How LongHorn Steakhouse Determines Which Of Its 3 Seasonings To Use

One reason why so many people enjoy eating at chain restaurants is because you get a consistent experience every time — the entree you order in Alabama will taste just like the same item ordered in Idaho. Restaurants achieve this by having certain set recipes and ingredients, including proprietary seasoning blends that give the foods their unique flavor. At LongHorn Steakhouse, the chain is known for allowing customers to order a parmesan coating on all its meats (we tried it on non-meat menu items, too), but another way it makes its steaks taste delicious is with three signature seasonings: Char, Grill, and Prairie Dust. We were wondering which seasoning goes with which dish and why, so we reached out to the restaurant for some answers.

The Char seasoning, which is used on the bone-in marbled steaks such as the Outlaw ribeye, porterhouse, and New York strip, is more chile-heavy than the other blends. LongHorn feels that this extra spice helps accentuate the savory flavor of more marbled meats. The more black pepper-heavy grill seasoning is used on the 12-ounce boneless ribeye as well as the Flo's filet to provide a less incendiary kick, while the Prairie Dust is seen as a good all-arounder that's equally tasty on sirloin, chicken, pork, fried shrimp, fried onions, and french fries.

LongHorn Steakhouse doesn't share its secret seasoning recipes, but that hasn't stopped copycat recipe bloggers from trying to recreate them. In the case of the Grill seasoning, this hasn't always been necessary, since at one time it was sold in grocery stores. It's now discontinued, though, with the few remaining bottles selling for ridiculously high prices on eBay. ($60 for 2.5 ounces? No, thank you.) Still, the packaging did disclose the blend, if not the proportions, of ingredients used: salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and ground red chile (or "chili," as the package puts it, despite the fact that the latter spelling only applies to something you might cook in a crockpot or a fast-casual restaurant chain).

The Prairie Dust seasoning is thought to combine salt with paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, turmeric, and ground coriander. The Char seasoning is a bit more mysterious since there don't seem to be too many copycat recipes, although it might be made from salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, black pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, and onion powder, as well as the chiles mentioned in the previous slide. As one Redditor noted, though, the restaurant may be willing to sell you a tiny bag of this blend. If this is so, you can probably purchase small portions of the other seasonings, as well.