Arby’s Steak Nuggets

What are Arby’s steak nuggets, and what are they made of?

Arby’s describes them as bite-sized morsels of smoky steak, seasoned, seared and slow cooked until tender, served with a choice of dipping sauce. Some people search for Arby’s steak bites, but it’s the same item. Both sizes are limited-time, so Arby’s nutrition guide files them under its limited-time offers, not with the roast beef.

Arby’s publishes the full ingredient statement in its Menu Items and Ingredients document (the October 2026 file, and the newer November 2026 file reads the same):

Beef, Water, Seasoning (corn starch, rice starch, salt, sugar, yeast extract, beef stock, beef fat, onion powder, granulated garlic, garlic powder), Dextrose, Vegetable Oil, Seasoning (sugar, salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, garlic powder, extractives of paprika (color)), Modified Food Starch, Powdered Smoke (maltodextrin, natural hickory smoke flavor), Liquid Smoke (natural hardwood smoke, polysorbate 80), Brown Sugar, Vinegar, Sodium Phosphates, Salt, Cure (sea salt, cultured celery powder), Caramel Color, Sunflower Oil.

As for what Arby’s steak nuggets are made of, beef comes first and water second, on a list of 16 items. Next are two seasoning blends, then dextrose, vegetable oil and modified food starch. The smoke comes from two named ingredients, powdered smoke and liquid smoke, and there’s a cure of sea salt and cultured celery powder. The list doesn’t say which cut of beef is used.

How much do Arby’s steak nuggets cost?

The Arby’s steak nuggets price depends on how you order them. These are the prices at one restaurant, last checked in October 2026.

The gap per nugget isn’t fixed. At a Las Vegas-area restaurant in August 2026, one reviewer paid $7.29 for 5 and $11.29 for 9, which is $1.46 and $1.25 a nugget, so there the bigger box saved about 20 cents on each. In the first run, another reviewer paid $7.19 and $12.69 in October 2025. Prices vary by restaurant and change, so check yours in Arby’s app before you go.

Are they still on the menu?

At the restaurant we checked, yes. Arby’s had them on its online menu on October 27, 2026, in their own Steak Nuggets category beside the two bowls, and still marked them limited-time. Whether your nearest restaurant has them can differ, so ask or check the app first.

Here is the Arby’s steak nuggets nationwide release history, and who reported each step:

• October 6, 2025. The nuggets launch as a limited-time item, in 5 and 9 pieces, with a steak nugget sandwich and a mac bowl alongside.
• Early October to late December 2025. The first run, by one review’s account.
• August 13, 2026. Arby’s is reported to be bringing them back, with a new Steak ’n Potato Bowl and a Horsey Ranch dipping sauce.
• August 24, 2026. They’re back on menus, reported as nationwide.

One 2026 review noted in August that Arby’s hadn’t attached an end date to the return, and we haven’t seen one since. The first run lasted about three months, but that isn’t a promise about this one.

How many calories and how much protein do they have?

These are the Arby’s steak nuggets nutrition facts from Arby’s September 2026 guide, before any sauce. The nuggets are the smaller scale here, and the bowls are a whole meal.

Those Arby’s steak nuggets calories are per box. If you’ve seen other figures, one review printed 340 calories for 5 pieces in October 2025. We can’t reconcile that with Arby’s guide, so we use Arby’s numbers. The rest of the columns are on the Arby’s nutrition page.

How much do the dipping sauces add?

Arby’s serves the nuggets with a choice of dipping sauce, and one 2026 review said an order could include up to three. Arby’s lists each sauce separately, so the totals below are one sauce added to one box.

Two sauces stand out. Buffalo has only 10 calories, but 720 mg of sodium, more than the 440 mg in the 5-piece box itself. Honey mustard is the opposite: 130 calories, almost as many as the 140 in the nuggets. Ranch has the least sodium, and Horsey Ranch is the sauce new for this run.

What’s the difference between the nuggets, the meals and the bowls?

The meals cost $4.40 and $4.20 more than the matching nuggets alone. We haven’t confirmed what comes in them, so check when you order.

Looking for the Arby’s steak nugget bowl? There are two. Arby’s ingredient document lists the Steak ’n Mac Bowl as Steak Nuggets, Crispy Onions, White Cheddar Mac & Cheese, and the Steak ’n Potato Bowl as Steak Nuggets, Potato Cakes, Cooper’s Shredded Cheese, Herb Butter Sauce. The potato bowl has 90 more calories than the mac bowl and 11 grams less protein.

How do they compare with chicken tenders and roast beef?

Portions differ, so this table puts Arby’s own numbers on one basis, per 100 calories.

The nuggets carry more than twice the protein per calorie of the tenders, the Classic Roast Beef and the Crispy Chicken sandwich, and the 9-piece has the most of any item in Arby’s guide. Sodium is different: per calorie the nuggets are about level with the tenders and saltier than the roast beef. A box is a smaller portion, though. Five nuggets have 440 mg against 1,190 mg for three tenders.

Whether that makes them healthy depends on the rest of your day, and the numbers can’t say. They show a small, protein-heavy portion that’s salty for its calories, which the sauce can push further.

What do reviewers say about them?

We haven’t tasted them for this page, so instead of an Arby’s steak nuggets review of our own, here’s what four reviews said, in our words.

A reviewer on October 6, 2025 wrote that they lean into smoke and char, like burnt ends, with tender meat that is easy to eat on the go.

A reviewer on October 15, 2025 praised the tender, fall-apart texture but found a beef jerky flavor, and gave them 5 out of 10.

A reviewer on October 29, 2025 found them more like pulled brisket or BBQ bites than steak, a little dry and, at the price paid, not worth it.

A reviewer on August 27, 2026 found the nuggets overcooked and flavorless on their own and in both bowls, and liked the Horsey Ranch sauce more than the nuggets it came with.

Three of the four were unimpressed, mostly by flavor and texture, and the launch-day review was the most upbeat. Taste is personal, and the prices in those reviews were what each writer paid at their own restaurant.

Do the nuggets list any allergens?

Not in Arby’s September 2026 guide, which lists calories for the nuggets but leaves their allergen columns blank. Arby’s publishes no allergen information for them, so we can’t tell you they’re safe for an allergy.

The ingredient list above names no wheat, milk, egg or soy, but an ingredient list isn’t an allergen declaration, and it says nothing about how the food is handled. Don’t read the bowls back onto the nuggets either: the guide lists wheat, milk and egg for the mac bowl and milk and soy for the potato bowl, and those cover the whole bowl.

Tell your restaurant what you avoid and ask. For more, see the Arby’s allergen menu and the Arby’s gluten free menu.