8 Homemade Sauce Ideas (from a sauce fan)
As you guys know, I am a big fan of sauces. In my book, pretty much everything is better with a sauce, especially if the sauce is creamy in some way.
And as you've seen, a lot of my egg/potato/veggie bowls have sauces on them.
So, on a recent post, a reader asked for sauce suggestions, especially if they can be made at home.
You can buy sauces at the store, of course, and I would not judge you for that. Anything you buy at the grocery store is gonna be cheaper than eating out, and if a jar of sauce helps you eat at home, go for it.
But if you do want to try making your own sauces, here are a few ideas to get you started.
And some of them are crazy easy, like this one:
1. Chipotle Mayo/Sour Cream
You know how I always keep a jar of blended chipotles in my fridge?
(Here's my chipotle-storing method.)
Well, if I want a sauce that's a little smoky and spicy, I just stir some of those into a bit of sour cream or mayo and POOF, I have a delightful sauce.
2. Sour Cream Cilantro Sauce
I originally made this to go with the chipotle chicken kebabs (sauce is included here) that we eat all the time; super quick and tasty.
But it also works great as a salad dressing if you thin it out with a little milk.
I also sometimes do a blended version, with some jalapeños thrown in, but honestly, I usually eyeball the blended version. It's a sauce...how wrong could it go?
3. Sriracha Mayo
I know they sell bottles of this combo, but you can easily make your own at home just by stirring some sriracha into regular mayo.
Another advantage: you can control the spiciness.
Yum-Yum Sauce
I make this mayo-based sauce for putting on hibachi chicken, mainly. The site I got my recipe from is no longer up, but there are a million versions of this on the internet, all fairly similar.
Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any pictures of the sauce itself...just the chicken and veggies that I put the sauce on:
Here's a yum yum sauce recipe that you could try.
4. Sweet Vinaigrette
This is not exactly a sauce, but...I do usually have a jar in my fridge (the dressing recipe is in this salad post.)
It's a slightly sweet oil and vinegar dressing, and it works really well in a green salad that has fruit in it.
But mainly, I use it to dress some greens when I eat lettuce for breakfast. I just toss lettuce with a bit of the dressing and eat it as a side to my eggs.
Like I always say, if you want to feel obnoxiously virtuous, eat a salad before 9 am. 😉
By the way! I realized very recently that if you microwave the vinegar, sugar, and salt, and then stir them to combine, the sugar stays dissolved even after many days in the fridge.
I wish I'd figured this out sooner!
5. Mustard Vinaigrette
While I'm thinking about salad dressings...here's another vinaigrette. This one gets made in the blender, so it's pretty quick and easy too, and it turns kind of creamy.
These types of dressings do leave your blender pretty greasy, so after I make mine, I blend up some dish soap and hot water to help clean the oil slick off the blender.
And then I wash by hand.
6. Asian-ish Dressing
This is Asian in the same way that Taco Bell is Mexican (i.e. not very), but I don't know what else to call it! Here's the recipe.
It does have a laundry list of ingredients, but you just dump them all in the blender, and it keeps in the fridge for a while.
I mainly use it on a lettuce/chicken/mandarin orange salad, but there are probably other good ways to use it!
7. Pesto plus sour cream/mayo/heavy cream
Pesto is obviously a good sauce on its own. But we know I think everything is better when you make it creamy.
Soo, I like to combine it with mayo (for a sandwich spread) or sour cream (for a dip).
And if you want to make a sauce to go on pasta, then a pesto/heavy cream (or half and half) combo is super good.
8. Basil/Red Pepper Mayo
This roasted red pepper sauce is so so so yummy. It does require the step of roasting red peppers, but oh man, it's so worth it. It'll seriously elevate a sandwich!
All right...enough from me. I bet you guys have some tried and true sauces that you make at home, so please share!
Thanks! So useful to have in the fridge. One of our staples is garlic sauce, based on greek yoghurt and a spoonful of mayo, with garlic to taste, some salt n pepper and just a little bit of maple syrup or sugar. Prepare well in time, the taste will be stronger. Very good with meats or salads-
@JNL, I have to try this!
Budget Bytes' peanut lime dressing is a household favorite! Salads, noodles, shrimp, your own foot--this sauce makes anything wonderful. https://www.budgetbytes.com/peanut-lime-dressing/
@N, I second that. It is super delicious and we make tofu noodle bowls often and always with this dressing.
