Yum Yum Sauce is so easy to make and just as good as your favorite Japanese hibachi restaurant!  You’ll love this tangy, savory, sweet sauce on any meat!

yum yum sauce in bowl

YUM YUM SAUCE!  To go along with our Hibachi Chicken post from earlier this week of course!  We can’t have hibachi without this stuff, it is so good!  This sauce is made with super simple ingredients and you probably have most all of them in your pantry!  It took several tries and experimenting, but I am happy to say this tastes just as good as the restaurant!  Yum Yum Sauce is made of mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, sugar, paprika and water to thin the sauce out.  That’s it!  It’s really just a matter of the right ratios of ingredients to get the flavor you want!  You could easily also serve this over London Broil or any chicken at all like Baked Chicken Breast or even Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs!

This might be the shortest post I’ve ever made on this blog!  But, the recipe is really self explanatory.  You’ll just grab a bowl, or a jar and whisk everything together!  As far as vinegar goes, I like rice vinegar best so use it if you can.  If not, apple cider vinegar will absolutely do just fine.  I like to thin our sauce out quite a bit and typically use about 3 Tablespoons of water.  I do this so we can drizzle it over the meat.  You can also keep it thicker and use it as more of a dipping sauce.  Once everything is mixed up, it really is best to let this sauce chill for several hours to let the flavors combine.  I’d say at least an hour, and really up to 24 if you can.  Yum yum sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

hibachi chicken with yum yum sauce

Enjoy!

~Nichole

5 from 213 votes

Yum Yum Sauce

Yum Yum Sauce is so easy to make and just as good as your favorite Japanese hibachi restaurant!  You'll love this tangy, savory, sweet sauce on any meat!
Prep 5 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Servings 8

Ingredients 

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 for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 2TBSP, Calories: 200kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Like this? Rate & review this recipe below!

Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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69 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I tried this on air fryer fried chicken. I liked the sauce better than the chicken, My husband requested that we always have a batch on hand to use instead of mayo on his sandwiches for work. I will share this recipe with him!

  2. 5 stars
    I cut the recipe in half and added the sauce to some shredded cabbage for fish tacos. It was wonderful!

  3. 5 stars
    I made this and said aloud to no one in particular…since I was home alone…omgoodness it does taste like yum-yum sauce. So good! Happy!

  4. 5 stars
    I made this sauce all most slapped myself it’s delicious can’t wait until tomorrow.Thanks!

  5. 5 stars
    Delicious!!! Never have to spend a fortune for hibachi again. The recipe is perfect…wouldn’t change a thing. I didn’t even need to add water so it’s definitely a preference.

  6. 5 stars
    I seriously got excited when I tasted this sauce. So authentic to my favorite sushi spot. I had everything I needed except the know how. Thanks for sharing!

  7. 5 stars
    Perfect. No time to let it refrigerate, but that’s okay. I can only imagine how good it will be once the flavors mingle.

  8. 5 stars
    Just made this and it came out perfect. Question however; 5 days of storage in the fridge? It’s made completely from stuff that keeps in the fridge for months! I’m confused???