The Ultimate In-N-Out Secret Menu (Some of Which Will Save You Money)
I absolutely love the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger and order from it regularly. One of the things I have always liked about In-N-Out is how you can customize your order and add some cool things that aren’t on the regular menu. Stuff that has become fast food folklore over the years. I’m lucky enough to have 2 locations in my town which made it EASY to do the painstakingly tasty research to get to the bottom of this secret menu and figure out how the whole thing works.
Below is how their secret menu currently breaks down (by category, in alphabetical order):
Secret Burger Menu:
1 by 4: If cheese is your thing, order a “1 by 4” burger. You’ll get 1 beef patty and 4 slices of American cheese. A better name might be “The Binder”.
2 by 4: Order this bad boy and you’ll get 2 beef patties and 4 slices of cheese. Essentially it’s a Double-Double with double the cheese.
3 by Meat: If cheese ain’t your thing, but meat is, order a “3 by Meat” and get 3 beef patties and no cheese.
3×3: A burger with 3 patties and 3 slices of cheese. Let the magic begin. My son (13) had his first 3×3 last weekend and I was a bit jealous, but knew better.
4×4: 4 patties and 4 slices of cheese. This is the biggest burger you can get at In-N-Out burger. They won’t do a 5×5 or 48×48 any more.
Animal Style Burger: A burger with grilled onions, pickles, extra spread, and a mustard grilled patty.
The spread is a mixture of mayo, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish. You can get any burger “Animal Style” and enjoy the explosion of flavors.
See Also: 5 In-N-Out Burger Money-Saving Menu Hacks Worth Knowing
Animal Style Burger w/ Whole Onion: Thanks to Mrs. T for this one, “Ask for whole-grilled onion on your burger next time you go.
They put a thick slice of onion on the grill and it comes out WAY better than the regular chopped grilled onion. No chance of those little inedible bits of burnt onion that sometimes show up.
My personal favorite way to enjoy this is animal style with whole grilled onion instead.”
Chopped Chilies: Ask for it and get hot yellow peppers (kinda like pepperoncini peppers, but hotter) on your burger, you can also ask for “grilled chilis” if you want them soft and warm.
Cold Cheese Burger: If melted cheese isn’t your thing, ask for “cold cheese” on your burger.
Cut in Half (MONEY SAVER): Splitting a burger? Ask for it “cut in half.” Great for feeding little kids as it’ll save you money and you’ll have less waste.
Double Meat Burger: This one is on the official In-N-Out secret menu page but is a bit of a head scratcher. Isn’t double meat basically a “double double” burger minus the cheese?
Double Single: Order your next burger “double single” and you’ll get 2 beef patties and a single slice of cheese. Then add chopped chilies, chopped onions, and a single slice of tomato. Top it off at the condiment bar with a squeeze of lemon juice on top.
Extra Everything (FRUGAL FAVORITE): When you order your burger with “extra everything” they’ll give you more lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion at no additional charge.
Extra Salt: If your blood pressure isn’t high-enough already, order extra salt and they’ll sprinkle a little more sodium on your patty for free.
Extra Toast: I love their toasted buns. If you want them a little extra toasty, just order your burger “Extra Toast”.
Fly-Away Burger: Order this if you’re traveling and don’t have time to eat. They’ll wrap your burger (and condiments) in separate packages so you can reheat and assemble when you reach your destination.
Flying Dutchman: 2 slices of melted cheese sandwiched between 2 beef patties. That’s it. Bon Appetit. (Full Breakdown)
Flying Dutchman (Animal Style): The same as above with grilled onion, pickles, and spread on top.
Flying Dutchman Workaround: Since In-N-Out will no longer do anything bigger than a 4×4, a simple workaround is to order a Flying Dutchman with your burger and just add it yourself. Order a Flying Dutchman with your 4×4 and you got yo’self a 6×6.
Grilled Cheese: A burger with cheese without any meat. You can order it with whatever veggies or condiments you want or get it with bread and cheese only.
Medium Rare: Order it if you want a little pink in the middle of your burger patty.
Mustard Grilled Patty: This one is really delicious. They’ll start cooking your patty, spread some mustard on the uncooked side, then flip it and finish cooking it. When you order your burger “Animal Style” they’ll automatically do this for you.
No Salt: They sprinkle salt on your patty while they’re cooking it. If you don’t want any, just say “No Salt”.
No Toast: If you want your bun “un-toasted” you can get that too. You’re crazy as I love the toasted bun…but I won’t judge.
Protein Style: I have gotten this before and it’s actually not bad. It’s basically a burger without the bun. They wrap it all with a couple large leaves of lettuce.
Scooby Snack: For those who have a dog in the car or just just need an extra meat patty, ask for a “Scooby Snack”.
Side-Salad (FRUGAL FAVORITE): If you’re really craving a meat burger, but still want the health benefits of the veggies, order your burger with a “side-salad” and they’ll put the lettuce, tomato, and onions in a separate burger bag for you.
