Homemade Yum Yum Sauce (Japanese Steakhouse) (2025)

May 17, 2020 By Brandy 55 Comments

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Make yourown homemade Yum Yum Sauce when you’re cooking up a stir fry or yummy fried rice at home. This is it, folks! THEfamous Japanese steakhouse sauce that they serve at hibachi restaurants! Your fried rice, chicken, hibachi vegetables, and shrimp will never be the same!

What is Yum Yum Sauce?

Sometimes called pink sauce, Japanese shrimp sauce, Benihana Yum Yum sauce, or hibachi shrimp sauce, this is the authentic yum yum sauce you’ve been looking for ever since enjoying it at your local Japanese steak houses or hibachi grills! Quite possibly one of the best condiments out there.

Watch our step by step video!

Every time we go to our favorite Japanese hibachi steak house I take notes on how they fry up the rice, meat, veggies, etc. They keep the pan HOT, use only soy sauce to season, and cook everything quickly to sear the outside and keep the inside tender. Got it. But they don’t divulge the ingredients for the Yum Yum sauce which really makes the meal.

Have you tried Yum Yum sauce before?

It is also called Japanese White Sauce at some restaurants. Our favorite place serves it in a small bowl like ranch salad dressing. They have a ginger-type vinaigrette dressing and yum yum sauce which has a creamy base. You can use it on your salad, you can dip seafood and sushi into it and you can also pour it over fried rice and hibachi chicken. That’s our favorite way to enjoy it. In fact, we can’t even eat fried rice without this yummy sauce so it was imperative that I find a copycat recipe to use at home. It’s addictive, you’ve been warned.

The Best Yum Yum Sauce

(scroll down for printable recipe)

I found this homemade yum yum sauce recipe several years ago and IT. IS. SPOT. ON. And while we miss the show of our chef dicing veggies at a ridiculous speed, stacking onions and lighting them on fire, and the other fun elements of the table show, it is nice to have a more affordable option to enjoy at home.

Homemade Yum yum Sauce Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise: full-fat mayonnaise, not low-fat. I’ve tried both and it DOES make a difference.
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ketchup or tomato paste
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate overnight (at least 6-8 hours). Thin with a tiny bit of water if desired before serving to achieve desired consistency. For a spicy kick, add a drop of sriracha sauce or a dash of cayenne pepper.

Note: DO NOT use light mayo or Miracle Whip.

At Home Chinese TAKE-OUT Recipes

I love making take-out-style dishes for my family at home. Our favorites are our homemade chicken chow Mein, hibachi-style fried rice, and our homemade egg rolls. We even have a recipe for fortune cookies, too!

Scroll down for some FAQ on making yum yum sauce.

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce

Make yourownhomemade Yum Yum Saucewhen you’re cooking up a stir fry or yummy fried rice at home. This is it, folks!THEsauce that they serve at the Japanese Steakhouse restaurants!

4.27 from 298 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes

chilling: 6 hours hours

Total Time: 6 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 Tablespoons

Calories: 88kcal

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon ketchup or tomato paste
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Mix ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
*Do not use light mayo.
*Make sure to refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Notes

Drizzle over chicken, shrimp or fried rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 88kcal

Can I use light mayonnaise in this Yum Yum sauce recipe?

You can, but it won’t taste as good. We’ve had it both ways and it is definitely better with regular mayonnaise (mayo).

How long should I wait before using the Yum Yum sauce?

6 hours or overnight. The flavors need time to really meld before use. The longer you chill it the better.

How long will the Yum Yum sauce keep in the refrigerator?

It will stay fresh in the fridge for 5-7 days in an airtight container. Store-bought yum yum sauce lasts longer because of the added preservatives but tastes nothing like the real deal.

What can I dip in Yum Yum sauce?

Dipping shrimp, drizzled over salad or noodles, as a dipping sauce for French fries and sweet potato. It would be delicious on burgers too!

