Yum Yum Sauce Recipe
Updated
Updated
That creamy pink sauce from the hibachi restaurant? You can make it at home in 5 minutes flat. Yum Yum Sauce is a sweet and tangy mayo-based condiment made with 8 everyday staples including mayonnaise, ketchup, rice vinegar, and a little melted butter (trust me on the butter.) No cooking, just whisk and chill. It’s rich, creamy, and perfectly balanced. Drizzle it over fried rice, dunk shrimp in it, or spoon it onto grilled chicken and steak. Once you see how easy it is, you’ll keep a jar in the fridge at all times. We certainly do!
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The Sauce that Makes Everything Taste Better
Hibachi night is frequently requested at our house. Sure, the onion volcano and the flying shrimp are entertaining, but let’s be honest, half the reason we go is for the sauce. Despite the “Japanese steakhouse” label, Yum Yum Sauce is actually a North American invention. You won’t likely find it anywhere in Japan, but every hibachi restaurant on this side of the Pacific has a squeeze bottle of it at the ready. We always end up asking for extra, and one night it hit me that I could just figure out how to make it at home. After plenty of batches and taste tests, this is the version that finally made everyone at my table give the thumbs up.
What sets this recipe apart is the melted butter. A lot of homemade versions leave it out or call it optional, but after making this sauce for years, I can tell you it’s the difference between “pretty good” and “tastes exactly like the restaurant.” That single tablespoon of melted unsalted butter gives the sauce a richness and silkiness that mayo alone can’t deliver. Don’t skip it. The other thing I learned through testing is that patience pays. The sauce tastes good the moment you whisk it together, but the flavors deepen dramatically as it sits. You’ll know you’ve got it right when the sauce is smooth, pourable but not runny, and a soft blush pink. If it’s stiff like a paste, it just needs a splash more water.
Helpful Tips
- Don’t skip the melted butter. It’s the key to true restaurant flavor. I’ve made batches with and without, and the difference is enormous. That single tablespoon gives the sauce a richness that mayo alone can’t deliver. Let it cool for a minute so it blends in smoothly instead of streaking.
- Use plain, full-fat mayonnaise, and don’t substitute it. I’ve tried Greek yogurt and sour cream, and it’s just not the same. A basic mayo actually works better than a fancy one here. You want a neutral canvas so the paprika, garlic, and vinegar can shine.
- Add the water gradually. Start with 1 tablespoon and whisk. The sauce should slowly drip off a spoon, thick enough to cling to a shrimp but thin enough to drizzle. Too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time. Too thin, whisk in a spoonful of mayo.
Yum Yum Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2-3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl until smooth, using only 1 tablespoon of water to start, and adding more as needed for desired consistency.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving for best flavor.
- Store leftover sauce in a tightly sealed container or jar in the fridge. It will keep for up to a week.
Notes
- The melted butter is what gives this sauce its true restaurant flavor, so don’t skip it. Let it cool for a minute before whisking it in so it blends smoothly.
- Use plain, full-fat mayonnaise. Greek yogurt and sour cream don’t work as substitutes here. The tang is wrong, and you lose the silky body.
- Start with 1 tablespoon of water and add more, a teaspoon at a time until the sauce slowly drips off a spoon. If it gets too thin, whisk in an extra tablespoon of mayo.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. The flavors need time to meld, and the sauce tastes even better the next day.
- Store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 1 week. Freezing is not recommended because mayo-based sauces separate when thawed.
- For a spicy version, whisk in 1 to 2 teaspoons of sriracha.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How to Make Yum Yum Sauce Step by Step
Gather all the ingredients together.
Whisk everything together: Combine 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tbsp melted unsalted butter, 3 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp sweet paprika, and ½ tsp garlic powder in a medium bowl with 1 tbsp of water. Whisk until completely smooth, with no streaks of butter or pockets of paprika. The sauce should be a uniform pale pink. Add up to 2 more tbsp of water, a tsp at a time, until the sauce slowly drips off a spoon. It should be pourable but still thick enough to cling.