Tomato Style: This is a protein style burger except you swap the lettuce for tomato ends. Thanks to Jeff for filling me in on this one.
Veggie Burger (or Wish Burger): No veggie patties at In-N-Out. Their veggie burger comes with NO patty at all. At least ask for extra tomato or diced chili peppers to spice things up a little.
Well Done: If you prefer your burger to resemble leather, order that sucker “Well done”.
Z Burger: Apparently this is a burger with only the bun, patty, and a slice of cheese (if you’re having a cheeseburger).
See Also: McDonald’s Secret Menu: Mickey D’s in a Whole New Light
Secret In-N-Out Fries Menu
Animal Style Fries: Fries with melted cheese, spread, and grilled onions. My son ordered this the other day and all I could do was sit and stare while he attempted to eat it. Consider ordering it “fry well” as the fries will hold up better and not become a soggy mess.
Word of warning: You’re probably going to need a fork or you’re going to end up wearing it. Also, I would recommend mixing it all together before the cheese starts to coagulate.
“Upside Down” Animal Style Fries: From this Reddit forum, “When ordering Animal Fries, ask for a second paper dish for them and flip them upside down. You can control your cheese and sauce ratio per fry and you won’t end up with a mess all over your hands.” Love it!
Roadkill Fries: This is when you get a Flying Dutchman burger dumped on top of your Animal Style fries. To remind you, a Flying Dutchman is 2 slices of melted cheese sandwiched between 2 beef patties. Pretty extreme stuff right there.
Cheese Fries: Regular fries with melted cheese on top.
Well Done Fries: Order this if you like your french fries crispy.
Extra Well-Done Fries: Really crispy fries, almost potato chip in texture.
Light Fries: If you like your fries a little under-cooked in nature, light fries are for you.
Light-Well Fries: When you order this, the french fries are cooked between regular and well done. This is kinda similar to ordering a steak medium-well.
2-Minute Fries: Ask for these and they’ll cook the fries for 2 short minutes and serve them to you. They’ll be warm, crunchy, and a little raw in the middle.
See Also: The Burger King Secret Menu Will Make You Bow to the King
Secret In-N-Out Drinks & Shakes Menu
FREE Hot Cocoa for Kids: I was driving thru my local In-N-Out the other day and noticed the above sign in the window. They were handing out a free 8oz. cup of hot cocoa to ALL kids 12 and under who politely asked. ONLY available on rainy days. Pretty cool…not sure if all locations do this, but worth asking about.
ANY Soda Float: In-N-Out will happily make you a soda float with a vanilla milkshake combined with the soda of your choice.
Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl: A milkshake made by swirling chocolate and vanilla milkshake together, also known by some employees as a “black & white”.
Lemon-Up: A refreshing combination of equal parts lemonade and 7-Up.
Large Shake: This is a milkshake in the medium sized soda cup.
Large Shake Cut-In-Half (MONEY SAVER): Order this and save money on a milkshake by having them split a large into two separate cups. A lot cheaper then ordering two small milkshakes, and you’ll get close to the same amount.
Extra-Large Shake: This is a milkshake poured into a large soda cup. I’m guessing it comes in at right around 750 calories.
Neapolitan Shake: This is a milkshake made of equal parts vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry milkshake.
Rootbeer Float: This sounds awesome. It’s simply a vanilla milkshake combined with root beer to make heaven on earth.
Tea-ade: A favorite with older generations, this is a mixture of lemonade and iced tea. Also known affectionately as an Arnold Palmer.
See Also: Starbucks Secret Menu to Help You Save Money
Secret Condiments Add-Ons
Onions: You can go nuts with the onions. They’ll serve them to you fresh or grilled and you can ask them to be diced or whole.
You can also get crazy and ask for any combination on your burger, including grilled and fresh. But only do this if you don’t have a date later on.
Pickles: The only time when your burger will come with pickles is when you order it “Animal Style”. If you want pickles, but not all the other stuff that comes with “Animal Style”, simply add them to your burger order for no extra charge.
Spread: If you’re a fan of their spread, which is a mixture of mayo, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish, you can ask for extra when ordering and they’ll throw in a few packets for free. Great for dipping french fries.
Yellow Chili Peppers (Hot): If you like your burger to have some extra kick, ask for chopped chilis on it, or a side of yellow chili peppers and you’ll get a little packet with two peppers in it.
Any other add-ons I might be missing? Let me know in the comments, thanks.
A Few Secret Menu Myths:
Chicken Sandwich: This is the most recant myth that first went viral on TikTok. While this would definitely be AWESOME, the company has vehemently denied it’s existence.
Monkey Style: This is getting animal style fries in the middle of your burger. Doesn’t exist. Feel free to do it yourself though.
Piggy Style: A slice of bacon on your burger. Doesn’t exist, but I sure wish it did as it sounds delicious.
Avocado Burger: You’ll never find an avocado anywhere near an In-N-Out location.
