Best Yum Yum Sauce

This Yum Yum sauce recipe is an addicting drizzle that’s both savory and sweet, perfect for veggies or shrimp. Here’s how to make Yum Yum Sauce.

Warning: our standard fare here on A Couple Cooks is healthy food. And this sauce is not quite a health food! HOWEVER, we’re sharing a recipe because it’s a tasty way to amp up flavor and a little goes a very long way! Alex and I had been wanting to try out a homemade Yum Yum sauce recipe for quite a while and finally made it happen. Keep reading for how to make Yum Yum sauce, and a bit more about what it is.

Related: Crispy Cauliflower Tacos with Yum Yum Sauce

What is Yum Yum sauce?

Could you have a better name for a sauce? (I mean, really.) Yum Yum sauce is a condiment used at Japanese steakhouses, typically used on seafood. While this pale orange sauce is having a sort of moment in hipster food and online, there’s not even a Wikipedia entry about the history of the sauce or name yet (gasp!). While we wait for the Wikipedia Gods to give us more background on this popular condiment, we do know a few things: it’s a mayo-based sauce, typically made with tomato paste, a little butter, a hint of sugar, and a few other seasonings.

And before we go any further: this stuff is delicious. Creamy, savory, and a little sweet, the uses for Yum Yum sauce are endless. Try it on tacos, eggs, roasted or raw vegetables, as a dip for fries, with shrimp, over salmon, steak: anything you like!

How to make Yum Yum sauce

I wish I could share some deep secrets about how to make Yum Yum sauce. But it’s so simple I can’t even say anything except: throw the ingredients in a bowl and stir! Yes, it’s that easy.

However: here are a few notes about Yum Yum sauce ingredients. It’s a mayonnaise-based sauce, with the next two ingredients being melted butter and tomato paste (or ketchup). We experimented with removing the butter in this one, but it tasted very strongly of mayo. Adding the butter helps to smooth out the sauce, so we would not suggest omitting it. Also, Yum Yum sauce typically calls for sugar, but we substituted it with maple syrup to keep it naturally sweet. Round it out with some garlic powder and paprika, and it’s done! Delicious and truly easy.

If you eat a vegan diet, you could use vegan mayonnaise and substitute coconut oil for the butter. The coconut oil would add a light coconut flavor, but it would still work here. And whatever your diet, if you’d like to add a smoky flair, try using smoked paprika instead of paprika! It adds a complex undertone that’s a nice touch.

Looking for other essential recipes?

Whether it’s how to hard boil eggs or the perfect pizza sauce, our essential recipes are easy DIYs to make at home! Here are few more of our essential and DIY recipes:

• How to Make Homemade Salad Dressing
• Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
• Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs or Perfect Boiled Eggs
• Whipped Cream Recipe
• Balsamic Reduction
• Hot Honey Recipe
• Mustard BBQ Sauce 
• Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
• Best Honey Mustard Sauce
• Homemade BBQ Sauce
• Homemade Spinach Tortillas
• How to Grow Bean Sprouts
• Best Coleslaw Dressing Recipe
• Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
• Spicy Chipotle Sauce
• Cashew Cream Recipe
• Creamy Cilantro Sauce

Ways to use Yum Yum sauce

If you’re not sure how to use this delicious condiment, here are a few recipes we think would pair well with Yum Yum sauce:

• Grilled Shrimp and Pesto Skewers
• Seared Salmon Poke Bowl
• Baked Salmon (omit the chimichurri sauce)
• 5-Minute Seared Tuna
• Loaded Quinoa Tacos

This recipe is…

This Yum Yum sauce recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based and dairy-free, use vegan mayo and coconut oil (see below).

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