Get ready to learn how to make Yum Yum Sauce recipe right at home! This homemade Japanese American sauce is one of our favorite sushi and hibachi sauces. It's quick, easy, so good, you have to try it.
Why This Recipe is the Best
This Yum Yum Sauce is our go-to for adding creamy, tangy flavor to all kinds of Asian-inspired dishes. It’s the perfect companion to fried rice, sushi, hibachi chicken, and more—especially our family-favorite Pineapple fried rice recipe.
Made with simple pantry staples, this sauce is quick to whip up and adds that irresistible restaurant-style touch right at home. Once you try it, you’ll want to drizzle it on everything!
We love making our own diy sauces, and this is no exception! Try our other sauces like Bang Bang Sauce, peanut sauce, Buffalo Sauce, and Cajun Butter Sauce.
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Key Ingredients
Similar to Bang Bang sauce, this sauce has a little more added flavor and ingredients. We have a few ingredient recommendations to make this restaurant-quality.
- Smoked Paprika - We absolutely love the addition of smoked paprika in this recipe. The subtle smoky flavor adds so much depth to the dish.
- Mayonnaise- Kewpie is the best mayonnaise to use for this recipe.
- Mirin- helps bring out other flavors and gives the sauce it's iconic taste.
- Rice vinegar- A great ingredient to have on hand when you are making Japanese-inspired dishes. It has that iconic flavor.
- Spices- garlic powder and onion powder are both used. Use the powder instead of fresh and minced so it's a smooth texture.
- Hot Sauce- Add a little kick with a few splashed of hot sauce. This is optional.
How to Make Yum Yum Sauce
This is a simple recipe to make and follow! If you need, follow the step by step photos for help.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until a smooth mixture forms.
- Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Hint: Use a whisk to help the sauce be as smooth as possible when mixing. It also gives is a lighter texture.
Uses For Yum Yum sauce
We love how versatile this sauce is. Some of our favorite ways to use it are topping Japanese Sushi, or a tasty hibachi dinner. I remember the first time I had this sauce at a Japanese Hibachi restaurant I knew I wanted to make my own version and this one hits the spot just right.
We've also tried it with air fryer chicken, and grilled steak for a great flavor addition. It can be used for so many dishes!
Top tip
This sauce really needs to be refrigerated before eating for the best flavor. If you let it chill for 2 hours, the flavors blend really well together. If you eat it right away it doesn't have that same tangy full taste you are looking for.
Recipe
Yum Yum Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise kewpie works best, but regular is fine
- 1 Tablespoon ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon butter melted, I used salted
- 1 Tablespoon mirin
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- a few dashes of hot sauce optional but encouraged
- 1-2 Tablespoons water for desired consistency
Instructions
- Stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup, melted butter, mirin and rice vinegar. Add in the sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika and hot sauce if using. Stir until well combined. Add water until desired consistency is achieved. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
- The chill time is very important in this recipe!! It will not taste as good. Chilling allows the flavors to develop. Chill 2 -24 hours before serving.
- Kewpie mayo will give you a flavor most similar to the sauce you might get at teppanyaki grills.
- To substitute tomato paste, use 1 teaspoon tomato paste instead of the ketchup
Nutrition
Yum Yum Sauce vs Spicy Mayo
Spicy mayo and yum yum sauce are both popular condiments and have a mayo base. Spicy mayo is a creamy sauce made from mayonnaise and hot sauce or sriracha. Yum yum sauce is a creamy and tangy sauce made from mayonnaise, ketchup, sugar, and others seasonings, giving it a sweet and savory taste. They both pair well with sushi while yum yum sauce is great with hibachi-style grilled meats and seafood like shrimp and crab.
Substitutions
- Sugar free- To make this sugar free, use sugar free ingredients and use your preferred artificial sugar substitute for the sugar.
- Light- Use light mayo and skip the butter.
- Spicy - To make this spicy add 1 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce.
- Greek yogurt- Use greek yogurt by substiuting all or part of the mayo with greek yogurt. We recommend ⅔ yogurt and ⅓ mayo.
- Tomato paste- Instead of ketchup use 1 teaspoon of tomato paste.
- Vegan- For a vegan dish use vegan mayo. All of the other ingredients are already vegan.
Storage
Store prepared sauce in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks. Before you serve it make sure to chill it for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours for the best flavor. Don't freeze this sauce, the ingredients don't thaw well.
FAQ
As long as the ingredients you use are gluten free, specifically the mayonnaise, then the Yum Yum Sauce is gluten free.
It's creamy and slightly sweet with a hint of tomato and has an asian feel and a tanginess from the rice vinegar and mirin.
Yes, but just from a tiny bit of butter which could easily be swapped for vegan butter.
If using store-bought sauce, it's best to use the sauce before the use-by date. If you are making homemade sauce, if stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator it will last up to 2 weeks.
Andrea says
The best homemade yum yum sauce I've ever had. I love when I can make my own sauces. This was perfect for our take out sushi.