Chill the sauce: Chill for at least 1 hour. This step matters more than it seems. The flavors need time to meld. Straight from the bowl, the sauce tastes flat, but after an hour, it transforms. Overnight is even better.
Variations
Every hibachi restaurant makes its own version of this sauce. Some are pinker, some whiter, some spicier, so if yours tastes a little different from your favorite spot, you did nothing wrong. Use this recipe as your base and tweak it to match.
- Pinker and sweeter. Add a bit more ketchup and paprika. For a whiter, more subtle sauce, scale both back.
- Spicy Yum Yum Sauce. Whisk in 1 to 2 teaspoons of sriracha. One of my readers adds a splash of sriracha plus ½ teaspoon of mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine) and swears by the combination. The mirin adds a subtle sweet complexity that gets you even closer to some steakhouse versions.
- Lower sodium or sugar. This sauce is already lower in sodium than soy-based condiments, and using unsalted butter keeps it that way. For less sugar, skip the granulated sugar entirely. The ketchup carries enough sweetness for most palates.
Serving Suggestions
The classic way is alongside a hibachi-style dinner, drizzled over fried rice and grilled chicken, steak, or shrimp, exactly like the restaurant does it. When we do steakhouse night at home, I set out a small bowl for dipping and a spoon for drizzling, and it disappears fast.
Beyond hibachi night, this sauce earns its keep in our fridge all week long. My favorite easy appetizer is serving it with cold cooked shrimp, like a creamy twist on shrimp cocktail sauce. The rich, tangy sauce against chilled shrimp gets me every time. It’s also become our house dip for sweet potato fries. The sweetness of the fries and the tang of the sauce were made for each other, and I promise it beats ketchup.
I love a dollop on baked potatoes and smashed potatoes too, where it melts in like a seasoned, upgraded sour cream. On busy weeknights, a drizzle over baked chicken breast or skillet steak turns a simple protein into something that tastes intentional. And when I make sushi bowls, I drizzle it over the top the way spicy mayo is used, and it ties the rice, veggies, and protein together. Come summer, it pulls double duty at cookouts as a burger spread and a dip for fresh veggies.
How to Store Leftovers
Store the sauce in a tightly sealed container or jar (a mason jar is perfect) in the fridge for up to 1 week. Give it a quick stir before serving, as slight separation on top is normal.
Freezer
I don’t recommend freezing Yum Yum Sauce. Mayo-based sauces break when frozen. The oil and liquid separate as they thaw, and the texture never fully recovers.
Make Ahead
This sauce is actually better made ahead. Whisk it together the day before you need it and let it chill overnight. That’s when the flavor peaks. It’s an ideal prep-ahead item for a hibachi night at home.
More Recipes for Hibachi Night
- Homemade Teriyaki Sauce: The other half of the Japanese steakhouse duo. Make both sauces, and you’ve got the full hibachi experience without leaving your kitchen.
- Homemade Sweet Chili Sauce: Another better-than-bottled Asian-inspired sauce that comes together fast. If you love a sweet-heat dip for shrimp and chicken, make this next.
- Peanut Sauce: Creamy, savory, and endlessly dippable. Set it out next to Yum Yum Sauce for an Asian-inspired appetizer spread.
- Raising Cane’s Sauce: Another famous restaurant sauce cracked at home. If copycat condiments are your thing, this creamy, peppery dip belongs in your rotation.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
I’ve not made it but I know it’s yummy 😋
This sauce recipe is SO good. I make a new batch every time I run out – we use it for many things not just dumplings.
I made this recipe and it is so delicious. I read a lot of recipes but this one for some reason is the one I went with, one I seen said use cheap mayo, the better brands will shine thru, I also added a pinch, maybe a teaspoon of Sriracha sauce and about 1/2 teaspoon of mirin and wow, like off the hook good!!! All in all this will definitely be my go to! Store brands can just stay there.