Review: No Matter How They're Served, Arby's Steak Nuggets Are Still Weird And Unsatisfying

When they first hit stores nationwide in 2025, The Takeout reviewed Arby's Steak Nuggets and found them subpar. In August of 2026, Arby's announced its divisive Steak Nuggets were returning. This second time around, customers can order their Steak Nuggets in a returning Steak 'n Mac Bowl, a new Steak 'n Potato Bowl, or accompanied by a brand new hybrid Horsey Ranch Sauce, combining ranch flavors with Arby's horseradish-based Horsey Sauce.

Even if the initial reception to the base item wasn't glowing, all three items on the expanded menu introduce bold flavors to the mix, presumably intended to cover for the Steak Nuggets' deficiencies and, ideally, highlight their potential strengths. After all, the protein trend has stayed strong through 2026, so there's certainly still some value in a fast food version of protein-rich steak. 

I picked up each of the new Arby's menu items from my nearest location in the suburbs of Las Vegas to try them for myself. Ahead are reviews for each item, before my thoughts on whether or not Arby's figured out its Steak Nuggets on their second outing.

I ordered my Steak 'n Mac Bowl, Steak 'n Potato Bowl, and five-piece Steak Nuggets with Horsey Ranch Sauce from the Arby's website and picked them up in the drive-thru. My nearest Arby's, located in the suburbs of Las Vegas, is just five-minutes from my home, so the food was hardly affected by travel time.

Trying each item, I made sure to taste each component in isolation, in addition to putting together multiple bites with every ingredient. I wrote down my thoughts about the food I was eating along the way. While I didn't quite finish everything I picked up, I would estimate that I had 90% of my full order in that one sitting. My assessments are based entirely on this experience, and not any prior impressions I may have had about the featured items or the Arby's brand. Arby's had no indication my order was for a review, and not just a standard lunch.

Ordering my Steak 'n Mac and Steak 'n Potato Bowls online, I was unable to add either item to my cart without picking accompanying dipping sauce. For prefab bowls, I thought that was a little strange. As it turned out, the Horsey Ranch Sauce was kind of the backbone of my entire order, hence placing my review of it ahead of either bowl.

The combination of Arby's signature horseradish — an underrated fast food sauce that makes every order better – and creamy, herb-seasoned ranch was straight-up great. Were it the sole new menu item, I would say Arby's had a success on its hands. However, just like those who reviewed them before me, I found the Steak Nuggets themselves pretty unsatisfying. I'm presuming because a fast food chain can't serve steak that's the slightest bit pink, my nuggets were overcooked, relying heavily on the flavor of liquid smoke. They were better in the Horsey Ranch Sauce, but not good enough for the combination to be something I would ever consider ordering again. 

I had thought to mention the fact the bowls were accompanied by dipping sauces because — spoiler alert — I ended up preferring the Steak Nuggets dipped in Horsey Ranch Sauce to either bowl. So, Horsey Ranch Sauce is good, and even did some legwork to keep the Steak Nuggets somewhat enjoyable. But the ideal way to order the sauce is with a sandwich like the Arby's secret menu "super" sandwich as opposed to the Steak Nuggets that ushered in Horsey Ranch Sauce's debut.

Returning from the previous Steak Nuggets promotion in 2025 is the Arby's Steak 'n Mac Bowl. It consists of a white cheddar mac, crispy fried onions, and Steak Nuggets, accompanied by a dipping sauce or sauces of the customer's choice.

I started by trying the mac in isolation and found it excessively salty and underflavored, revolving around a cheddar that felt unsuitably subtle for fast food. The noodles were also a little al dente, which, while great for a fancier pasta, can detract from a smoother, creamier character in mac 'n' cheese. While the mac was plussed up by the rich, fried onions atop it, adding Steak Nuggets to the equation created a bit of a flavor void. The Steak Nuggets functioned like big masses of flavorlessness that canceled out the subtle cheddar and even muted the fried onions. 

When I added some Horsey Ranch Sauce to a bite with all three ingredients, I liked it better. However, I don't think a loaded mac 'n' cheese should ever require added sauce, if only because it inherently becomes too fatty and salty. Overall, then, I was let down by the Steak 'n Mac Bowl.

Brand new to Arby's in 2026 is the Steak 'n Potato Bowl. It consists of seasoned tater tot-like crispy potatoes covered in melted cheese, topped with Steak Nuggets and accompanied by dipping sauce. As far as I can tell, tater tots are brand new to Arby's upon the debut of this item, even if they resemble Potato Cakes — an item Arby's discontinued in 2021 that has since returned to its menu.

Just as I did with my mac bowl, I initially tried my Steak 'n Potato Bowl's tater tots in isolation. They ruled. The potato was salty, crispy, and oily, bolstered by an umami-rich cheese and a bold seasoning blend. When I added the Steak Nuggets to the equation, those delicious potatoes were still alright, but not as good as they were on their own. For what it's worth, I did find the potatoes were oily enough to keep the steak from becoming excessively dry. It was in the flavor department, however, that I found the combination lacking, the aggressively flavor-deficient steak sapping personality from the rest of the dish. 

Perhaps the best way to order Steak Nuggets in 2026 is a Steak 'n Potato Bowl with a side of Horsey Ranch Sauce, dipping the nuggets in the sauce separately and eating the tater tots as a side. I still wouldn't ever opt for that hypothetical order, however, over a classic roast beef sandwich from Arby's.

I hadn't tried Steak Nuggets the first time they were available, and was looking forward to each of the items that are part of the 2026 Steak Nuggets promotion. I even found things that I enjoyed, like the Horsey Ranch Sauce and the seasoned tater tots. Nevertheless, I think it's fair to say that the promotion is a failure on the whole, because everything new to the menu revolves around Steak Nuggets, and those just weren't great no matter how they were served.

There very well may be customers for whom the very notion of fast food steak is so appealing, they're willing to put up with a subpar flavor. For them, the Steak 'n Potato Bowl at least includes a nice side of crispy potatoes, even if doesn't mesh all that well together as a cohesive dish. Horsey Ranch Sauce, meanwhile, may well be the best sauce on the menu, upgrading a sauce that was already so good, Arby's sold it in grocery stores. Just order it with something other than the Steak Nuggets. Finally, the Steak 'n Mac Bowl is pretty hard to recommend, given that the mac 'n' cheese is oversalted and underflavored, and that effect is only worsened by the Steak Nuggets' aggressive and ever-frustrating lack of flavor.

My local Arby's is located in the suburbs of Las Vegas, far enough away from the Vegas Strip that its prices should reflect the national average, lacking inflation for tourists. At that location, the Steak 'n Potato Bowl and Steak 'n Mac Bowl are each $11.79. A five-piece Steak Nuggets is $7.29, whereas a nine-piece order is $11.29. Each item can include up to three dipping sauces.

Arby's re-debuted its Steak Nuggets and Steak 'n Mac Bowl alongside the brand new Steak 'n Potato Bowl and Horsey Ranch Sauce nationwide on August 24, 2026. Everything on the menu is only available for a limited time, though Arby's has not attached an end date to the promotion. During their previous run, Steak Nuggets lasted from roughly the start of October to the end of December 2025, so it's possible that they will remain on the Arby's menu this time around through the first week or so of November 2026.