Tartar sauce, BBQ sauce, any number of mayo/sour cream sauces. You know, in my book, the only difference between a dip, sauce, and creamy dressing is how much you thin it out. When I have a dip that doesn't seem to get used up, I put a spoonful or two into a vinaigrette and shake it up.
@Jody S., oh...I forgot tartar sauce! We have a place in Charleston, SC that is a british fish n'chips...they have the best tartar sauce. I have tried to replicate it at home...still missing something. I know it is mayo, cream, seasoning, dill, and maybe it is capers I'm missing? It's sooo good!
@Marlena, A little bit of pickle relish added to the mix should do the trick 😉
@Marlena, When i make tartar sauce it's just mayonnaise mixed with dill pickle relish (not sweet).
@Karen A., I've always used relish, but this restaurant didn't have pickles in their sauce and it is much more loose than regular tartar sauce (they add cream to make it a bit looser).
@Marlena, https://www.food.com/recipe/english-seaside-tangy-tartar-sauce-for-fish-and-chips-428549
Maybe this is closer? It calls for capers, and also small pickles, but maybe if you leave the pickles out...
@Marlena, you must be talking about Codfathers! They have the best tartar sauce.
@Becky S, I am and they do!!
@Marlena, definitely capers! Mmm
Yum! Great ideas!
I’ll add my super easy (and super obvious) recipe for honey mustard sauce. Mix roughly equal parts of honey and Dijon mustard (I prefer this to yellow mustard, but either is ok)
I use this most often on top of salmon
Homemade ranch, of course. Mayonnaise+plain yogurt or buttermilk+garlic/onion powder+dried dill+pepper. If I want it to be a dip rather than a thinner salad dressing, I use sour cream in place of the yogurt/buttermilk.
Also, I make a yogurt sauce to use on lamb that is also really good on roasted potatoes: just plain yogurt--usually I drain it just a little to make it thicker--a clove of garlic run through the press, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Alsoalso, more a dip, but . . . mayonnaise+sweet yellow curry powder is really good with lamb, too. And carrot sticks.
Tartar sauce is easy to make at home. So if tzatziki if you already have homemade yogurt. I recently made a copycat Big Mac sauce for hamburgers.Very much like tartar sauce, as it turns out.
@kristin @ going country, homemade ranch is our favorite too 🙂
@Caitlie, Ranch is our favorite! I used to make Kate's homemade Ranch, but now I buy Trader Joe's ranch spice mix and just stir in sour cream and mayo, add milk or cream for a thinner salad dressing version. So good!
How about we say "homemade condiment ideas"? That should cover sauces, vinaigrettes, dips, and everything else, I think. Anyway, here are my two contributions to the collective wisdom:
(1) I make a fast cocktail sauce for seafood with one part ketchup to one part horseradish. Adjust the proportions to your own preferences.
(2) My favorite way of making a mustard vinaigrette is to wait till I have a nearly empty jar of Grey Poupon or similar, and then add EVOO, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and an herb or two to it. I then close the jar and shake to mix the vinaigrette. (And this certainly simplifies the cleanup: All I have to do is rinse the jar and drop it into the recycling bin!)
Mom’s Barbecue Sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup tomato ketchup
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 cup water
Salt and cayenne
Brown onion in oil and then add remaining ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes.
Makes 2 cups.
I also brush beef kebabs (steak, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, onions) with 1/2 melted butter and 1/2 mustard. Heavenly.
For roast beef, 1 use 1/2 cup horseradish, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 mayo. I grow my own horseradish and grate it but the prepared kind is fine.
@Rose, homemade bbq sauce is good and easy! thanks for the reminder.
@Caitlie, Plus, one usually has the ingredients around.
I make and freeze many small tubs of pesto in September. I grow the basil. I use roasted walnuts instead of pine nuts to cut costs.
I also like the old standard salad dressing. Mayo plus ketchup plus pickle relish and a bit of pickle juice plus onion powder.
