Yum Yum Sauce substitute

Best substitute

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise + 1 tablespoon ketchup + 1 tablespoon melted butter + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar + ½ teaspoon garlic powder + ½ teaspoon paprika + 2-3 tablespoons water

Best for hibachi chicken, steak and shrimp

Close match

The real recipe, and the only version that gets the exact steakhouse flavor, because there is no other product on a shelf quite like it.

Other yum yum sauce substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Sriracha Mayo
Different taste
Use the same amount
The nearest thing already sitting in most fridges, and structurally the same idea: mayonnaise thinned and colored with a red sauce.
What changes
Best for
poke bowls, fried rice, shrimp and salmon, sandwiches and burgers
Spicier, garlickier and more acidic, so hibachi chicken drizzled with it tastes hot and sharp where yum yum sauce is sweet and mellow. Stir in a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of water per quarter cup and it moves a long way towards yum yum. It is also a deeper orange-red rather than pale pink.
3Mayonnaise + Ketchup + Sugar
Different taste
4 tablespoons mayonnaise + 1 tablespoon ketchup + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 tablespoon water
The three-ingredient shortcut, and honestly about eighty percent of the way there.
What changes
Best for
fries and onion rings, hibachi-style rice and vegetables, chicken tenders, burgers
Without the paprika and garlic powder it tastes more like a plain burger sauce - sweet and tangy but flat, missing the faintly smoky, savory background that makes yum yum sauce interesting. Adding just the paprika closes most of that gap and costs nothing.
4Kewpie Mayonnaise Thinned With Water
Different taste
½ cup Kewpie + 2 tablespoons water + 1 teaspoon sugar
Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise is already made with rice vinegar and egg yolks only, which puts it much closer to the base of yum yum sauce than Western mayo.
What changes
Best for
hibachi dishes, poke bowls, okonomiyaki and takoyaki, shrimp
Richer, more savory and eggier, with a distinct umami depth, and it stays white rather than turning pink without tomato. Some cooks prefer it to the classic sauce; it just does not look right if the pale pink color is what you are after, so add a teaspoon of ketchup for appearances.
5Thousand Island or Fry Sauce
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount thinned with 1 tablespoon water per ¼ cup
Not the same sauce, but it occupies the same slot - creamy, sweet, tomato-tinged and pink.
What changes
Best for
fries, burgers, fried shrimp, salads
Thousand Island brings pickle relish, so it tastes sweet-sour and chunky rather than smooth and mellow, and there is a vinegary bite that yum yum sauce does not have. Fry sauce is closer because it is just mayonnaise and ketchup. Neither has the garlic and paprika background, so a teaspoon of each is a worthwhile addition.
6Greek Yogurt Version
Taste and texture differ
½ cup Greek yogurt + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise + 1 tablespoon ketchup + 1 teaspoon sugar + ½ teaspoon paprika
A lighter build for anyone who does not want a mayonnaise-heavy sauce, and it works better than yogurt substitutions usually do.
What changes
Best for
grilled chicken and vegetables, rice bowls, salad dressing, wraps
Noticeably tangier and thinner, with a dairy sourness in place of mayonnaise's soft richness, so it tastes fresher and less indulgent - some people prefer it, but it is clearly not the steakhouse sauce. Do not heat it, and add extra sugar to offset the yogurt's tartness.

What is Yum Yum Sauce?

Yum Yum Sauce is the pale pink-orange mayonnaise-based sauce served at American hibachi steakhouses, also called Japanese white sauce, hibachi sauce, shrimp sauce or sakura sauce, thinned with water and flavored with tomato, sugar, vinegar, paprika and garlic.

Cooking tips

Make it at least a few hours ahead and preferably the day before. Garlic powder and paprika need time to hydrate and bloom in the mayonnaise, and a freshly whisked batch tastes noticeably raw and dusty compared with the same sauce after a night in the fridge.
The water is the whole trick. Restaurant yum yum sauce is thin enough to drizzle from a squeeze bottle, and getting there means adding water a tablespoon at a time until it pours in a ribbon. Skip it and you have a thick dip that tastes right but never feels like the real thing.
Paprika, not tomato, does the color. A tablespoon of ketchup barely tints a cup of mayonnaise, so if your sauce is coming out white, add another half teaspoon of paprika rather than more ketchup, which would make it taste sweet and tomatoey.
It is a cold sauce and should stay that way. Drizzle it on hot hibachi chicken or fried rice at the table, but do not cook with it - mayonnaise splits and turns oily when heated, and the sauce goes grainy.
If it tastes flat, it is usually short of acid rather than short of salt. Add a quarter teaspoon of rice vinegar at a time and taste; a squeeze of lemon does the same job if there is no rice vinegar in the house.

Frequently asked questions

Is yum yum sauce the same as Japanese white sauce or shrimp sauce?

Yes - yum yum sauce, Japanese white sauce, hibachi sauce, shrimp sauce and sakura sauce are all names for the same mayonnaise-based steakhouse sauce, and different restaurants and bottled brands simply picked different names. Recipes vary in the details, mainly in how much tomato and sugar go in, but they are the same sauce. Worth knowing that it is an American invention rather than a Japanese one.

Can I just leave it out?

You can, and the hibachi chicken or fried rice underneath is still perfectly good, but the sauce is a big part of why the dish tastes like restaurant food - it adds fat, sweetness and acid all at once. If you want something simpler, a mix of mayonnaise and a little sriracha, or even mayonnaise thinned with rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar, does most of the job with almost no effort.

Why is my yum yum sauce not pink?

Because you are relying on the ketchup for color. A tablespoon of ketchup in a cup of mayonnaise contributes flavor and almost no tint - the pale pink-orange comes from paprika. Add paprika a quarter teaspoon at a time until the color looks right, and give it an hour in the fridge, since the color deepens noticeably as it sits.

What can I use instead of mayonnaise as the base?

Kewpie mayonnaise is an upgrade rather than a compromise - richer and more savory. Vegan mayonnaise works almost identically and is the easiest dairy-free and egg-free route. Greek yogurt makes a lighter, tangier sauce that needs extra sugar and does not taste like the steakhouse version. Sour cream is too tangy on its own but works blended half and half with mayonnaise.

How long does homemade yum yum sauce keep?

About a week to ten days in a sealed jar in the fridge, limited by the mayonnaise rather than anything else - check the mayo's date and do not exceed it. It thickens as it chills, so stir in a teaspoon of water before serving leftovers. It is best on day two, so making it ahead is genuinely an advantage rather than a compromise.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Yum Yum Sauce substitute

Other yum yum sauce substitutes

2Sriracha Mayo

3Mayonnaise + Ketchup + Sugar

4Kewpie Mayonnaise Thinned With Water

5Thousand Island or Fry Sauce

6Greek Yogurt Version