Pricey fresh truffles are usually reserved for fine-dining restaurants, but fast-casual Jason’s Deli found a way to translate a luxury ingredient into a limited-time winter menu item that sells for about $12.
“One of our vendors showed us this cheesy truffle sauce,” said Clare Wilson, VP of culinary and R&D for Beaumont, Texas-based Jason’s Deli. “Winter is truffle season, so we started playing around with different builds using the sauce. It had to be something familiar with a truffle twist.”
The sauce doesn’t contain cost-prohibitive fresh truffles, but it does boast all-natural truffle flavor. Jason’s Deli does not allow any artificially flavored or colored ingredients in its pantry. “The flavor was not too potent or strong, so we started by testing it with mac and cheese,” said Wilson.
The team tried plain mac and cheese with a bread crumb topping and various proteins, and worked on builds with roasted veggie blends. But nothing was quite right. And most people order mac and cheese as a side, said Wilson, and she was interested in adding an entree.
The R&D journey led to mushrooms
Wilson had developed a well-established relationship with The Mushroom Council, the trade organization that represents mushroom growers, and was already sourcing fresh mushrooms for salads and other menu items.
“Mushrooms are flavor boosters, healthy, trendy and affordable,” said Wilson. “We wanted to start the year by embracing the mushroom trend.” In collaboration with The Mushroom Council, she and her team came up with the idea of a cheesy truffle pasta bake using the mushrooms and cheese sauce.
The fresh mushrooms come in pre-sliced and are then sauteed to order in the back-of-house. The challenge is that there are no cooktops or flattops at any of Jason’s Deli’s 250 locations. “We were able to saute the mushrooms in our impinger ovens, adding seasonings and oil,” said Wilson. “All our vegetables are sauteed in the oven.”
The fast casual gets fresh produce deliveries five or six times a week, and fresh baby spinach, another ingredient already on hand, was added to the recipe along the way, also sauteed to order. “Cooked pastas can be very brown, and we were looking to add color, flavor and nutrition,” said Wilson. Penne was the pasta shape that worked best with the other ingredients.
To create the menu item, the pasta is precooked in batches then heated to order, and the cheddar-based truffle cheese sauce is held hot. For service, the mushrooms and spinach are quickly sauteed and assembled with the warm sauce and penne. Each order is sprinkled with grated Asiago cheese and served with toasted herb focaccia. Customers have the choice of vegetarian Cheesy Truffle Pasta ($11.29 to $13.89 depending on location) or Cheesy Truffle Pasta with chicken ($12.99-$15.59). The LTO runs through April 1.
“It’s an indulgent, premium product for Jason’s Deli and the type of dish that’s rare in fast casual,” said Wilson. So far, sales are 33% higher than they were for a pasta LTO the chain launched last summer.
The cheesy pasta dish is promoted in-store with stickers that celebrate mushrooms’ flavor and versatility, and through an influencer initiative on social media amplified by The Mushroom Council. Jason’s Deli is also touting “Mushroom Monday,” encouraging customers to enjoy the mushroom-enhanced pastas.
The pasta bake is also available on the catering menu. | Photo courtesy of Jason's Deli.
Smooth extension to catering
One of Jason’s Deli’s 2025 goals is to expand catering—an arm of the company that used to be more robust. Wilson and her team created a catering version of the dish that uses the same recipe, but the ingredients are combined and then baked instead of being heated and assembled.
“Box lunches are our bread and butter, but we want to ramp up hot catering,” she said. Loaded potato bars are another hot selection that is getting more play.
And in the spring, “we’re making our first foray into Texas barbecue,” Wilson added. Expect to see some burnt ends popping up on the menu.