Brandy

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Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

Reader Interactions

Comments

Katy @ Live Laugh Love Craft says
January 31, 2012 at 2:50 am
Oh yummmm! Would you share how you make the chicken and rice, too? I’d heart you forever. 😉
Reply
Jessica@MakingHomeSweeter says
January 31, 2012 at 3:20 am
Ooooh yum! That sauce looks so good!
Reply
Dixie Delights says
January 31, 2012 at 12:35 pm
thank you thank you! This is my family’s favorite part of the meal 🙂
Reply
Rhissanna says
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February 2, 2012 at 5:26 am
Wow! Thank you!
Reply
Rachel says
February 2, 2012 at 1:55 pm
You’ve solved the mystery! My husband and I love the Yum Yum sauce at the local hibachi restaurant and I’ve been meaning to try to recreate it at home. Thanks for this – he’ll be thrilled!
Reply
Cheryl says
February 4, 2012 at 9:27 am
Great, thanks for sharing, I could put this in a cup and drink it! Gonna pin it
Reply
April says
February 6, 2012 at 7:18 pm
I was just telling my husband the other day that I wondered how they made this! Thanks for the recipe!
Reply
Elizabeth {sunny bug} says
February 16, 2012 at 4:18 am
YUM! This might become a requirement for all meals {minus breakfast of course…maybe}. Thanks for the recipe!
Reply
- John and Gail Sheehan says
  April 1, 2023 at 4:48 pm
  It would be great on cheesy scrambled eggs!!
  Reply
Over The Moon Gifts says
February 16, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Thanks for posting this! I found it on Pintrest. I lightened it up by using fat free mayo and smart balance butter spread. This makes it only 2 Weight Watchers points!
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ericrx says
March 20, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Actually, many times it’s something a lot more simple –> Mayo + Srirachi Sauce. 🙂
Reply
thewaytohisheart says
June 7, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Oh, I’ll have to try this and hope its the same as the one I love. I find most have their own variations. I love the mayo sauce though!
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The Blonde in the Office says
June 24, 2012 at 2:07 am
You could probably use greek yogurt instead of mayo if you wanted to cut out some calories and fat. Thanks for posting the seasonings! I loooove this sauce!
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MrsKosmo~ says
June 29, 2012 at 8:39 pm
How much does this make? just enough for 2 people/1 meal? thanks for this! plan to try it soon!
Reply
Brandy says
July 1, 2012 at 4:02 am
MrsKosmo, this makes about 1 c. of sauce. Now I’m not sure how much you SHOULD consider a serving…probably just a tablespoon or two, but I usually use 1/4 cup on my rice. So one recipe could serve 2-4 people easily. At Genji’s (the restaurant that I first had this sauce at), they give you small cups of it that have about 1/4 c. in them.
Reply
Ash P says
August 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm
This is similar to the one I make at home. Mine is mayo, ketchup, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce and cayenne.
I’m gonna try this variation!
Reply
Mysticsheesh says
August 19, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Thanks for the recipe but I have to ask… on the page that the link sends us to, did you at least “Buy (the guy) a beer!” via Paypal??? LOL I did!
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Christina says
October 28, 2012 at 6:30 pm
This was very good.. I added horseradish to mine to give it extra kick.
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Mabani says
October 29, 2012 at 1:56 am
This is definitely an American or stateside version because I had never heard of it nor had it until recently. No where near as good as the Asian ones which are definitely more authentic & better tasting. This is too heavy for real hibachi.
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ajillofalltrades says
November 5, 2012 at 3:37 am
I have actually perfected this recipe with a couple of adjustments:
I use only 1/8 c. of water and 2.5 tspns. of ketchup instead of tomato paste as it is readily available. I think it helped to lighten up the taste a little (I agreed with Mabani).
Reply
Kayla Jordan says
November 5, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Do you have a recipe for the brown sauce that is served at most Japanese steakhouses. I love it.
Reply
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CCKline says
February 11, 2013 at 10:44 pm
It’s got a pretty strong mayo after taste. I may try using less mayo next time.
Reply
Haleama says
February 5, 2014 at 1:05 pm
This was amazing thank you for the yum yum sauce!!! Recipe was right on point
Reply
- Brandy says
  February 5, 2014 at 1:12 pm
  Great! We love it too. Fried rice isn’t the same without it 🙂 Take care!
  Brandy
  Reply
Michele Schiegner says
May 9, 2014 at 9:15 am
I love Chinese, but I have never had any luck cooking it. Your recipes really sound great.
Reply
- Brandy says
  May 9, 2014 at 11:00 am
  Thanks Michele, I hope you have better luck with these if you decide to try one!
  Reply
Hillbilly says
January 9, 2018 at 11:25 am
Calories per serving??
Reply
M says
February 26, 2018 at 9:17 am
Hi Brandy,
Is there a particular reason why you say not to use light mayo for this recipe? I have a bunch that I need to use up, so I figured this sauce would be a good way to do it.
-M
P.S. Any other good ideas to use up a lot of light mayo? (Besides the obvious potato/macaroni salad options)
Reply
- Brandy says
  February 26, 2018 at 4:03 pm
  Hi -M!
  We used light mayo once (because it seemed like a better idea!) and it affected the flavor. It was still good, but did not taste like the yum yum sauce from Genji (our favorite Japanese steak house). It seemed like a watered down version. If you need to use it up anyway, go ahead and try it! It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients so if you don’t care for it as much you aren’t wasting much. We just both agreed (my husband and I) that the truly copycat version needed regular mayo. Hope that helps! 🙂
  Reply
Chris says
March 20, 2018 at 1:07 am

