Skip Peter Luger: The Classic European Food You Can Pick Up At Dollar Tree

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

It's been a few years since everything cost $1 at Dollar Tree but we're still big fans of this budget-beating chain, and not just because of its range of tasty snacks. DT's aisles are also where you can find jewels that make foodies squeal with delight, and among them are bottles of A1 sauce. It's most often paired with steak but if your go-to sauce to slather on beef is Peter Luger, you might want to give the considerably cheaper A1 sauce a whirl. For just $1.50, this rich, thick brown condiment delivers a flavor boost that our friends at sister site Tasting Table felt was lacking in the pricier Peter Luger brand.

While both sauces have a tomato base, Peter Luger relies on ingredients including horseradish and anchovies for its distinct flavor profile. A1 sauce goes in a different direction, drawing on raisins and orange puree for a combination of sweetness and sharpness, with garlic and various spices rounding it out. Although it was created for Britain's King George IV in the 1800s, these days, A1 sauce has been all-but eclipsed in European foodie circles by its spicy brown sauce cousin HP (which this writer adores).

It's a very different story across the Pond, where A1 sauce has long been a beloved condiment — even if it has unfairly gained a reputation for only being used to disguise cheaper cuts of steak. As one Redditor pointed out: "I was raised in a poor household and there were quite a few meats that A1 helped me get through."

Like many condiments that are a mish-mash of several different ingredients, A1 sauce has a taste all its own. One person on this online thread described it as "peppery ketchup with a lot of Worcestershire flavor," another said it tasted like "spiced tangy orange raisin ketchup." A third quipped it was "Almost like HP and L&P had a really strong baby," and we admire the passion of the commenter who declared A1 sauce was: "the only fluid besides blood that I would want to flow through my veins."

Sweet, smoky, spicy, and moreish, a slug of A1 sauce tastes good on more than just a juicy steak. It enhances the flavor of pork without overwhelming it, brings a bit of warmth and pizzazz to fish dishes and because it's 100% vegan, a dash will pep up a pan of vegetables or plant-based dishes. It's not the only way to put your Dollar Tree bottle of A1 sauce to good use, either.

If you're all out of soy sauce and vinegar for a steak marinade, a glug of A1 sauce can be a good sub, tenderizing the meat while bringing that signature sweet richness in their place. We think it would make a delicious, out-of-the-ordinary burger topping, particularly on a western-style one, where a slick of A1 would complement both the beef and bacon. This Dollar Tree find would also give a tasty twist to a weeknight menu items such as shepherd's pie, a meatloaf, or even a simple baked potato and beans.