Okay, I am really hungry now. Currently you can only find In-N-Out Burger locations in these 7 states: California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas.
If you live in a state that doesn’t have a location, I found a really cool article and recipe on how to make your own double-double (animal style) at home.
Give it a try and I guarantee you’ll be a believer.
Ask the Reader: Do you have any new info on the In-N-Out Burger secret menu that I don’t have listed here? Or maybe you have first hand knowledge correcting something I have wrong?
Let me know in the comments section below so I can look into. Let’s make this the go-to article for In-N-Out fans.
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
I have come to squash some false information that may be circulating because of this article. I am an In-N-Out worker myself, so I feel it’s my duty. Let us begin!
1. and 2. Technically true. While there is no button for this burger, the order takers will understand what you are saying and put in the correct items.
3. We’d prefer if it were called Triple-Meat, but we’ll still understand the request.
4.-6. All true.
7. Be sure to specify that you want Whole Grilled Onion, as when you say just “whole onion” that could also mean the regular raw onion, so to save a follow up question, be sure to say the grilled part. You can get this on any burger, not just Animal, but if you get it on Animal, be sure to say “instead” if that’s the only kind of onion you want on your burger.
8.-12. True
13. Extra Everything means extra every condiment on your burger, so if you got a burger with just the spread and lettuce and ask for extra everything, it will have extra just those two.
14. and 15. True.
16. I have never heard of this phrase, so this was made up by someone externally. You can still do this in theory though, you can just ask for your burger plain, and ask for a one side each of all of your condiments.
17. and 18. The Flying Dutchman is true, but you can not add spread or pickles on top of it. You can get the meat Mustard Fried though, and you can add onions inside. I believe they are the only condiments allowed on that behind the counter, but you can always add them yourself by asking for a side of pickles or anything else.
19. This is generally what we recommend to anyone that wants above a 4X4, but it in and of itself has no name for us.
20. True.
21. Unfortunately, as of January 1st, 2017, In-N-Out is no longer able to do this due to state law in California, and to make every restaurant the same, no other non-Californian restaurants can do this either.
22. True, but it is referred to as Mustard Fried, and for reasons unknown, comes with Pickles by default, so if you don’t want them, ask for them off.
23.-25. All true.
26. I have never heard it referred to as this, but you can ask for a meat patty for your dog (or anyone really). We’ll typically ask if you want it no salt if it’s for the dog.
27. Similar to 16, but again, not really a menu item or a phrase we’re truly aware of. So you can just ask for a side of all the veggies you want on the side.
28. The most secretive actual secret menu item, but yes, this one is true. Heck, even the order taker might not know it, but it is true. Only, it’s called Tomato Wrap.
29. True, but I have never heard of it referred to as a Wish Burger, so just saying Veggie Burger will do just fine.
30. True.
31. While it’s typed on the receipt as Z (I believe to stand for zilch), you can just say “Plain” and whatever burger you are getting will only come with the fundamentals. So a cheeseburger plain will just be one meat, one cheese, and one bun. Grilled Cheese plain will be just the cheese and bun. Heck, here’s a way to only get a toasted bun if that’s what you’re into. Ask for a Veggie Plain, and all you’ll get is a toasted bun.
1. True.
2. While we won’t do this ourselves, you could ask for all the extra stuff to do this yourself once you get the fries.
3. I gotta squash this because we can not do this, but as the work around, you can ask for Animal Fries and a Flying Dutchman, and you can do this yourself.
4.-8. All true.
9. This term isn’t something we’re trained on, but if you ask for your fries Extra Light, I believe the fry person will fry them for the minimum required time. Don’t know if that’s two minutes or not, as nobody has asked for this while I have been around.
1.-9. All true, you can mix and match whatever drinks you want in the drive through, although it might get a tad confusing, especially during a rush, because we would have to put a special tag next to the drink, and then remember it.
As for the Condiments, I will give you a full list of what you can ask for:
Spread, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions (raw / grilled, whole / chopped; pick one of each), Pickles, Chilis, Mustard, and Ketchup (can both be asked for instead of the spread, or even in addition to it if you like).
As you obviously know, those myths are untrue, but hey, people can do a super work around and buy all that stuff from the store and our burgers from our restaurants, and combine them on their own terms! Thanks for reading my long list!
Thanks Jake for the wonderfully detailed response. Much appreciated.
You forgot about the Chocolate Covered Strawberry.
A Strawberry Shake with Chocolate Shake on top.
Might need to explain to the shakemaker for how much chocolate you want.
With the one that says animal style with a whole grill instead. Say mustard fried with a whole grill. Animal style is just mustard fried with grilled onions. Mustard fried adds fried mustard and pickle. So if you say that instead of animal style with a whole grill instead of regular grill onion. It’ll help the INO associate save time (we’ve all been to In-N-Out we know it’s crazy busy) and your receipt be less confusing in case any thing happens.
Great tips, thanks for coming by!