This Texas Roadhouse Secret Ordering Hack Instantly Upgrades Any Side

Texas Roadhouse unsurprisingly has plenty of great menu items, regardless of whether you're looking at the chain's dinner entrees, side dishes, or even its reduced-price early bird specials, which are served at the best time to go for a cheaper meal. However, it's not controversial to say that the chain's steaks are where it shines the most, as the seasoning used on them is superbly delicious and would be a real game-changer if added to other dishes. Luckily, this can be done at Texas Roadhouse if you ask. The biggest upgrade you can make to your side dishes is requesting some of the restaurant's signature steak seasoning on top of them, a boost in flavor that goes a long way for several of the chain's menu items.

This tactic can effectively be used on any item on the menu, but is especially useful for a handful of dishes at America's most popular casual dining chain. Texas Roadhouse items like steak fries and mashed potatoes — which are often ordered alongside steak due to their complementary taste — arguably benefit the most from the use of Texas Roadhouse's sirloin seasoning. However, you can also add the seasoning to your mac and cheese or steamed vegetables to really amp things up for more tame side dishes. Furthermore, you can also order a side of the sirloin seasoning for the table for free, allowing you to dip foods into it and spread it among whatever items you'd like.

What makes the Texas Roadhouse sirloin seasoning so good? The list of ingredients in the official steak seasoning recipe consists of sugar, salt, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, monosodium glutamate (MSG), spices, paprika, turmeric, and soybean oil,  with MSG being the heavy hitter in the umami department while most of the other ingredients aid in giving the seasoning its savory taste. Thus, while the exact way in which these ingredients come together has never been specified by Texas Roadhouse, the ingredients themselves paint a fairly clear picture of how the seasoning delivers its great taste.

Luckily, the relatively simple and replicable ingredients list has led many to create their own copycat recipes of the Texas Roadhouse sirloin seasoning, allowing consumers to put it on anything they can think of at home. While each copycat is slightly different, many opt to further simplify the seasoning's recipe by doing away with the MSG and soybean oil while adding ingredients like black pepper and cornstarch to the mix. However, because MSG is such a powerhouse of an ingredient, some believe that copycat recipes without it are incapable of truly replicating the incredible topping.