Jack in the Box Cluck Sandwich Recipe

The Jack in the Box Cluck Sandwich is a thick, crispy-fried chicken fillet with two pickles and the chain's Mystery Sauce on a toasted brioche bun. This copy marinates four chicken breast fillets in buttermilk, breads them in seasoned flour and fries them at 350°F for five to six minutes. The sauce is mayonnaise with tomato paste, brown sugar and mustard.

What is on the Cluck Sandwich

Jack in the Box introduced it in December 2020. QSR Magazine described a crispy chicken fillet topped with pickles and a mystery sauce on a warm brioche bun, at select locations for a limited time, with a Deluxe version that adds guacamole, cheddar and bacon.

Brand Eating reviewed it that month: a thicker fried fillet, the sauce and two pickles on a toasted brioche bun, 490 calories. Going by the ingredient statement, the reviewer wrote, the Mystery Sauce is mostly mayonnaise, tomato paste, brown sugar and mustard, with some spices.

The recipe below is a reconstruction from those two descriptions. It carries no calorie figure of its own, because the chicken is deep-fried and the oil it takes up cannot be measured. MakeFoodLovely is not connected with Jack in the Box.

Recipe

Jack in the Box Cluck Sandwich

A reconstruction of the Jack in the Box Cluck Sandwich — a fried chicken breast fillet with pickles and a mayonnaise, tomato paste, brown sugar and mustard sauce on a toasted brioche bun. Four sandwiches.

5.0 (1)Print

Prep

25 min

Cook

15 min

Total

1 hr 40 min

Serves

4

Cuisine

American

Ingredients

• For the Mystery Sauce:
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• For the chicken:
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• For the sandwiches:
• 4 brioche buns
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 8 dill pickle chips

Instructions

1. Stir the mayonnaise, tomato paste, brown sugar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder together and refrigerate the sauce.
2. Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to make 4 fillets about 3/4 inch thick. Stir the buttermilk, the hot sauce and 1 teaspoon of salt together, add the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper in a wide dish. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the flour and rub it in until the flour is full of small flakes.
4. Lift the fillets out of the marinade and press them firmly into the flour on both sides. Set them on a rack for 10 minutes.
5. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot to 350°F. Fry the fillets two at a time for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and 165°F inside. Drain them on a rack.
6. Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them in a skillet over medium heat until golden. Spread 1 tablespoon of sauce on each bottom bun, add a fillet and 2 pickle chips and close the sandwich.

The Mystery Sauce, as far as it is known

Four ingredients are named, and the card uses them in that order of weight: mayonnaise first, then tomato paste, brown sugar and mustard. Paprika and garlic powder stand in for the spices that the review does not name.

The sauce is sweet and tangy, not hot. For heat, add 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne.

The name may have changed since. On 2 October 2026 the chain's menu, as listed on DoorDash, describes the Cluck Sandwich with pickles and Jack's Good Good Sauce on a toasted brioche, at 710 calories. Whether that is the Mystery Sauce under a new name or a different sauce, the listing does not say.

A thick fillet that cooks through

• Three quarters of an inch. Halved horizontally, a large breast gives two fillets of even thickness. A whole breast is raw in the middle when the crust is done.
• Flakes in the flour. The marinade rubbed into the flour makes the craggy crust.
• Ten minutes on the rack before frying, so that the coating holds.
• 350°F. Hotter oil browns the crust before the chicken reaches 165°F.

In an air fryer, spray the breaded fillets well with oil and cook them at 400°F for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once.

The Cluck Deluxe

For the Deluxe version that QSR Magazine describes, add 2 tablespoons of guacamole, a slice of cheddar and 2 slices of crisp bacon to each sandwich.

Buns, and other chicken sandwiches

For homemade buns, the brioche loaf page on this site has a variation.

The chain's grilled chicken sandwich, with a copy of the Good Good Sauce, is on the grilled chicken sandwich page, and its burger is the Ultimate Cheeseburger. From another chain there is the Burger King chicken sandwich.