secret sauce

[ see-krit saws ]

noun

1. a secret element, strategy, procedure, etc., that accounts for or increases the chances of success:

   The app's secret sauce is its simple interface.

Word History and Origins

Origin of secret sauce¹

From a so-called sauce for hamburgers whose ingredients are a closely held secret

Example Sentences

Yet according to a new paper, it may be the secret sauce for an entirely new kind of computer—one that combines quantum mechanics with the brain’s inner workings.

From Singularity Hub 

No doubt its ability to create an obsessed community has been much of its secret sauce to success.

From Fortune

The secret sauce for these struggling businesses lies in the ability to combine the two platforms and create an omnichannel retail strategy to provide the best possible experience all around, without having to choose one or the other.

From Search Engine Land

So, our secret weapon, if you wanted to have restaurant, bookshop, bar, co-working space and so forth, sort of coexisting together, our secret sauce was that Downtown Project owned all the property.

From Freakonomics

VF’s secret sauce with acquisitions has long been to keep brands’ management and identity separate from other labels in its portfolio rather than chase illusory synergies.

From Fortune

Jay Fletcher has become the secret sauce to dozens of success stories in this arena.

From The Daily Beast

Be Positive and Down to Earth—trust is the indispensable secret sauce of successful leadership.

From The Daily Beast