@Stephanie, I do this too and it is so nice to have all through out the year. Thanks for the walnut tip 🙂
I didnt tend my basil well last year so I didn’t make any pesto last summer. 🙁
"A spoonful of sauce to make the veggies go down...." a la Mary Poppins.
https://cookieandkate.com/lemon-vinaigrette-recipe/ - This is my 'house dressing' for salads & I use my immersion blender to get it all creamy & good. My preference is honey vs maple syrup & I've adjusted the ratios of lemon juice/honey/oil to suit me. This one gets raves from everyone!
@Kristen - for your roasted red pepper mayo, consider using jarred roasted red peppers, adding a dollop of those chipotles in adobo, & a squirt/squeeze of lime juice & perhaps omitting the basil in this mixture. (Ina Garten recipe for Spicy Red Pepper Aioli)
@Theresa, thanks for the vinegrette recipe!
@Theresa,
OOOO, I love vinagrette dressings, thank you!
Cheers to a fellow Condiment Queen 😉 I, too, love all the sauces, all the time. Recently, when I don't have any other inspiration, time, or ingredients, I've been putting regular store-brand dijon mustard straight on everything. I also love anything with fresh dill especially, and think that any fresh herb in sauce is excellent. However, dried herbs and spices can also still make excellent sauces. I love being able to control the ingredients and taste of what I'm eating! Also easy/delicious is fast-food-style honey mustard which is easy to make by mixing mayo, regular mustard, and honey to taste.
I'm convinced that nourishing types of fats are so uber-important so I have been buying a VERY PRICEY mayo made with just avocado oil and it is so worth it to me #priorities. Has anyone had good luck with homemade mayo? Is it delicious? Worth it?
@Heather Mar, I’m with you on healthy fats! We love this recipe for homemade Mayo and we think it tastes better than the store bought. We get avocado oil for a great price at Aldi and it makes this way more affordable to make than buy. The key really is letting the oil separate and set on top of the other ingredients before blending and letting it emulsify for the full 20 seconds before moving your immersion blender up and down. Good luck!
I totally forgot the link! Oops!
https://feelinfabulouswithkayla.com/2023/04/26/homemade-mayonnaise-recipe/
Homemade mayo is super easy. My daughter makes it often.
@Haley, thank you for this link. I might try it.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, you’re welcome!
@Haley, oh great, thanks for the recipe and tips! Another use for my amazing immersion blender too. Can't wait to try it!
This is my favorite blueberry sauce for: pancakes, ice cream, cheese cake:https://www.pinterest.com/pin/204702745553037170/
It's from an older BH&G Cookbook.
A local restaurant has a house dressing that is a sweet onion dressing. They are finally back to bottling it again. I can't think of enough things to put it on. It elevates a plain salad.
And for this land locked Midwesterner that thinks Aldi Fremont brand crab cakes are just fine, I like to dab a couple of tablespoons of Burmans Mayo on the plate and sprinkle a generous pinch of dried dill weed and stir it up as a condiment.
@Chrissy, Also if one is out of syrup, just melt some jelly and pour it over pancakes etc. We did that all the time as children. Maybe even easier in a microwave than doing it on the stovetop as we did.
@Chrissy,
You forgot to add "....or, just pouring it into your spoon to eat directly".....which is probably how I'd eat it.....heh. 😉
Kristen, I am thrilled with this post because it will help us to cook more at home. I’ve learned many good things from your posts + the Commentariat. One epiphany was that I like any dish better if it has a sauce. While I can cook many things, I’m woefully short on good sauce recipes.
And I too would never judge if anyone has great recommendations for store-bought ones.
After some intriguing glimpses into your hospital work life, and now anticipating some tasty sauce ideas, this blog keeps being the best. Not to mention the art house-level photography and the kitty pix, both of which always make me smile.
These are wonderful! So many things can be jazzed up with a good sauce! A couple of our family favorites are chick fil a sauce and taco sauce.
Chick fil A:
1/2 cup Mayo, 2T mustard, 2T honey or agave, 1T vinegar, 1/2t garlic powder and pinch of salt and pepper. So good on any chicken or sandwich!
Taco sauce:
1/2C Mayo, 1/4C plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, 3 1/2 T lime juice, 1 healing T taco seasoning, 1/2t sugar, chopped cilantro (optional but good if you like cilantro)
This is so good on taco salad, tacos or just a great chip dip!
The sauce I want to share is a dairy-free/vegan creamy sauce. We keep kosher but creamy sauces are often so good with meat.
