by Bottom Line: The Diablo Dare Challenge from Arby’s delivers on the heat by turning their always-reliable Roast Beef and Fries into molten goodness.
Arby’s is at it again. That chain might be known for its roast beef sandwiches, but earlier this year it offered a Diablo Dare Challenge featuring both a brisket and chicken sandwich loaded with a spicy sauce and roasted diced jalapenos. That came and went pretty quickly (I never found the sandwiches near me) but now Arby’s has booked a return trip for these spicy menu offerings.
They currently have three items as part of their spicy challenge: roast beef and crispy chicken sandwiches as well as loaded fries. The sandwiches are topped with Diablo BBQ sauce, Fiery Hot Seasoning, Roasted and Diced Jalapenos, Cheddar Cheese, and Lettuce all loaded into a red bun (apparently that is to emphasize the Diablo in the name or something like that). Previously they included mayo on the sandwiches, but this time they held it off.
The fries have Cheddar Sauce plus the Diablo BBQ sauce, Fiery Hot Seasoning, and the Roasted Diced Jalapenos. If you get a sandwich and the fries together, they give you a free “extingui-shake” (snake-size vanilla) and the challenge is to see how long you can go without drinking that to temper the heat. I got the roast beef sandwich and fries along with the shake.
The sandwich has plenty of sliced meat as expected, and their roast beef is always good. The sauce has a smokiness to it and is quite sweet, but not to the point of going overboard with the heat balancing it out. It is somewhere between a ketchup and a BBQ sauce and it definitely has a kick (more on the heat below). The cheese adds some sharpness. The lettuce adds some texture and maybe a slight cooling effect. The roasted jalapeno bits don’t bring much flavor to the sandwich as they appear to be overpowered by the sauce. But I am guessing they added to the heat. The red bun is . . . weird. But it tastes just like a regular bun and holds everything together. This is still a very messy sandwich (I don’t advise trying to eat this one while driving!), and it is probably a good thing they left off the mayo.
As for the loaded fries, you have the choice of curly or crinkle-cut and I went with the latter thinking that the ridges would do a good job of picking up the sauce. That proved to be good choice because they worked well with the toppings. Since the sauce is basically a spicy ketchup/BBQ sauce, it paired perfectly with the fries. And I could get a little more of the roast pepper taste from the diced jalapenos in this mix. The cheddar sauce adds a nice creaminess and acts as a counterbalance to the heat sauce up to a point.
As for the heat, does the Diablo Dare deliver? Oh yeah!
From the sandwich, you start to feel the burn with the first bite. After a few more, your mouth is on fire as this goes beyond the Hot heat level. I wouldn’t quite say this gets to the Fiery level, but it is moving in that direction. As for the fries, my mouth was already burning by the time I sampled those. If I picked up one that had more cheddar sauce than Diablo, it acted as a bit of a salve, but there weren’t many of those. By the time I was done, my mouth was definitely on fire and that endorphin rush was in full force.
So how long was it before I took a sip of the extingui-shake?
I waited a good five minutes after finishing the sandwich and fries before drinking that. But then I am not a normal person (the fact that I have a website dedicated to spicy food might clue you in on that). The average mortal might run screaming out of the room after one bite and even those who like spicy foods may have to take a sip or two from that shake while working their way through the sandwich and/or fries. I would definitely count this as among the hottest things I have gotten from the drive thru, and it is nice that fast food joints are delivering on their promise of heat (the Burger King Ghost Pepper Whopper is worth checking out as well if you can still find it). I may be going back to Arby’s pretty soon to check out the Diablo Chicken Sandwich as well just so that I have covered all the bases.
Calorie-wise, this definitely tips the scale. The sandwich comes in at 450 cals which isn’t too bad by itself, but the fries add another 460 cals to the tally. Then that small shake loads on another 227 (shakes are calorie-bombs) bringing your total to 1,137! And if you get the chicken sandwich instead of roast beef, bump that up to 1,207! And don’t even ask about the levels of sodium you are ingesting. But when you are doing something called a Diablo Dare Challenge, you’ve pretty much thrown the diet out the window.
If you want to try these spicy offerings, you better head over to your local Arby’s soon. They are visiting from Limited-Time-Only-Ville and will likely head back sooner rather than later. They came and went so quicky the last time that Arby’s that I never even had the chance to try them. But the Diablo Dare brings really good heat to tasty Arby’s fare, and lovers of spice (and roast beef) will want to check these out. (You can read my review of the Diablo Chicken Sandwich here.)
Tale of the Tape
Diablo Roast Beef Sandwich
Calories: 450
Fat: 19g (9g Sat/1g Trans)
Protein: 27g
Carbs: 43g
Sodium: 1550mg
Diablo Loaded Fries (Crinkle-Cut)
Calories: 460
Fat: 23g (3.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 57g
Sodium: 1120mg
Small Vanilla Shake
Calories: 227
Fat: 9g (5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 8g
Carbs: 44g
Sodium: 190mg
diablo sandwich is worst sandwich I ever had. The meat might have been good but when it is loaded up with The sauce which nothing but Tabasco with jalapenos. its hot but you taste only Vinegar Tabasco and that ruined the sandwich and the fries. I ate about half and threw it away. I doubt the sandwich will last more then 6 months on the menu.
Sounds like the sauce you had was very different from what I had. Not a lot of vinegar in what I had and it tasted more like a very spicy BBQ sauce.
Um yea someone put the wrong sauce on your sandwich because there was very little to no vinegar taste at all. Should have been smokey and sweet with a little heat.
I must just be a freak but nothing about that sandwich was hot to me. I mean on a 1 to 10 I would rate the heat at a 2 then again I use mad dog 357 on absolutely everything as well as the Satans blood pepper extract, I go through 2 bags of Sonoran spice Carolina reaper gumballs every week. I mean I LOVE hot stuff. I just read habanero peppers raw. I love the taste of them. I will just serve them up raw alongside my meals. I have never found anything at any fast food restaurant or any restaurant for that matter hot like they say it is. Yes it’s a good sandwich full of flavor but to me it lacks the heat. I don’t like milkshakes so I just tell them to keep that. I guess I’m weird lol
I ordered the sandwich it was OLD and COLD,I NEVER TOOK ONE BITE OF IT.
Sadly, while Arby’s food is good, their restaurants tend to be wildly inconsistent. If you can find a good Arby’s, try to stick with that one. But even then the quality can vary.
I enjoyed it when it came out as it had a lot of flavor and a nice kick …curious to see it with the fries. Also note, you listed both sandwiches as Diablo Roast Beef with different calorie content.
Oops! The higher-calorie entry is the fries. I have corrected that in the post now.
not a bad sandwich, if you’re ordering from uber you won’t get the shake (the shake wasn’t available at all on my end) good flavor with just the right amount of heat.