Copycat TGI Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Sauce – an easy, from scratch sauce that is great on chicken, fish, veggies – the possibilities are endless!
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I got an email way back in 2003 called Insider’s Recipes for Brand Name Foods that included this recipe. I love Jack Daniels sauce from Friday’s & this recipe tastes just like it.
WHAT DOES JACK DANIEL’S TASTE LIKE
Jack Daniel’s tastes similar to a bourbon. It’s a Tennessee whiskey, which is the same as bourbon except its been charcoal filtered so it’s a little less harsh and more charcoal flavors, which makes it great in a sauce (especially paired with grilled foods).
Today we paired this Jack Daniel’s with this boneless wings recipe & it tasted just like the Sesame Jack Strips appetizer from TGI Friday’s.
The second day (since there was a lot left), I made grilled chicken breasts & brushed the sauce over them. Delicious.
HOW DO YOU MAKE JD BBQ SAUCE?
Making Jack Daniels Sauce is probably easier than you think. You take everyday ingredients (listed below) and bring them to a boil. Once they’re boiling, you let it simmer until it thickens. Easy!
TGI FRIDAYS JACK DANIEL’S SAUCE INGREDIENTS
- Minced Garlic – I give instructions on how to roast a head of garlic below. If you want a short cut, you can buy the minced garlic in oil from the grocery store that I always keep on hand.
- Olive Oil
- Water
- Pineapple Juice – you can use the juice from the crushed pineapple can you’ll need
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Soy Sauce – you can use low sodium if that’s what you prefer
- Dark Brown Sugar – dark brown sugar has more molasses and a more complex flavor
- Lemon Juice – fresh is best!
- White Onion – white onions are sweeter & cleaner in flavor than yellow onions with a milder flavor
- Jack Daniels Whiskey
- Crushed Pineapple – buy a can and also use the juice from it
- Cayenne Pepper
HOW LONG DOES THIS SAUCE KEEP?
You can keep this Jack Daniel’s sauce up to 5 days sealed in the fridge safely. Longer than that, I’d freeze it. (it’s probably fine longer because it has some natural preservatives in it, but I always am leery). I have not tried to can it.
IS JACK DANIEL’S SAUCE VEGETARIAN?
Jack Daniels Sauce is vegetarian – even better, it’s vegan! You can use it as a dipping sauce, a glaze, or a marinade so meat eaters and vegetarians alike can enjoy it.
HOW TO ROAST YOUR OWN GARLIC
If you have time (and inclination), you can roast your own garlic for this recipe. Here’s how:
First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Next, cut about 1/2″ off of the top of the garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Put garlic into a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it, and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour.
Finally, remove garlic and let it cool until you can handle it.
TOOLS FOUND ON AMAZON TO HELP YOU:
- Whisk – I actually need a new one and this one is calling my name.
- Medium Saucepan – I really like when pans are dishwasher safe.
- Container – for storing the extra sauce.
- Silicone brush – for brushing this sauce onto chicken, veggies, etc.
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TGI Friday's Jack Daniels Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic OR 1 head of garlic - see instructions above
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons minced white onion
- 1 Tablespoon Jack Daniels Whiskey
- 1 Tablespoon crushed pineapple
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar over medium/high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat until mixture is just simmering.
- Add the minced garlic (OR if you're roasting your own garlic, over the saucepan, squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until the pasty roasted garlic comes out). Whisk to combine.
- Add remaining ingredients to the pan and stir.
- Let the mixture simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by about half and is thick and syrupy. Don't let it boil over.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying/pasting and/or screenshots of full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Content and photographs are copyright protected.
Photos updated May 25, 2017
I found that Scottish Whiskey gave much better flavour to the sauce
Can you use this on pork chops?
Sure 🙂
How long would this last stored in the refrigerator?
I’d say 5 days in the fridge. I elaborate a couple paragraphs up 🙂
Is there a non-alcoholic substitute for the Jack Daniels?
Thank you!
You can swap in vanilla extract 🙂
What would need to be added to thicken the sauce? It tastes amazing! However, when I made it, I found it to be a bit loose.
I suppose you could add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it but I always just let it cook down to get syrupy 🙂 glad you liked it!
Perfect burger sauce!
Yes! It’s been perfect on everything I’ve put it on!
What brand of terriyaki sauce did you use?
I usually have Kikkoman on hand.
Thank you for this recipe it turned out great!!
You’re welcome! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
I love the TGI Friday’s JD sauce so I had to try this. It is SO close to the restaurant version and it was AMAZING on a burger! Can’t wait to eat it with other foods.
I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Our daughter is allergic to pineapple is there anything I could supplement it with?
I have not tried, but I think you could swap it out with orange juice & it would be similar.
This recipe was amazing!! I actually doubled the whole entire recipe because I wanted to have a lot of it.
It tastes identical to JD sauce.
I put this on chicken, burgers, and dip my fries in it.
I worked at a tgi Friday’s for years, and ate this everyday. Now we don’t have a local T.G.I. Friday’s anymore! I’m SO happy I found this recipe, it was spot on! Thank you!!
Made my day – thanks for reporting back!
How long will this sauce last in the refrigerator? And can you Can it
I answered above:
You can keep this Jack Daniel’s sauce up to 5 days sealed in the fridge safely. Longer than that, I’d freeze it. (it’s probably fine longer because it has some natural preservatives in it, but I always am leery). I have not tried to can it.
But I have never canned anything so I’m no help with that.
This recipe was great. I’ll definitely make it again. It does resemble the original. Although I had trouble with it being too spicy, next time I’ll use 1/8 tsp. of cayenne. And I couldn’t get my sauce to thicken up but still worked. I poured it over 2 steaks and baked. Yum with a little lip sweat lol.
Thanks, Wendi!
I don’t see where it calls to add in the whiskey lemon juice and cayenne pepper?
Step #3 is add remaining ingredients 🙂
It was good I had to substitute crushed pineapple cause I didn’t have it with appriots in a can and I crushed it. Worked out great. Oh I used Scottish whiskey too.