Lemony Tahini Dressing
1/4 c tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp vinegar (red wine/white wine/apple cider are all fine)
1 tbsp honey
3-4 tbsp water, as needed to get tk the desired consistency
Salt/pepper
Tahini, like peanut butter, appears to "seize" when mixed with wet ingredients. Just keep stirring and it'll turn creamy white!
I put this sauce on chicken, on salads, on fried fish, or use it as a dip for veggies.
I love this dressing! So good on so many things.
I have a recipe for homemade ranch mix that is so close to the original packet dressing, not the bottled dressing - at the house and I am at work.
My husband and daughter did the ketchup plus horseradish thing for seafood sauce, but I can't stand the flavor of horseradish, so I don't ever make it. However, I used to make homemade ketchup with DH's many, many homegrown tomatoes and hot peppers, to make a spicy ketchup that was a hit with my family. I used to give my dad multiple quart jars of it - he ate it on everything but pancakes, my mother used to say.
I make honey mustard dressing by eyeballing honey and mustard, usually dijon, and a dab of lemon juice.
If we are going with A. Marie's idea of "condiment" instead of sauce, which I think is a good idea, then I will add that one of our family favorites is pickle relish made out of summer squash instead of cucumbers, which gives it a different flavor. One of my kids won't eat cucumber relish, but will eat summer squash relish almost with a spoon.
I also have a recipe for a sweet salad dressing made with red wine and honey which are cooked down into a syrup with herbs and lavender buds, then vinegar and oil is added. An actual chef gave us that recipe. That recipe is also at home, along with the ranch recipe.
Finally, the ultimate southern sauce - gravy! I know, it isn't a sauce, but it tops meat, potatoes, biscuits and some sandwiches, so I think it counts. This is how I learned to make it:
Cream gravy - make a roux with pan drippings and flour, then pour in the cream, half and half or whole milk and stir constantly till smooth and slightly thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.
Brown gravy - use broth instead of cream/milk. I know some people don't use pan drippings in brown gravy but I often do.
Red eye gravy - traditionally uses the pan drippings from cooking slices of ham in a skillet then adding brewed coffee. I never made this because I dislike the taste of coffee, but my mother made it for my dad. It can be thickened but she never did.
@JD, I fry loose sausage and an onion, then sprinkle flour over the drippings, let the flour cook a minute or two so it doesn't taste pasty, add milk and cook. I then season with Tony Chachere's and a lot of black pepper and serve over biscuits. My kids ask for it often.
@JD, Yum, gravy is my first love in sauces. Thanks for your recipes, they sound delicious!
@Rose, I love sausage and biscuits. Do you remove the sausage and onion to make the gravy (maybe add in at the end) or leave them in?
@Erika JS, Leave them in. I really have to up my recipe-writing game.Heh.
I usually use one of those frozen Jones breakfast sausage chubs, letting it defrost. That is one pound of sausage. I dice an onion, add some butter or oil (the days when pork didn't need oil are gone) and cook till the sausage is nicely browned. Then sprinkle a little less than 1/2 cup flour all over. Mix it up and let it cook for a minute or two, then add 3 cups of whole milk. Whisk. Then season to taste. As I wrote, I like Tony Chachere's and lots of pepper. I also add MSG because it really does make things taste better, but of course it can be left out. When nice and thick, pour over biscuits, which in my case are always canned because sorry, I can only cook one thing from scratch at a time without getting annoyed unless it's Thanksgiving or something. Heh. But so good.
@Erika JS, and of course I smoosh the chub into small bits. Or just buy loose sausage.
@Rose, I love the idea of the onion with it, but my crew would start a revolution if I changed by sausage gravy and biscuits by added a vegetable 🙂 The boy who found out this year that he's sensitive to milk really misses this meal.
@Erika JS, I leave my sausage in. I've gotten better, but don't *quite* have browning the flour quite down yet. I move the sausage to the side, attempt flour browning then add the milk.
and then the sausage joins back in (I too need to up my recipe writing).
We use your idea of ground chipotles on everything we make!
