s regional cuisine by the 1970s and 80s.
Fry Sauce Today
These days, fry sauce is offered by default at most Utah restaurants, available in grocery stores, and present at backyard barbeques. A few fast facts about fry sauce’s current status in Utah:
- Over 75% of Utahns identify fry sauce as part of their state’s identity and regularly consume it.
- Annual fry sauce consumption per person in Utah is estimated at 2-3 gallons.
- Some Utahns admit to being “hopelessly addicted” and eating it daily.
- Locals embrace innovations like spicy fry sauce, bacon fry sauce and more.
- Transplants commonly complain they “just don’t get” the Utah obsession with it.
| Year | Utahns Who Say They “Love” Fry Sauce |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 63% |
| 2010 | 71% |
| 2020 | 82% |
Some die-hard fry sauce fans even have custom fry sauce-themed merchandise like t-shirts, stickers, and fridge magnets to tout their passion. So while the creamy condiment has its dissenters, fry sauce has undoubtedly reached a beloved cult status in Utah.
Why Utah?
Fry sauce may have originated in Utah by chance, but it took hold here for multiple reasons:
- It resonated with local preferences for sweet, salty, creamy foods.
- Early restaurant chains successfully promoted it.
- As a homegrown condiment, it became part of Utah’s identity.
- The concentration of fried food in the diet gave it plenty of use.
- Shared enthusiasm across communities reinforced the trend.
So fry sauce’s rise to prominence resulted from some lucky coincidences aligned with Utah’s culinary culture. While fry sauce has spread beyond the state, it remains most closely tied to Utah. Visitors may be puzzled by its status, but locals enthusiastically claim fry sauce as a quirky point of pride.
Conclusion
Fry sauce rapidly grew from an improvised burger joint condiment into a beloved Utah food tradition. Its origins can be traced to Salt Lake City in the 1940s-50s. Thanks to local tastes, restaurant promotion, cultural pride, and passion for fried foods, fry sauce became deeply ingrained in Utah’s cuisine over the second half of the 20th century. The tangy, creamy sauce is still a point of pride and obsession for many Utahns today, even as it draws bemusement from outsiders. Fry sauce’s rise reflects how an unlikely food mashup can sometimes merge with a region’s identity.