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Yum Yum Sauce, the name says it all! This Japanese steak house mayo-based sauce can be made easily at home! This popular sauce is light, sweet and tangy!
Popular sauces that are made from scratch are so easy and so much better. Think homemade Famous Fry Sauce, Tzatziki Sauce and Homemade Cheese Sauce.
Homemade Yum Yum Sauce Recipe
Yum Yum Sauce is a staple at Japanese Hibachi restaurants and is so delicious! Hibachi is a method of cooking meat, vegetables, and seafood on a high-heat metal cooking plate, and at Japanese restaurants in North America, this sauce is almost always on the table with your meal!
This is so easy and simple that you’ll wonder why you’ve waited so long to try it. You can find this sauce sold at stores, but this is much easier to make from home. Try serving it with some shrimp, drizzling it on this sushi bake, or even dipping your fries in it!
Yum Yum Sauce Ingredients
These ingredients are so simple, but they pack a punch when it comes to flavor! Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all of the exact measurements.
- Mayo: The mayonnaise acts as a creamy base for the sauce.
- Rice Vinegar: Adds a zing of deliciousness but is a MUST for yum yum sauce.
- Tomato Paste: Do not substitute this with ketchup.
- Paprika: I use sweet paprika in this recipe (NOT smokey)
- Garlic Powder: The garlic flavor complements the other flavors so well.
- Sugar: The sugar counteracts the acid in the tomato paste and binds everything together.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter in this recipe.
- Salt and Pepper: These enhance all of the flavors in the sauce.
- Water: The water thins the sauce to the right consistency.
How to Make Yum Yum Sauce
This must-have sauce is so simple to make at home; you won’t have to go to a Japanese steakhouse to get it!
- Mix: Whisk all the ingredients except the water together in a small bowl. Then, thin with the water to the desired consistency.
Make it Spicy
This yum yum sauce is so delicious, but you can definitely change it up by cranking up the heat! Try adding in some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to make this nice and hot.
Storing Leftovers
- In the Refrigerator: This yum yum sauce is best stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days. However, this is so easy to make; you can make small batches and make it fresh every time you need it.
- Make it Ahead of Time: The longer the sauce sits before you use it, the better. It gives time for the flavors to meld.
What to Serve with Yum Yum Sauce
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Yum Yum Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk the mayonnaise, rice vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, garlic powder, sugar, butter and salt and pepper.
- Add water as needed to get the desired consistency.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I like all of them.
Way too much tomato paste. Not even close the right recipe
Hi Steve, thank you for your comment. You can switch things up to add less tomato paste to make it how you like it. I’m sorry that you didn’t like what you made.
Turned out great! This recipe is a keeper. I used tomato paste in it. Did not add any salt or pepper. Make sure to add the water. 😊
Not sure why there were ANY negative reviews about this sauce. I made it as written although I started with only 1T of tomato paste because some said there was too much. I ended up adding the second tablespoon after tasting it. The sweetness is perfect. I didn’t add any water, but I put it in my fridge to set overnight for a cocktail party tomorrow so I may add some after it has been sitting. I think this is delicious and I am using it as a dipping sauce for chilled shrimp tomorrow. I will keep this in my repertoire. Don’t knock it if you don’t make it exactly as it was written.
We wish it could get more stars. I even substituted the sugar for Splenda granulated and it was outstanding! This one gets saved for our kitchen!
Not nearly sweet enough to be called YUM YUM. Try 3T and dextrose is better bc it blends better than wht sugar.
My son loves it. For myself- can it be made with anything other than mayo? I can’t eat the ingredients in mayo. Just asking- thank you
I would try with greek yogurt!
We thought it was perfect, used for our home made sushi rolls. Will make again!
Yum yum sauce is the best with sushi! So happy you liked the recipe.
Thought it was perfect 👍🏻
I liked the recipe. Tasting it by itself I thought it was too much tomato paste. However after letting it rest for 30 minutes and putting it on some firecracker chicken with rice, it was delicious. I might try it with only 1/2 or 2/3 the amount of tomato paste the next time. However my thought is that it is worth making again. Thanks for the recipe.
Shocked when I saw the comments were so bad. I kept the proportions but eyeballed everything. You HAVE to let this rest or it tastes really weird. Leave overnight in the fridge, and it’s the closest thing I’ve had to restaurant shrimp sauce.
I also used half and half kewpie and Duke’s mayonnaise.
This came out amazing. Idk what that other comment is talking about. It’s a faint pink like it’s supposed to be. Also if you use kewpie mayo it bumps it up even more. Thanks for the recipe!
This ain’t it. Waaaay too much tomato paste in this recipe. It came out awful until I doubled the mayo and added soy sauce. Still nowhere near the steak house yumyum sauce. But now I have a ton of this garbage and wasted ingredients. I will make due.
Absolutely disgusting. Came out super red and the flavor is just not right at all. Recipes that use ketchup are ten times better