We make yum yum sauce a lot. I can't find the site we originally got the recipe from either, but it seemed the most like you get at restaurants and only had 5-6 ingredients in it (I have it written down on a recipe card). Quick look around online and this is the closest I can find. I remember the original site said to use Hellman's Mayo as it was the closest taste to restaurants and to make it the day before. It's a favorite at my house.
https://makeyourmeals.com/yum-yum-sauce-recipe/
We make ranch. I keep a bottle of dried herbs already mixed for that (like a ranch packet homemade) and mix them with some sour cream and milk when needed.
My husband loves Pinch Of Yum's (website) recipe for their Sunshine sauce. It's kind of a bright italian dressing sauce that's good on everything.
And my favorite is the basic onion ring sauce of ketchup/mayo/maybe a bit of bbq sauce/some worcestershire/dash of hot sauce.
I love sauces too! I had a spinach salad with fruit and nuts for breakfast and made a simple dressing of vegenaise (or mayo), apple cider vinegar and a drop or two of maple syrup. Delicious!
My husband makes a homemade sauce (similar to tzatziki sauce, but the Persian version) & it's delicious. He uses dried mint from the garden, Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, onion & some other seasoning.
well, if we're doing condiments, here's how I make chow-chow. (Not a NY thing but delicious!) My friend told me I wasn't allowed to visit him any more unless I brought chow chow. And it's even easy for noncanners--you just need jars and a few big pots.
Chow chow
1 medium cabbage
4 medium onions
3 green peppers
2 hot peppers
3 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. mustard seed
1 Tbsp. turmeric
5 medium greenish onions
2 cups cider vinegar
1 box brown sugar
Wash 9 pint jars in dishwasher. Boil for 10 minutes and keep jars hot until filled.
Using a food processor (I use my little handy chopper), grind all the ingredients except tomatoes, vinegar and brown sugar. Chop tomatoes by hand. Mix in tomatoes and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain any excess water. In a large pot, add vegetables, 2 cups cider vinegar and 1 box of brown sugar. Cook until mixture boils.
Place in jars and process for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath.
@Rose, I love chow chow. My grandmother made some every year. I buy it ready made now and put some in my potato salad and always with beans.
@Rose, an ENTIRE BOX of brown sugar?? What does one do with chow chow? (besides chow it down)
@Rose,
Years ago, we had about 7 big heads of cabbage, numerous peppers, and who knows what else from a CSA we belonged to. Hubby and I decided to make chow chow for the first time - I'm sure the recipe was similar to yours, but maybe had rice (or rice wine) vinegar in it? - not sure. We canned it, and it turned out great. A friend of mine grew up in farm country in Indiana, and remembers making chow chow at the end of the summer harvest, where pretty much *everything* left in the garden got thrown into the pot (okay, everything *edible* - no corn stalks, pebbles, etc). Green tomatoes, peppers with bad spots cut out, you name it.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Put it on meat. Hot dogs, hamburgers, anything you might do with relish.
Yes, an entire box of sugar. It's delicious. Tangy and sweet.
@Kathy, try making it yourself! I bet it's better than store-bought. If you don't want to can it (but it's really just putting the stuff in clean jars and letting them boil), you could make a ton for a party or something. Or give some to neighbors. Or halve the recipe.
I meant to write "greenish tomatoes" above. Sigh. Not quite ripe, not entirely green.
@Rose, add the turmeric and mustard seed to the pot with veg, vinegar and brown sugar.
Sigh. I have two friends who write cookbooks for a living, and I sorta know Ina Garten, and I still can't write a decent recipe. sheesh.
Excellent ideas. I'll go through all comments ideas as well as yours to add to my cookbook. I am not an easy cook - more an assembler. I recently redid my recipe box organization by appliance - Instapot, Airfryer, Vitamix, Omega juicer, breadmaker, rice maker, large salad bowl. I added a potluck, fruit and veggies, and dessert categories. Then I assemble.
Tip for cleaning Vitamix: put half a lemon in with electric kettle heated water and touch cleaning function. It liquifies the lemon. The mixture cleans the Vitamix and any additional greasy plates.
Easiest recipe in the world: Panda Express Sweet and Sour Sauce ( I try to avoid UPF stuff but I am not a purest) poured over drumsticks on a trivet in the Instapot. Pressure for 10 mins. Take and and broil for a bit to make crispy.
