This sandwich is another entry into Bounded by Bun’s Back-from-the-Dead category of sandwich blog posts, where I research interesting sandwiches that were once available at restaurants or fast-food franchises and then try to recreate my own version with recipes that should be similar but possibly even better when made at home.
This particular sandwich is a meaty and cheesy entry from an international fast-food chain called Arby’s.
Arby’s launched its “We Have the Meats” campaign in 2014, and according to research, that bit of marketing shifted the customer age balance for the franchise in the right direction.
(archive.is link)
What is Arby’s?
Arby’s is a fast-food restaurant based in the United States with more than 3,000 locations. Arby’s was founded in Ohio by two brothers, Forrest and Leroy Raffel, in 1964. The chain was almost known as “Big Tex,” but another restaurant nearby was already using a similar name, so the brothers opted for R.B.’s, or phonetically Arby’s. The combination of R and B stands for Raffel Brothers.
For many years, the main focus of the Arby’s menu was roast beef sandwiches, which they still serve today. But like most long-lasting fast-food chains, they have broadened their menu, added and removed many sandwiches throughout the years.
The Arby’s sandwich I’m writing about today was released back in 2011 and stuck around for a few years before disappearing from the national franchise menus. This sandwich also had a focus of roast beef, but it was slightly different from Arby’s normal roast beef.
What is this sandwich?
This sandwich is Arby’s Angus Three Cheese and Bacon. The sandwich marketing goes like this: “Introducing the Three Cheese & Bacon from Arby’s®. Angus beef the way it’s meant to be – premium, lean, freshly sliced and piled high to perfection with thick cut pepper bacon and Swiss, shredded cheddar and Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch on an authentic Italian style roll.”
The Angus Three Cheese and Bacon sandwich was released nationwide in the United States in March of 2011. This was the start of a period of time where Arby’s dove into Angus beef with three different Angus-focused sandwiches released throughout the year. The one I’m writing about today was the first, then in June they launched the Ultimate Cool Angus Deli sandwich, and finally in October 2011 they released the Ultimate Angus Philly.
The Angus Three Cheese and Bacon was available throughout most of the 2010s, and it is speculated that it was removed from menus because it was too difficult to keep the different meats in stock alongside other menu changes that were taking place at the time. Redditors in this Reddit thread from 2018 claim that the sandwich was removed but still available without the Angus beef, instead using regular Arby’s roast beef for a time, but eventually it was removed entirely and hasn’t been seen since.
Arby’s Angus beef is 94-percent lean, lightly seasoned with a blend of cracked black pepper, garlic, salt and onion, then slowly roasted to medium rare and sliced thin.
Arby’s press release
Is it Good Mood Food?
Arby’s launched the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon sandwich with a new ad campaign featuring their new slogan at the time, “It’s Good Mood Food.” I have shared the full commercial from YouTube just below, but I must warn you that the ad campaign and/or the jingle was rated as one of the worst ads in America by Consumerist.com. I feel like I’ve seen much worse ads, but I must admit this one is pretty bad, and it’s worthy of a watch if you don’t remember seeing it back in 2011.
Even if you don’t want to spend the time watching that awesome (ly bad) commercial, I’ve added the transcript here for you to read because you can’t miss some of the amazing content that some Arby’s Ad agency came up with for this sandwich marketing campaign.
Commercial Transcript:
He’s a skier, she’s a boarder
But we don’t have to feud.
(that’s right)
Cat people. dog people.
We all look the same way nude.
(good point)
Even cowboys and city slickers
Everyone loves Angus beef, dude.
Eat Arby’s food, it’s good mood food.
He’s a saver. She’s a spender.
My spending will now be shrewd!
Personal injury lawyer and a car accident.
Don’t worry, no one’s gettin’ sued.
(that’s a relief)
Even teenagers and their parents…
I’ve decided not to get tattooed.
Eat Arby’s Food, it’s good mood food.
The agency that created the Arby’s tagline, “it’s Good Mood Food,” is BBDO, a company the fast-food franchise began working with in 2009. In 2012, a year after the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon Good Mood Food ads started airing, Arby’s changed its creative agency from BBDO to CP&B. BBDO had created the Good Mood Food campaign. This timing coincides with a new Arby’s Chief Marketing Officer coming on board, so it might or might not be due to the Good Mood Food jingle or ads, but regardless, this move ended those advertisements.