Yum bloody yum. DELISH…..
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EMILY says
January 16, 2019 at 1:17 pm

My family and I love this stuff! We make it all the time. Beats the store bought stuff hands down.
Reply
- Brandy says
  January 16, 2019 at 1:19 pm
  It totally does!
  Reply
Temika says
February 25, 2019 at 11:59 am
I will be trying this recipe tonight! My daughter and I love hibachi chicken 🙂
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Amy says
May 3, 2019 at 1:21 pm

Fantastic!!!!
I add a little more garlic and paprika.
I also add about a TBS or to taste of sriracha sauce. It really makes a difference!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!!
Reply
- Brandy says
  May 3, 2019 at 6:31 pm
  Sriracha sauce is GENIUS! That little kick of heat would be perfect!
  Reply
Yo says
August 8, 2019 at 1:01 pm
Why does it only last 5 days in fridge???
Reply
- Brandy says
  August 8, 2019 at 5:12 pm
  I’ve only had it last that long before we’ve used it up. It started to separate, but I gave it a good stir and it was still delicious. I can’t vouch for longer than that since we always use it faster.
  Reply
  - Yo says
    August 9, 2019 at 8:27 am
    Thanks!
    Reply
    - Nicole says
      April 2, 2021 at 4:27 pm
      I’ve had some in the fridfe for a little over a month before it really started to separate. Didn’t “go bad” but the texture really changes (very liquidy) and it kinds of goes flat flavor-wise. Best to make smaller batches more often
      Reply
Joe says
January 15, 2020 at 7:16 pm

Oh my gosh!! This recipe is wonderful, just wonderful. Thank you for cracking the code! Made steak stir fried rice tonight and added your yum yum sauce as a side and my wife and kids were so happy with it! I even forgot to add butter, but that’s between us… hehe
Reply
- Brandy says
  January 16, 2020 at 7:31 am
  You didn’t add butter and it was still delicious? Brilliant—gonna try that. That makes it healthy, right? Haha!
  Reply
Lisa says
March 26, 2020 at 2:54 pm

Thank you Thank you Thank you for making this recipe!!! This sauce is goal in my family! Anytime we have hibachi this is our sauce on everything. This tastes just like in the restaurant.
Reply
- Brandy says
  March 27, 2020 at 12:47 pm
  Yay! We simply can’t eat fried rice without it!
  Reply
Monica says
December 18, 2020 at 10:36 am
What brand of Mayo did you use ??
Reply
- Brandy says
  December 18, 2020 at 10:50 am
  I usually just grab a store brand, whatever is cheapest.
  Reply
Kari says
March 10, 2021 at 8:26 pm

My taste buds thank you and my waste line does not, cause you nailed it!
Yum!!!
Reply
- Brandy says
  March 11, 2021 at 10:43 am
  Awesome! Fried rice will never be the same, haha!
  Reply
Nicole says
April 2, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Any thoughts on making this with the Japanese Kewpie Mayo? Instead of regular “American style mayo”?
Reply
- Brandy says
  April 3, 2021 at 5:55 pm
  I’m not sure what the difference is between the two. Might be worth a shot!
  Reply
Amy S says
January 14, 2022 at 10:41 am

I made this last night to go with shrimp fried rice. It was delicious! I halved the recipe and added a couple of shakes of ground mustard. My husband declared it was “freaking amazing” and something that needed to be made every time we have shrimp or fried rice.
Reply
- Brandy says
  January 14, 2022 at 10:45 am
  Haha! It’s true! You won’t be able to eat fried rice without it! Thanks for commenting!
  Reply
Denise says
March 23, 2022 at 8:48 pm

Love it! Than you for sharing this recipe!! Denise
Reply
Dale says
November 4, 2023 at 6:38 pm

Not sure what I did wrong, but when I followed the recipe, it didn’t taste quite right. I ended up having to add an extra tsp each of sugar and ketchup to get that familiar taste. Also you can substitute butter with margarine if you want.
Reply
- Brandy says
  November 5, 2023 at 8:25 pm
  Hi! Did you let it chill for 8 hours? If you eat it right away it won’t taste right, but if it’s chilled for 8 hours it allows the flavors to set up!
  Reply