Funny story: I hate mayo. Hubby and Son never complain (God bless them) about my cooking. Son went to Grandma's house and came home. Son: Mom, Grandma makes the best sandwiches, she has this white sauce she makes called mayonnaise. I still don't buy it.
@mary ann, I wasn't raised with mayonnaise, my mom hated it but she loved Miracle Whip. (To the point where she would eat sandwiches of crunchy peanut butter, Miracle Whip, and lettuce....it wasn't bad once you got used to it...) It took a while to get used to mayonnaise when I married DH! He loves it.
@Karen A., I'd eat it sans lettuce. Mayo and peanut butter are at the bottom of my food pyramid. Not a fan of crunchy however.
Thanks for all those ideas Kristen! If you want to make your own ranch mix my favorite is from Kate at venison for dinner! If you google homemade ranch mix venison for dinner it pops up. It’s so so yummy and it’s all easy things to get from to store. I make a double or triple batch of the dry ingredients and store it in a glass jar for easy mixing when you want ranch dressing or ranch dip. I wanna try making it into. Green onion dip but I think that means I have to dry my own green onions which I can do…. I just haven’t. Maybe I should!
Any Whoo thats our homemade sauce, homemade ranch that is kid approved! Even my picky niece who only likes CERTAIN ranch brands will eat this one 🙂
@Caitlie, Yes, this is the Ranch I used to make! So good!!
I was just looking to up my sauce game. Thanks for this timely post! My mouth is watering.
Oh, these all sound great. We are (well, two of us here are) big fans of sriracha mayo here, and sometimes I add a little soy sauce to the sriracha mayo and THAT is delicious, especially paired with a rice/tofu bowl with cucumbers.
One of my favorite lunches is roasted veggies (cauliflower, red onion, carrot and broccoli) with tahini sauce.
First you steep some minced garlic, about 2 Tablespoons, in 1/4 cup lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice is great, but the bottled is just as good. I let it sit about twenty minutes. Then if you want to, strain out the garlic if you want super smooth sauce. I usually don't care. OR you can just use garlic powder.
So, 1/4 cup garlic infused lemon juice, 1/2 cup tahini, 1/2 teaspoon table salt, a pinch of cumin, and whisk it well. Slowly add up to 6 Tablespoons ice water--it has to be cold--and whisk it, fretting all the while that the sauce is seizing up and getting clumpy. Persevere and you'll have nice smooth pourable tahini sauce.
Almost any creamy base dressing or sauce can be made or extended with Greek yogurt. Absent Greek, one can simply strain regular plain yogurt until it's as thick as you want. Use it as a total replacement or blend with the original higher-calorie ingredient. (Mayo/heavy cream/sour cream/cream cheese)
Recently, I accidentally bought two cartons sour cream, which I don't love in large quantities. I avoided food waste by using it, in combination with yogurt and/or cream cheese, in anything that needed a creamy element. It worked surprisingly well. Now I'm looking for opportunities to do it again!
This is not homemade, meaning I haven't tried to make it at home.....but, hubby took me out to an upscale Lebanese restaurant recently, and they had tiny pots on each entree plate of a thick dip/spread that the manager said was just olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, blended together. It was delicious with my shawarma (I got the mixed grill, so yummy!), and I think it would be deelish on other things, too! It sounds pretty simple!
@Liz B.,
Also, speaking of Ranch dressing/dip.....I remember when I was a kid, Ranch dressing or dip was something you could only make at home, buying the packet of Ranch seasoning mix and mixing it with buttermilk or sour cream. We all considered it a real treat!
@Liz B., Buttermilk and I think mayo in the 70s! I wish people understood/used/valued buttermilk these days. It can be hard to find because the "dairy" case is full of garbagey imitation Frankenfoods. Soy "milk," oat "milk," almond "milk" on and on. Gross. You couldn't pay me to eat that.
@Liz B., again,
I just looked up the Lebanese garlic dip....Toum. This recipe looks like what we had at the restaurant!
https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/lebanese-garlic-sauce/
@Rose, yum.. buttermilk. Buttermilk and yogurt are mixable for a tasty treat. Or buttermilk straight up - I do believe it is an acquired taste. Look for a green container - for some reason, tis the color of they picked (versus red, blue, etc.).
