This Is Why Arby's Roast Beef Is So Delicious

We get it — fast food is quick and easy and convenient. There are plenty of times in life when the drive-thru is the only option for squeezing in meals with a busy schedule, or staving off hunger on a long road trip. But sometimes you want to chow down on something a little more original than a burger and fries, or yet another spicy chicken sandwich. That's where Arby's comes in. The home of the Classic Beef 'N Cheddar built its reputation on offering an out-of-the-box fast food menu celebrating all things meat, giving customers an alternative to the hamburger in the form of roast beef.

Today, Arby's has grown into the second biggest sandwich restaurant brand in the world. What started as a single sandwich shop in Boardman, Ohio in 1964 has grown to span nine countries, with more than 3,500 restaurants selling 130 million pounds of meat to carnivorous customers every year (via Drovers). While a lot has evolved for Arby's over the years, what hasn't changed is the company's signature roast beef sandwich, which has been made from the same recipe for the last 40 years (via Business Insider).

Clearly, Arby's is doing something right with their roast beef. So what is it about their signature staple that made the chain a household name? Mashed took a deep dive to figure out why we can't get enough of Arby's roast beef and understand what it is that makes this classic so delicious.

Real meat is a great place to start, but that alone does not make for great beef. That's why Arby's prepares their roast beef in the restaurant every day (via Business Insider), making sure it's always fresh and done right. In the words of one franchise owner in New York (via The Post-Journal), Arby's is serving up "slow-roasted, lean roast beef, that we cook in-house all day long," to ensure that, "every time that someone comes in to get a roast beef sandwich... they are getting a quality fresh product." Snopes, in its efforts to debunk the liquid meat myth, also confirmed that Arby's workers back in the kitchen have the routine job of placing all the roasts sent to the restaurant each day onto cooking sheets to roast for about three hours. The roasts have to cool for a bit afterward, and then they're ready to slice and serve on some sandwiches.

It would certainly ruin a perfectly juicy, marinated, and slow-roasted beef sandwich if all that meat was sliced up too soon and left to dry out, becoming stale and losing flavor. So Arby's knows that a key to its legendary roast beef sandwiches is freshly slicing its meat in store, every day, something it's been doing since it opened its doors in 1964.

The company has said, and employees confirm, that all of Arby's roast beef is weighed and sliced to order, hopefully ensuring that every sandwich contains maximum meat, and maximum flavor and texture. It may mean a little extra work to make each sandwich, but it makes a big difference in quality. At least one former employee boasted about just how much this set Arby's apart, writing on Reddit that "all of the roast beef is cooked daily and sliced to order just moments before it gets on the sandwich and into your hands. I know this sounds like Arby's propaganda, but it's the absolute truth and one of the reasons why I was proud to work there compared to other fast-food."

Arby's has made it clear that it is committed to supporting and providing sustainable beef, and it's hoping you can taste the difference in each roast beef sandwich. The company is a member of the U.S.Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which puts forward initiatives to improve beef sustainability across the board — that means everything from "water resources, land resources, animal health and well-being, employee safety and well-being, efficiency and yield and air and greenhouse gas emissions," according to the industry-wide framework put forward in 2019. 

Beyond all the benefits to people and the environment that come from more sustainable beef production, there's also another important incentive. Sustainable beef is produced from cows that are ethically and humanely farmed — usually fed organically and pasture-raised. And there's scientific data to suggest that sustainably farmed cows, which tend to live happier, healthier lives than industrially raised cattle, produce better tasting, higher quality meat (via The Independent).

Maybe you're not a cheese person, and that's okay. There are other ways you can take a roast beef sandwich from Arby's over the edge. The chain makes several sauces designed to do just that. You can't go wrong with Arby's Sauce — the chain's original signature sauce. It's zesty, tangy and a little bit sweet, made with tomato, garlic, spices and vinegar. There's definitely a barbecue vibe to it, but it's still unique in its own Arby's style. And when you're having a sandwich stuffed full of salty roast beef, the slightly sugary and acidic notes make it the ultimate flavor pairing. 

Of course, if you like things a little bolder, Arby's has its own take on the classic roast beef and horseradish pairing. Arby's Horsey Sauce is creamy and tangy with a kick, made with eggs, mustard, spices, and horseradish. And you can always throw all caution to the wind and jazz up your roast beef sandwich with both sauces.

If you're in the mood for a roast beef sandwich, chances are you're pretty hungry. And when your appetite gears up for something that hearty, the last thing you want is a skimpy sandwich. A few measly slices of thin meat just isn't going to cut it. And Arby's knows that. "In the end what built the Arby's brand were big, meaty sandwiches," Arby's Chief Marketing Officer told Drovers. To that end, he says the company has always been focused not just on "the quality of the food," but also "the abundance of meat in the sandwich." 

That's why each and every Arby's roast beef sandwich gets measured as the beef is sliced, ensuring you're getting maximum meat in every bite. And Arby's also knows that some people need more meat than others to fill them up. So they offer their classic roast beef sandwich, as well as their Beef 'N Cheddar sandwich, in a regular size-sandwich, a larger sandwich that's double the size of the regular, as well as a mega-sandwich with a whopping half-pound of roast beef on it.