These Good Mood Food commercials and the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon sandwich are left in the past. Who will be here to remember them? Well, that’s you and me.
Some reviews of the sandwich from 2011
Since I’ll never get a chance to try the official Arby’s version of this sandwich, I felt I needed to find some quotes to share about how it tasted or was presented. Here are samples from three blog/reviews about the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon sandwich that were all posted soon after the sandwich was released.
My sub looked like someone at Arby’s made it, sat on it, took half of the meat out of it, sat on it again, wrapped it up and then served it to me. I also couldn’t believe how small the sandwich was.
Dudefoods.com
The Angus beef is a big upgrade from Arby’s standard roast beef which I find to be a lot like the thin-sliced packaged deli meat you buy from the supermarket. The Angus beef had flavor and texture, though, unsurprisingly, it was a bit salty and a little dry in some bites.
BrandEating.com
Compared to their regular shaved roast beef sandwiches, the Angus Three Cheese & Bacon is a step above the rest. That doesn’t mean it’s a fantastic sandwich, however. I wouldn’t call the meat Angus quality, and it was a little dry, but it was okay for fast food roast beef. The bacon was obviously the star; peppered, thick and crunchy, it was some of the best fast food bacon I’ve had in a long time. The cheese was creamy, as was the sauce, but both disappointed in the flavor department, particularly the sauce.
JunkFoodBetty.com
The reviews I found online leaned toward positive, but there were a lot of mentions of the sandwich being small or not having enough meat. The positive mentions were for the quality of roast beef being better than Arby’s typical roast beef, and there were quite a few comments I saw mentioning that they enjoyed the parmesan peppercorn ranch on the sandwich.
Overall, I would say that I would try this sandwich if I had the opportunity and was near an Arby’s, but it seems like one of those sandwiches that would be so much better if you made it at home (spoiler: it’s pretty good).
Can you make this sandwich the easy way?
If you look up at the marketing photo above, it seems that Arby’s was using meat that appears like something you could buy at the grocery store deli for this sandwich, so you could skip roasting your own. The bacon could even be pre-cooked or cooked however you’d like. The two cheeses on the sandwich are sliced or shredded, and the third cheese is the main ingredient in the Parmesan peppercorn ranch. And you could, in theory, just add some grated Parmesan with a bunch more pepper to regular storebought ranch dressing, and be in the right ballpark (I have a recipe for this below).
So if you bought all of your ingredients, including the bread, you could get this sandwich on the table in a very short period of time. But you could also do what I did, which was make everything from scratch. And to do that, we first need to think about the bread.
Italian-style rolls
The Arby’s marketing for this sandwich claims that it’s served on an “authentic Italian-style roll,” so that’s the direction I went when it came time to bake some bread.
This is my Italian-style sandwich rolls, and it’s a good recipe for sandwich bread that is a bit chewy on the interior, but slightly crusty on the outside. These are definitely not as crusty as a baguette, but they ended up working perfectly in this particular sandwich. I’m not totally sure what brand of rolls Arby’s would have been using, but in the reviews that I sorted through, it was mentioned that these were not typical fast-food rolls.
This is a pretty easy roll recipe to make. There is an overnight starter that will improve the flavor of the bread, but I skipped it this time because I forgot. It doesn’t really change the way the rolls rise or are shaped; it’s purely for adding a breadier flavor to the finished rolls. If you want to skip it or forget to start the day before, you can simply add the starter ingredients right into the rest of the roll recipe.
Shape the rolls and score them before baking. In this particular batch, I did not use the egg wash/glaze. This means my rolls were not shiny after the baking process, but I wanted a closer match to how the Arby’s roll looked.
Here’s my Italian sandwich roll recipe. If you don’t want to bake your own rolls, just do your best to find a store-bought alternative that has a bit of chew and maybe a slightly crusty exterior. I think that’s pretty important in this meat-heavy sandwich.
Italian sandwich rolls
A firm but still soft sandwich roll, perfect for cold cuts or even au jus dipped sandwiches. There's extra flavor from an overnight starter which leads to tasty sandwich bread.
Get RecipeAngus roast beef
2011 was the year that Arby’s decided to embrace Angus beef alongside their regular roast beef, which they served on their regular roast beef sandwiches. But what does that mean?
What is Angus beef?
Angus is a breed of cattle, sometimes designated with a hair color like Black Angus or Red Angus, but overall, it’s a breed of cow that originated in Scotland. Black Angus cows were brought over to the United States, and because of their popularity with ranchers here, they are now the most prevalent cow in the country.