I love creamy sauce too, but I’ll be a contributor of some store bought recommendations (sadly I’m the only one in my family who likes sauce so I just buy what I like)
Toby’s dressing and dip (the Greek feta is my favorite)
Trader Joe’s vegan creamy dill dressing (I’m not vegan, it’s just so good)
B*tchin sauce - also vegan, they make so many flavors and they are all so good. This is one I actually don’t know if I could even make on my own that easily.
I also like pickled vegetables, which I do make myself (radish, cucumber, peppers, carrots) and kimchi enhances a lot of meals too (I don’t make this, my costco sells a large container of it that’s pretty good)
I will share my Spicy Catalina style salad dressing recipe
2/3 (1 1/3 c) cup ketchup
1/3 (2/3 c) cup water
1/2 c equivalent of gran sugar (I use monkfruit and stevia pour style)
1/4 (½ c) cup apple cider vinegar
2 (1/4 c) Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp (1/2 t) tsp smoked paprika
1/4 (½ t) tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp (½ tsp) garlic powder
1/4 tsp (½ tsp) cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp (½ tsp) onion powder
1 pinch (scant 1/8 tsp) thyme,
1 pinch kosher salt
Combine all ingredients in sauce pan over medium heat, Bring to rolling boil, whisking often, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, then refrigerate well before serving.
* I used 1 scant 1/4 tsp guar gum to thicken, it worked well.
I make the usual ranch, thousand island, blue cheese, Good Season's type and a zesty Greek vinaigrette, seasonal Hungarian shallot, raspberry vinaigrette, tartar sauce, bbq sauce, cocktail sauce, Yoshida's teriyaki knock off and an asian spicy peanut salad dressing. I've been canning my own chipotles for decades and because of your blending, I started doing it that way and wowza, it is so easy to use! I convinced my semi famous chef friend in another state to try my blended and now he is producing a blended chipotle for sale in his fancy schmancy La Bodega Italiano. So fun!
These look and sound great! Thanks for sharing! How long do they keep in the fridge for? Just saw no mention and I was hoping some else may ask. But unfortunately being a singleton I tend to not use stuff up super quickly so I’m just curious.
I would say that sriracha mayo and chipotle mayo keep just as long as regular mayo does.
A vinaigrette is good for a long while as well, especially in the fridge. I'd imagine we are talking many weeks; definitely enough time for a singleton to use it up!
@Kristen,
Thank you for the reply and the information! I’m definitely going to have to try some of these out. I want to up my cooking skills!
All excellent ideas! I love a good sauce, but I'm often too lazy to do the work. I've shared here before, however, what some of my super easy, super lazy salad dressings are:
1. "Spray dressing" this is literally just spray olive oil followed up with spray balsamic vinegar. Sometimes I sprinkle a spice or two on top and sometimes I don't.
2. "Moo tube drizzle" this is just cutting the corner off of an Aldi brand yogurt tube and squirting it artfully on the salad. It works brilliantly.
3. "Single serving guacamole cups" Aldi sells these in a six pack and they are a little pricier than the bigger tubs of guac, but they are so darn convenient and you never have to deal with browning guac. I just scoop them out onto the salad.
I never follow a recipe for sauces, per se, but I do make my own BBQ sauce with fridge items I always have. And I love adding a pre-made lemon vinaigrette to mayo for a chicken salad.
@Gina from The Cannary Family,
I remember a long time ago I made barbeque sauce using a 2 liter bottle of soda-it was either cola or root beer and I'm not sure where I got it-probably a leftover or something from a party. It made ok barbeque sauce, but not great as I recall. It was more of an experiment.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS! I am making up a “SAUCE” recipe card file and will make a couple of these to put in my refrig!!!! We are eating a lot of “bowls” for meals and I need some zippy sauces to make it interesting - yours are a wonderful collection,using ordinary ingredients I can find in the grocery store!!!
This is so helpful. I love a good sauce over a pile of veggies, but I am often at a loss for what to toss together. I will be referencing this post!
All these sauces sound luscious! I roast veg frequently but I’m only now realizing I should save some of the roasted red peppers for making the basil/red pepper sauce you’ve described. I look forward to trying it!
Equal amounts of lemon juice and light olive oil with a sprinkle of oregano. I call it Greek salad dressing but it can also be used as a marinade.
O, such goodness! Thanks!