It’s a Western states thing, fry sauce will change the way you eat fast food. You may even find yourself searching out places as you travel that serve their own variation of this sauce, but you can make our own version of zesty fry sauce easily and customize it to your personal taste.
If you just mix mayonnaise and ketchup together, you are missing the full experience of fry sauce. It needs some zip and zing to balance out the salty goodness of fried food.
Zesty Fry Sauce Variations
While I like the classic version of this zesty fry sauce, I’ve included tips to customize it to be more smokey with the addition of smoked paprika and chipotle in adobo sauce or more BBQ like with the addition of BBQ sauce and seasoning. Maybe you like the sharp bite of mustard or horseradish, feel feel to add 1/2 teaspoon of each to make your perfect fry sauce.
The basic recipe includes 1/2 cup mayonnaise, do not substitute salad dressing or low-fat mayo for this, salad dressing gets watery and low-fat mayo adds a funky taste. Next, you need some tang from dill pickle juice. Hey, don’t knock it, using the brine from dill pickles is an age-old kitchen trick that you have been eating for years without even knowing it. I like to simplify the additions by using a seasoned salt and lemon pepper to the fry sauce. Add some mustard for kick and Worcestershire sauce to help with the consistency and that’s your starting point.
Feel free to experiment by adding on your favorite seasonings and remember that the flavors will deepen and meld together so taste again after 20 minutes in resting in the refrigerator so your zesty fry sauce is perfect.
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Zesty Fry Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1–1/2 cups 1x
- Category: sauce
- Method: fresh
- Cuisine: American
Description
Zesty Fry Sauce is the perfect condiment for french fries, onion rings or tater tots. It is also marvelous on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken as well.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice
- 2 teaspoons season salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon honey, (as needed)
- Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- In a container, combine mayonnaise, ketchup, dill pickle juice, season salt, lemon pepper, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, paprika, and garlic powder and stir combine. Taste and add honey if sweetness is needed and a pinch of cayenne pepper to give fry sauce a little kick at the end.
- Refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend together. Taste again and add season as needed. Serve with french fries, onion rings, tater tots, or as a condiment for a hamburger or even as a dipping sauce for chicken.
- Can be refrigerated for 3-5 days. You may need to stir everything together again before using as some ingredients can separate.
Notes
Add pickle relish instead of dill pickle juice to give the sauce more texture
For more kick, replace the dijon mustard with horseradish, you may need to add more honey to balance the taste.
For BBQ flavor add 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce to the basic recipe.
For a smokier flavor, substitute the paprika with smoked paprika and add up to 1 teaspoon of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers.
Sweeter flavor, substitute honey mustard for dijon mustard and add a 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar to the sauce.
For an extra kick add 1 teaspoon of sriracha sauce o the mix.
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