Angus is a type of cow, not specifically a grade of beef, so you can still have different qualities of Angus beef available at the store. Often, beef producers will say that Angus is graded better on the USDA scale than other types of beef, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that all cuts from an Angus cow will be a higher grade than the same cut from a non-Angus cow.
In the United States, the cows that are certified to be Angus beef cows aren’t always genetically in the lineage of those Scottish Angus cows, though. It seems strange, but the cows that get the Angus stamp of approval simply have to have a predominant amount of black hair. There’s an informative blog post about Angus beef on The Takeout that you can read if you’d like to learn more about this. It seems to me that the Angus beef label is a little bit of marketing and a little bit of truth in that you’re probably getting a cow with a good percentage of fat marbling through the meat. But you probably shouldn’t just assume that any cut of meat with Angus on the label is high quality. Talk to your butcher if you want to be sure you’re getting a good cut of meat.
Roasting the beef
Making a deli-style roast beef is pretty easy if you have a thermometer with a probe that you can use in the oven. You can bake or roast without a thermometer, but you will be guessing on the internal temperature of the meat based on time, thickness, and the variability of oven temperatures.
A probe thermometer inserted into the middle of the meat ensures that you will hit rare or medium rare or whatever temperature you’re shooting for without ruining a big, sometimes expensive cut of beef.
| Doneness | Center color | Remove from grill | Carryover cooking |
| Rare | Red | 120° F / 48° C | 125° F / 52° C |
| Medium Rare | Pink | 130° F / 54° C | 135° F / 57° C |
| Medium | Some pink | 140° F / 60° C | 145° F / 63° C |
| Medium Well | Tiny sliver of pink | 145° F / 63° C | 150° F / 66° C |
| Well Done | No pink | 160+° F / 71° C | 165° F / 73° C |
If you just want to make a good roast beef for slicing and sandwiching, here’s my favorite deli-style roast beef recipe. You can change the external seasoning around if you want, but the times and temperatures are exactly what I do every time.
Peppered bacon
I did not get a chance to taste the Arby’s peppered bacon, so I don’t know if it was just straight bacon with pepper added or if it had any other seasonings or flavors. I opted for my recipe to bake my bacon and add a bit of brown sugar to ensure that all of the pepper would stick to each slice.
This does give the bacon in my recipe a little bit of sweetness, but I kept the brown sugar to a minimum in order to keep the focus on the black pepper.
You can use this peppered bacon recipe for an Arby’s Angus Three Cheese and Bacon, or just make it to be served with eggs at breakfast; it adds great flavor to something that’s already really tasty.
Black pepper bacon
Add a bit of peppery bacon to your breakfast with this recipe. The brown sugar does add some sweetness, but it's balanced by the savory and fatty bacon and peppery bite.
Get RecipeThree cheeses
Just to remind you, the name of this sandwich is the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon, so it’s pretty clear that there are three cheeses here. But what are these cheeses?
This sandwich contains sliced Swiss cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and grated Parmesan cheese. The Parmesan being grated makes a whole lot of sense, because it’s mixed into the peppercorn ranch dressing on the sandwich, but I’m not totally sure why they chose to use sliced Swiss and shredded cheddar instead of both being sliced or both being shredded. When you’re making your own, I think it would be fine to use sliced cheddar if you want a small shortcut. Shredding the cheese doesn’t seem like it adds that much in my experience with this sandwich.
Regardless, I did what Arby’s did and added shredded cheddar and Swiss on top of the Angus roast beef, and then I broiled everything to get the cheese melted.
Parmesan peppercorn ranch
I have shared a really good peppercorn ranch recipe below that has a lot of grated parmesan in it, but you could add parmesan and more black pepper to your favorite ranch recipe or store-bought ranch if you want. Here’s a quick rundown on what I would use if I wanted a quick shortcut to Parmesan peppercorn ranch for just one sandwich.
1 sandwich portion recipe
- 3 tablespoons ranch dressing
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Parmesan peppercorn ranch dressing
This easy recipe creates a creamy, savory, and slightly nutty Parmesan-focused dressing or dip with a peppery bite.
Get RecipeVisual sandwich comparison
I took one of the photos I took of the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon sandwiches that I made, and removed all the background of the picture in Photoshop in order to better compare my sandwich with the Arby’s marketing version. I’m not a professional food stylist, but I think my version turned out pretty good.
