Well, we don’t exactly have the secret White Spot Triple-O sauce recipe – but there are many theories about what makes that absolutely legendary taste. We’ve scoured the Internet, talked with theorists, and got information from informants and believe we have some good theories of what it is made of.
In case you don’t know what we’re talking about, White Spot is a line of restaurants on the west coast of Canada and makes some of the best burgers in in the region. Their signature “Triple-O” sauce and toasted buns is what distinguishes itself from the run-of-the-mill burger you get elsewhere.
It’s been speculated (not confirmed) that the sauce was actually developed at the University of British Columbia’s Food Sciences lab and was commissioned by White Spot.
These days, if you ask for extra Triple-O sauce (yes! you can!) at White Spot, you’ll notice that you get little cup that has a white sauce and a red sauce on top. Let’s get right down to the theories. Let’s talk about the white sauce first and then the red sauce.
Theories for the white sauce:
- Mayo (Homemade, traditional style)
- Mayo with Honey and some paprika
- Sweet Mayo with cayenne pepper
- Mayo with some onion powder and cayenne pepper
- Mayo with melted butter
- Mayo with Orange Juice -hence Triple O? (probably not since Triple O meant triple the sauce)
Theories for the red sauce:
It seems like most people are in agreement that the red sauce is nothing other than:
Red Relish (also known as Hamburger relish) – eg. Bicks brand
So there you have it – the maybe-secret-recipe to the White Spot Triple-O Sauce. We’ll be trying some of these theories out ourselves at the next BBQ and will be reporting back to you soon. Please leave us a comment if you have other theories or insights!
Thanks for the 
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The mayo/seafood cocktail sauce mix seems close. Does anyone have an idea as to the batter recipe for the now politically incorrect “chicken in the straw”??
We can cancel out #5. Mayo with melted butter. I have life-threatening allergies to all milk and milk by-products and I always get the legendary burger there.
I hardly believe that the sauce was commissioned by The White Spot to be developed by UBC. Nat Bailey who founded the restaurant created it ages ago. It’s not likely that UBC had a food sciences lab in the 1920′s when he started it out. If you make mayonnaise and omit the vinigar, you’d probably be close to the ‘white’ sauce. There’s no orange juice in it. That would make it too tangy. Chances are that back when he created it, there wasn’t a lot of options for oil to be used in the mayo. Could have been olive oil?
here it is folks bicks hambuger relish mix with nutty club seafood sauce and then the mayo you have triple o sauce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I really want to know is who or what made the original White Spot hamburger buns circa 1975. How can I make them? Where can I get them?
Years ago 1980-82 I drove truck in the Vancouver area and one of my customers was Kraft Foods. I hauled many loads of Kraft Foods mayonnaise from the warehouse in Surrey to White Spots commissary on Marine Drive. I must say that I also loved Triple O then and now and I asked someone in the lunchroom during a break one day why does the mayonnaise at the restaurant taste different than the Kraft mayonnaise I deliver there? I was told that they take the Kraft mayonnaise and blend liquid egg yolks and cayenne/paprika to it and turn it into part one of the Triple O.
I asked numerous time what the red relish was and was told that it was Bicks Red Relish (2 parts) and Heinz Chilli Sauce (1 part), again blended at the commissary on Marine Drive.
The mayo and the relish is shipped separately to the restaurants and is not blended.
I have used Kraft Mayo and added a couple of egg yolks to it and whizzed it in a food processor while adding some cayenne (very little) and some paprika (very little) and I think it is very close but not exact. So either my memory isn’t as sharp as I would like it to be or the workers there held back some crucial info. I don’t know for certain.
The relish however is a dead ringer for what they serve in the restaurants. I would do unspeakable and morally depraved acts to get the exact recipe for that mayonnaise as it is my favourite thing to dip a home made french fry into, bar none…. But what I have come up with is very, very good too.
2 cups Kraft Mayo
2-3 eggs yolks
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
Add to food processor and whiz until fully incorporated. If you have a fear of raw eggs then use some commercial pasteurized liquid egg yolks.
Bart – Thanks for the sleuthing and recipe! I am going to give this a try the next time it’s burger night at home
The yolks must add a nice creaminess to the (already creamy) mayo.
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