The best dipping sauce recipes, from spicy mayonnaise to homemade mustard, and DIY teriyaki to bang bang sauce. Discover your new favorite sauce recipe today.
One of the best ways to take your cooking to the next level is to make your own sauces and condiments. You get to control the quality of the ingredients and the method, resulting in better sauces (and the feeling of being an accomplished chef).
Here are some sauce recipes to get you started!
Thai Peanut Sauce
Thai peanut sauce with its sweet and spicy flavors is often the best part of ordering Thai takeout. With this recipe, you can easily make it at home and pour it over satays, noodles, and Thai-inspired salads.
The main ingredients for this easy Thai peanut sauce are peanut butter, ginger, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and crushed red pepper flakes. Whisk the ingredients together, then add the warm water in small intervals.
Teriyaki
A homemade teriyaki sauce is a great recipe to keep in your back pocket for when you want to replicate your favorite takeout dishes. You can use this sauce in many traditional Japanese recipes, from noodles to chicken stir-fries.
To make teriyaki sauce, you need soy sauce, water, cornstarch, and a sweetener such as honey. For extra flavor, you can add in extra ingredients such as rice wine vinegar.
Dijon Mustard
Dijon mustard is a caliber above your typical yellow mustard in a squeezy tube. You don’t have to be a master saucier to make your own thanks to this recipe.
To make homemade Dijon mustard, you need whole mustard seeds, dry mustard powder, white wine, white wine vinegar, finely chopped garlic and onion, water, and salt. Simmer the liquids and the garlic, strain the water, then add the mustard seeds. After the sauce rests for about a day, you can blend it.
Chili Paste
If you want to give any meal you make a kick of heat, serve it with this homemade chili paste. Control the levels of spice by adjusting the amount of dried red chilies that you add.
Besides chilies, you will need green onions, garlic, macadamia nuts, and sugar. Rehydrate the chilies, blend with the other ingredients, then finish by frying the paste off in a frying pan.
Garlic Purée
Keep this pungent roasted garlic purée on hand for a quick starter to many Indian recipes, or to rub on crusty bread for the best garlic bread to serve with Italian classics. Making it is very easy so you can always have some on hand.
You will need lots and lots of garlic as well as olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cover the cloves in olive oil and seasonings and roast in the oven for about an hour. Then, mash the garlic into a puree.
Easy Bang Bang Sauce
Bang bang sauce is a common sauce served with street food chicken in Szechuan, China. Its creamy heat is the perfect compromise between lovers of spice and those who like milder food.
To make this bang bang sauce, you will need mayonnaise, chili flakes, sriracha, rice vinegar, and sugar. Making it is very simple: all you need to do is whisk all of the ingredients together.
Gochujang
Gochujang is a popular Korean condiment that nearly every dish uses, from kimchi to bibimbap. The process to make this fermented condiment is a bit involved, as it includes two months of fermentation, but it is worth it.
The main ingredients for our gochujang sauce recipe are barley malt powder, soybean powder, glutinous rice, salt, rice syrup, red pepper powder, and plenty of water.
Spicy Mayo
Spicy mayo sauce is a great way to add a kick of flavor to sandwiches and other meals. The richness of the mayo and the spiciness of the hot sauce combine for the perfect blend of flavor.
You can make spicy mayo with a hot sauce of your choice. This recipe calls for a combination of Kewpie mayonnaise and sriracha sauce.
Fishball Sauce
A Filipino street food classic, fishball sauce is a spicy-sweet dipping sauce that perfectly matches the cuisine’s deep-fried fishballs.
This fishball sauce recipe combines soy sauce, minced garlic, and siling labuyo chili peppers to create the perfect balance of sweet and spice. Best of all, it only takes ten minutes to reduce down to the gorgeous consistency that’s perfect for dipping.
