Culver's Secret Menu 2026 — Quick Facts
- DIY CurderBurger
- Deluxe + curds · ~$12.58
- Culverized Poutine
- Fries + curds + gravy · ~$9.18
- Buffalo Cheese Curds
- Curds + hot sauce, ranch · ~$5.69
- Chili Cheese Curds
- Curds dunked in chili · ~$9.68
- BBQ Cheddar ButterBurger
- BBQ sauce + onion rings · ~$10.68
- Land & Air
- Double Deluxe + chicken · ~$17.98
- Land, Sea & Air
- Beef + chicken + cod · ~$25.97
- Sourdough Swap
- Any sandwich on sourdough · free
- Extra Crispy
- Fries + curds, well-done · free
- Not Secret
- CurderBurger (Oct LTO), Pub Burgers
- Official Secret Menu
- None — customizations only
- Founded
- July 18, 1984, Sauk City, Wisconsin
Culver’s has no official secret menu — and barely needs one, since the chain’s whole pitch is that everything is cooked to order and can be customized. What it does have is a set of fan builds assembled from real menu parts, and a set of free asks the crew will happily honor. This guide collects the builds regulars actually order, with honest prices built from the parts, and the free asks that cost nothing.
Three companion guides go deeper: the Culver’s menu guide lists the full board with typical prices, the Culver’s nutrition guide breaks down every item with protein and the calorie conflicts stated plainly, and the Culver’s coupons guide explains Delicious Rewards and why there are no promo codes. Prices below are typical pickup from the November 2026 menu guide; builds marked ~ are component sums, not menu prices.
Secret Builds
None of these are menu items — order them by recipe, at the register, and be ready for the crew to build them from parts. Prices are sums of the parts, marked ~.
| Build | How to order it | Price | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY CurderBurger | ButterBurger Deluxe + medium cheese curds, curds smashed on top of the patty | ~$12.58 | ~1,090 (est.) |
| Culverized Poutine | Crinkle fries + Wisconsin Cheese Curds + side of gravy, layered and stirred | ~$9.18 | ~820 (est.) |
| Buffalo Cheese Curds | Wisconsin Cheese Curds with Frank’s RedHot and ranch on the side, tossed in the box | ~$5.69 | ~490 |
| Chili Cheese Curds | George’s Chili Supreme + jalapeños on the side, curds dunked in the chili | ~$9.68 | ~790 (est.) |
| BBQ Cheddar ButterBurger | ButterBurger Cheese + side of barbecue sauce + onion rings, stacked on the burger | ~$10.68 | ~800 (est.) |
| Land & Air Burger | Double Deluxe ButterBurger + crispy chicken patty, stacked | ~$17.98 | ~1,470 (est.) |
| Land, Sea & Air Burger | Double Deluxe + crispy chicken patty + cod filet, stacked | ~$25.97 | ~2,070 (est.) |
| Sourdough Swap | Any sandwich served on sourdough bread instead of the bun | No extra charge | Same as standard |
The DIY CurderBurger deserves the fine print: the real CurderBurger is a limited-time item — a ButterBurger crowned with one massive fried cheese curd patty — that started as an April Fool’s joke in 2021 and now returns each October for Curdtoberfest. The rest of the year, you rebuild it yourself: order a Deluxe ButterBurger and a medium curds, lift the top bun and smash the curds flat on the patty. It is messier than the real thing — a pile of small curds instead of one giant one — but the flavor is the same. The poutine is the other build worth the assembly: genuine poutine uses unbreaded plain curds, not fried ones, so call it what it is — a Culverized version — and order the gravy on the side so the fries survive the drive home. Land & Air and Land, Sea & Air are the novelty builds: you buy the sandwiches and stack them yourself, so the price is the sum of the sandwiches, and the calories are the sum too.
Free Asks
These cost nothing at most locations — but ask at the register, because a sauce cup is the one item some franchises charge for.
| Ask | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Extra crispy fries & curds | Fries and curds left in the fryer longer — ask for each level of doneness | Free |
| Cheese sauce as a dip | Wisconsin cheddar cheese sauce in a cup, for dipping anything | Free* |
| Float with any soda | A float made with your soda pick instead of root beer | Free* |
| Extra pickles | More pickles on any burger | Free |
| No-salt fries | Fries cooked fresh with no salt | Free |
| Fish extra crispy | Cod filet left in the fryer a little longer | Free |
The extra-crispy ask is the one with real technique behind it: current and former workers say the crew will add about another minute to the fry time for every level of extra-crispy doneness you ask for, and some regulars take the fries until they are “basically chips.” The same ask works on the chicken and the curds. The sourdough swap is location-dependent — some restaurants will swap the standard bun for sourdough on any sandwich, others will not — so ask before you assume.
What Is Not a Secret Item
Three things get mislabeled as secret menu items and are not. The CurderBurger itself is a real limited-time item, not a secret — it returns every October and is advertised when it does. The Pub Burgers (Colby Jack in April 2026, Fried Pickle after) are the chain’s rotating limited-time burger slot, listed on the board while they run. And “cheese sauce on everything” is just ordering a side of Wisconsin cheddar cheese sauce — Culver’s itself encourages customers to “let your creativity run wild and apply the cheese sauce as you wish.” If a guide tells you to say a code word at the register, it is inventing lore; Culver’s crew builds from recipes, not passwords.
How the Secret Menu Compares
Against the other burger chains’ secret menus, Culver’s is one of the richest — because the menu itself is deep enough to build from. Our Five Guys menu guide’s companion builds run to toppings and fry styles; Burger King and Wendy’s have deeper benches of off-menu assemblies, and the McDonald’s secret menu and Raising Cane’s secret menu guides show the same pattern — prep tweaks and assemblies, not hidden items. Culver’s secret menu is assemblies plus free prep tweaks, which is exactly what you would expect from a menu with curds, gravy, chili and cheese sauce all on the same board. For the full board behind every figure here, see the Culver’s menu guide, and for the calorie math, the Culver’s nutrition guide.
Culver’s Secret Menu FAQs
Does Culver’s have a secret menu?
Not officially. Staff honor simple customizations — sourdough swaps, extra-crispy fries, cheese sauce on the side — and fans assemble builds from those parts.
How do I order a DIY CurderBurger?
Order a ButterBurger Deluxe and a medium Wisconsin Cheese Curds, lift the top bun and smash the curds flat on the patty. Roughly $12.58 by component math, about 1,090 calories estimated. The real CurderBurger returns each October as a limited-time item.
What is Culverized poutine?
Fries, cheese curds and a side of gravy, layered together — a fan build, roughly $9.18 by component math. Real poutine uses unbreaded curds, so this is the Culver’s version, not the Canadian original.
Is the Land & Air burger real?
As a fan build, yes: a Double Deluxe ButterBurger plus a crispy chicken patty, stacked — about $17.98 if you buy both sandwiches. Add a cod filet and it becomes Land, Sea & Air at about $25.97.
Conclusion
The best Culver’s secret order is the simplest one: a DIY CurderBurger if you want the legend, extra-crispy everything if you want crunch, and a sourdough swap if the bun is not your thing. Skip the lore, order by recipe at the register, and keep the poutine for the drive home — it is the one build that travels badly.
