Yum Yum Sauce is a Japanese steakhouse sauce perfect for drizzling over sushi, rice bowls, noodles, meat, and seafood. This version is vegan, tangy and a little less sweet! Gluten-free.
Why You’ll Love This
This magical Yum Yum Sauce is one of my secret weapons in the kitchen to help get more healthy veggies into my husband’s belly. It’s magical because whatever you put it on will magically disappear. I can roast pretty much any veggie; and if it comes with Yum Yum sauce, he’s 100% game!
Similar to Sriracha Mayo it takes only 5 minutes to make. It tastes creamy and tangy with a hint of heat and sweetness. Lately, we’ve been using it on poke bowls and our Tofu Katsu and drizzling it over sticky glazed Tofu Bowls.
Our plant-based version uses vegan mayo, but you can use regular mayo if you prefer. I also make this sauce less sweet compared to a store-bought version or what you might find at a restaurant. You can adjust the heat and sweetness to your preference!
Yum Yum Sauce Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: Use regular mayo, or for a plant-based sauce, use vegan mayo like above!
- Sriracha: Or try Sambal Oelek or Garlic Chili Sauce. Adjust the heat to your liking!
- Soy sauce: Or gluten-free liquid aminos. Adds umami, salt, and depth.
- Tomato paste: This is optional, but adds savory depth and enhances the appetizing color of the sauce! Sub ketchup if you prefer.
- Maple syrup: For subtle sweetness. You can sub sugar, honey, brown sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Rice vinegar: For acidity and a nice tangy flavor.
- Ginger paste: Or simply use ground ginger.
How to Make Yum Yum Sauce
1. Gather the ingredients. Add all ingredients for the sauce to a small bowl.
2. Whisk. Whisk everything together until well combined.
3. Add water. Optional, but water can help create a more pourable sauce. Start with one teaspoon at a time until achieving the desired consistency. Skip this step if using it as a dip.
4. Taste and adjust. Taste and adjust the sriracha, vinegar, or sweetness to taste.
Variations
Use any of these tips to customize your Yum Yum sauce!
- Make it vegan or gluten-free. Use vegan mayo and gluten-free liquid aminos.
- Make it extra spicy! Whether you use sriracha, sambal oelek, or chili garlic sauce, you can increase the amount to your desired heat preference.
- Sweeten it. We use a small amount of maple syrup for subtle sweetness, but if you wish to sweeten it further you can increase the amount. You can also try using regular sugar or brown sugar if you prefer.
- Add different spices. Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika or smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper are other common ingredients in Yum Yum sauce. Feel free to create your favorite combination or spices!
- Use ketchup. Ketchup is commonly used instead of tomato paste, but keep in mind that it often comes with added sugars.
- Turn it into a dressing. Make a salad dressing by adding double the vinegar and using water to thin it out!
Storing your Sauce
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days in a sealed container. To increase the storage time even further, use ground ginger and double the vinegar.
Ways to use Yum Yum Sauce
There are so many delicious ways to use this this sassy condiment! Drizzle it over sushi, rice bowls, poke, veggies and seafood! Here are some ideas:
- Chicken Katsu (or Tofu Katsu!)
- Glazed Tofu Bowl
- Sushi Burrito
- Seared Ahi Tuna Salad
- Seasoned Japanese Rice with Furikake
- Chirashi Sushi Bowl
- Poke Bowl
- Korean Tacos
- Teriyaki Salmon
FAQs
Not quite! Though these two ingredients are part of the recipe, the sauce is also made with soy sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup, rice vinegar, and ginger paste. Some recipes call for ketchup instead of tomato paste, sugar instead of syrup, or even melted butter.
This delicious sauce is the perfect balance of sweet, savory, spicy, and tangy!
The options are truly endless, but some popular pairings are fish and other seafood, grilled chicken, steak, roasted vegetables, sushi, and rice and noodles bowls.
Yum yum sauce is also called yummy sauce, white sauce, pink sauce, or sakura sauce.
I hope you enjoy this easy, delicious vegan condiment! Let us know how you end up using it in the comments below.
More Must-Have Condiment Recipes
Yum Yum Sauce
- Prep Time: 5
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ⅔ cup
- Category: sauce
- Method: whisked
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Yum Yum Sauce is a Japanese steakhouse sauce perfect for drizzling over sushi, rice bowls, noodles, meat, and seafood. This version is vegan and a little less sweet!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayo or vegan mayo
- 1–2 tablespoons Sriracha or Sambal Oelek or Garlic Chili Sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or gluten-free liquid aminos
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional, see notes)
- 2–3 teaspoons maple syrup (or sub sugar, brown sugar or coconut sugar)
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste, or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- water to loosen, optional
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- Add water for a looser consistency, a teaspoon at a time.
- Feel free to adjust, adding more Sriracha, vinegar, or sweetness to taste.
Notes
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. For increased storage time, use ground ginger powder and double the vinegar.
You can skip the tomato paste, or sub ketchup, or leave both out entirely. To deepen the color, add a teaspoon of paprika.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
- Calories: 37
- Sugar: 1.5 g
- Sodium: 181.8 mg
- Fat: 3.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.5 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 0.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Please help- I cant get into my account, website says it does not recognize my email, does not send change pw link! I don’t want to lose my recipe box! this is my fav food website. Need help pls
Have you tried restarting your computer?
I just made this Yum Yum Sauce. It’s in the fridge now, “mingling” the flavors. I am anxious to use it on roasted chicken tonight. I have a left-over poke bowl in the fridge, and I’ll be making salmon this week. I will also try it over steamed broccoli and asparagus. Thank you for this yummy recipe.
Hope you enjoyed it Debbie!