Yum Yum Sauce

It’s all in the Sauce

Some days you want your sauce to hit with a bang bang, and other days, you’re more in the mood for yum yum. Like bang bang sauce, this yum yum sauce has a creamy mayo base, but it’s a little bit milder and sweeter. Although there’s hot sauce in the mix, it doesn’t make the sauce spicy; it just adds a little oomph and warmth.

As far how to use yum yum sauce, grilled shrimp and steak are my top choices for pairing with this sauce, but given its popularity at hibachi restaurants, it’s also fantastic as a dip for tempura vegetables or sushi rolls. Use it as a replacement for mayonnaise on your burgers (or any other sandwich). Why not?!

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce Recipe

Easy to make. You probably have most of the ingredients on hand already, which means all that’s left to do is stir everything together and start dipping! Making copycat sauces at home is convenient, saving you from last minute runs to the store when you just have to have a great sauce.

Thicker than store-bought. Compared to bottled sauce, this homemade version has a thicker consistency, making it even more dippable and spreadable. However, if you want to make a thinner sauce, it’s easy to do (I’ll show you how on the recipe card).

The perfect amount of sweetness. While this homemade yum yum sauce is sweet, it’s a touch less sugary than the version you’ll find at restaurants, as we discovered when we tasted them side by side. We found that our homemade yum yum sauce has more balanced flavor than store-bought sauce.

Customizable to your preferences. When you make this sauce at home, you can customize the sweetness, tanginess, heat, and consistency to your liking. 

Ingredient Notes

• Mayonnaise: The base of yum yum sauce is mayonnaise. Use your favorite mayonnaise, whether it’s regular, lite, or olive oil. If you want an extra rich sauce with a little more umami, swap in Kewpie mayo. It’s a Japanese brand made with egg yolks rather than eggs and whites.
• Ketchup: A couple tablespoons of ketchup adds sweetness and tang, along with a subtle tomato flavor. Use your favorite brand.
• Butter: Stirring just a tablespoon of melted butter into the sauce adds a fantastic richness.
• Sugar: You won’t need to add a lot of sugar but a couple teaspoons is necessary to mimic bottled yum yum sauce. This is one ingredient that you can easily decrease or increase depending on your personal preferences.
• Rice vinegar: Be sure to use unseasoned rice vinegar. Seasoned rice vinegar is sweetened and we’re already adding our own sugar here.
• Spices: Garlic powder and paprika add complexity to the flavor of the sauce.
• Hot sauce: You can adjust the amount to your liking. As written, this sauce is not spicy at all but a very small amount of hot sauce (just ½ teaspoon!) seems to add just the right flavor to the yum yum sauce. (We tested it side by side with store-bought yum yum sauce so our homemade yum yum sauce recipe would be a good replica.)
• Water: A small amount of water is added to adjust the consistency of the sauce. However, you may decide that you like a thicker sauce, and not use any water at all.

How to Make Yum Yum Sauce

Combine. Whisk all of the ingredients except the water in a small bowl. If you’re planning on storing your sauce to use later, you can stir it together in a jar.

Adjust the consistency. Whisk in the water a little at a time until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. (Note that if you add a lot of water, the flavor will be watered down too, so be careful!)

Finish. Using a clean spoon, taste the sauce, and add more sugar, hot sauce, or whatever you think the sauce needs, if anything (we love the recipe just the way it’s written!). Chill for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, then serve.

Easy Recipe Adjustments

• Make your sauce tangier. Add extra vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice if you want your sauce to lean more toward tangy. That’s the beauty of homemade sauces: you can make them to fit your style.
• Or make it sweeter. Whisk in more sugar for a flavor a little more similar to store-bought yum yum sauce.
• Make it spicy. Add more hot sauce, or for heat that doesn’t affect the consistency of the sauce, you can stir in cayenne, a pinch at a time, until it’s exactly the way you like it.

How to Serve Yum Yum Sauce

• Steak. Try drizzling yum yum sauce over your cooked steak or air fryer steak bites for a flavorful finish. Yum yum sauce goes well with pretty much any meat, and crispy baked tofu, too.
• Chicken wings. Cook and toss air fryer chicken wings in yum yum sauce, or use the sauce for dipping them.  
• Vegetables. Use this sauce for dipping or drizzling onto sautéed asparagus or grilled zucchini. Try it on stir fried vegetables. It’s great with French fries, tater tots, or sweet potato fries, too. Actually, yum yum sauce goes well with sweet potatoes any way you cook them!
• Meal bowls, sandwiches, wraps. A drizzle of yum yum sauce on your favorite bowl is an easy way to add a little pizzazz. Instead of plain mayonnaise, why not spread yum yum sauce on your burgers, sandwiches, or wraps?

Storage & Reheating

Store yum yum sauce in a jar or airtight container for up to a week. Stir it well before serving. Do not freeze this recipe; mayo-based sauces aren’t good candidates for freezing because mayonnaise separates when frozen and thawed.