If I’m going to be critical of my own work and study the comparisons visually, I would say that first off, I used too much Parmesan peppercorn ranch in my sandwiches. Next, it’s clear that I melted the cheese much more than Arby’s did. My bacon was flatter than the Arby’s bacon due to oven baking (although I’m guessing Arby’s is also oven-baking bacon and warming it at the restaurant?). And finally, my roll is a bit darker baked than theirs.
In my opinion, none of the critiques of the appearance of my sandwich, except for the too much sauce, would change much of the flavor or experience in this sandwich. They’re mostly all visual, and I think I did a pretty good job in recreating this sandwich that I’ve never tried.
Angus Three Cheese and Bacon photos and full recipe
I made a whole bunch of these sandwiches over the past week. I mean, a bunch. You can tell by scrolling through all the photos.
It’s a really good sandwich if you’re a fan of meaty and cheesy things. Keep scrolling to get to the recipe, and let me know if you recreate the Angus Three Cheese and Bacon in your own home.
Angus three cheese and bacon (Arby's copycat)
This recipe packs a big wallop of meat and cheese into a fun sandwich experience. Is it Good Mood Food? You'll have to make it and find out.
Ingredients:
Angus deli-style roast beef- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon MSG (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 to 3 pounds Angus eye of round, beef roast, rump roast, bottom round or chuck roast
- 8 to 15 slices of bacon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon brown sugar (per slice of bacon)
- fresh ground black pepper
- 2 to 4 tablespoons Parmesan peppercorn ranch or regular ranch (tips in the notes below)
- 1 six to seven-inch bread roll
- 4 ounces sliced roast beef (from above)
- 1⁄4 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 1 slice of Swiss cheese, broken in half
- 2 slices of peppered bacon (from above)
Directions:
Roast beef: Preheat your oven to 450°F (233°C).
Combine kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and MSG (if using) in a small bowl to make your roast beef rub.
Rub the olive oil on the beef and coat it with a thin layer all over. Sprinkle the beef with all the rub.
Place the beef on a rack set in a sheet pan and cook at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove the beef from the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F (175°C). Add the beef back to the oven and cook until the beef temperature hits 120 to 125°F (for rare). This should take somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, depending on the size and weight of the beef.
Let the beef cool at least an hour in the refrigerator before slicing (preferably two hours). Slice the beef as thinly as possible.
Black pepper bacon: line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. I typically overlap two or three pieces.
Remove the bacon from the package and lay as many slices as you can on the foil-lined baking sheet. You can place your bacon very close together, but try not to overlap the pieces. If you can't get the whole package on there, put the remainder back in the fridge for later.
Sprinkle about half a teaspoon of brown sugar evenly over each slice of bacon. Then grind as much black pepper over all the pieces as you desire. You can use pre-ground black pepper if that's what you have, but this works best with freshly ground black pepper.
Do not preheat your oven. When you have as much bacon as you can fit on your sheet pan, place it in a cold oven and set the oven to 400°F (204°C).
Set a timer for 20 minutes and start checking the bacon. Depending on the type of bacon and thickness, it could take another 5 or more minutes. Because of the brown sugar, the bacon can burn, so keep an eye on it.
I start checking at 20 minutes, and if it's not fully done, I will add a couple of minutes to the timer. Once the bacon is done to your liking, remove the slices to a paper towel-lined plate and store them in the fridge if you're not using them immediately.
Sandwich assembly: add a bit of Parmesan peppercorn ranch (or regular ranch) to the bottom of a six-inch sandwich roll. Top the sauce with some roast beef.
Sprinkle on some shredded cheddar cheese and top with 1 slice of Swiss cheese that you've broken in half so it covers more of the sandwich.
Place the top of the bread roll and the meat and cheese side of the sandwich under the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted and the top of the roll is a bit toasted. If you do not have a broiler, place both sides of the sandwich in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Add 2 slices of bacon on top of the melted cheese, and then spread more Parmesan peppercorn ranch on the top piece of bread. Close the sandwich, serve and enjoy.
Notes:
If you don't want to make the whole Parmesan peppercorn ranch recipe from scratch, here's what I suggest for a one sandwich portion.
- 3 tablespoons ranch dressing
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Check back next week
Next week, we’re making another back-from-the-dead sandwich from a different chain restaurant. If you care to guess which one, put it in the comments.
