French Fry Dipping Sauce

Ready to branch out from plain ketchup with your French fries? This creamy, lightly spicy French fry sauce recipe is a standby!

At a glance

What stands out: This tasty sauce is good on everything! It’s straightforward (you probably have everything you need to make it).

How long it takes: 5 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: measuring cup, measuring spoons
Servings: makes 1 cup

When we were a little kid, the only potatoes we would even consider putting near our lips were French fries. And they had to be the thin and crispy kind, not the thick cut potatoey kind.

Plus, we needed to have ketchup. LOTS of ketchup to dip the fries in.

We're grown up now and we truly love potatoes, all kinds (air fryer potatoes, air fryer baked potatoes, instant pot mashed potatoes, the list goes on!). Our favorite though? We'd probably still choose thin crispy fries with lots and lots of ketchup. And now that we have an air fryer, it’s so straightforward to mix those fries!

This French fry sauce recipe is winning us over too. Creamy with mayonnaise, tangy from ketchup and apple cider vinegar, and a little spice from mustard and hot sauce. Oh yes, and a bit of pickle relish stirred in too.

A straightforward sauce recipe that’s reliable for dipping fries into but also a winner on a hamburger (think Big Macs) or roast beef sandwich, you’ll want to keep a bowl of this fry sauce in your refrigerator.

You May Know It As …

Fry sauce has different names depending on where you live. You may know it as yum yum sauce, sauce cocktail, salsa golf (golf sauce), red white, Marie Rose, pink sauce, mayochup, or burger sauce. It is popular in many cuisines (Wikipedia).

What Fry Sauce Tastes Great With

Try it on crispy from-scratch air fryer French fries (pictured). It’s rich with air fryer sweet potato fries, tostones, or onion rings. Try it with breaded zucchini fries or crispy zucchini chips. It’s also reliable for air fryer chicken nuggets or air fryer mozzarella sticks. Call us crazy but this sauce is great drizzled over broiled or air fried salmon or grilled chicken, too! And don’t forget about burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches.

About this Recipe

This French fry sauce recipe is ridiculously straightforward to mix. It takes less than 5 minutes to stir up. Enlist the help of your kids to initiate them into the joys of cooking. We're serious, a kid without much experience in the kitchen would love to make this sauce, and eat it!

What You’ll Need

You probably have everything you need in your pantry to make this simple recipe:

• Mayonnaise: The foundation of the sauce is half mayo, half ketchup. Choose your favorite kind of mayonnaise, whether it’s low fat, Dukes, or whatever. We'd stay away from Miracle Whip which is not mayo at all.
• Ketchup: The other side of the foundation, so again, choose your favorite brand. We like to stay away from the ones that list high fructose corn syrup as a primary ingredient.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds a bright dash of tanginess to the sauce. Other types of vinegar work too but will change the flavor of the sauce so make sure you like the vinegar you’re adding.
• Dill Pickle Relish: The relish adds tiny chunks of pickle which will remind you a bit of Thousand Island dressing or Big Mac “special sauce”. You can sub in sweet pickle relish if you prefer, or leave it out entirely if you want a smooth sauce that’s more like original fry sauce.
• Mustard: Plain yellow mustard has such a recognizable flavor and it just works in this fry sauce. If you don’t care for it, substitute a different type of mustard or even horseradish!
• Hot Sauce: Frank’s Red Hot Sauce adds a bit of heat to the fry sauce. Choose your favorite kind of hot sauce.

How it comes together

Just measure out the ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup, and mix it up.

Everyone will be so impressed with your “secret” sauce and will clamor for the recipe. Just tell them it’s a family secret, or better yet, tell them you found the recipe at Bomumo!

Keep reading for ideas to make this sauce your own special sauce!

Before you start

Make It Your Own

Want to make your own secret dipping sauce? Here are a few ideas that you may experiment with.

• Make it spicier. We keep the heat level relatively low so our kids will eat it but you’re welcome to crank up the heat in this dipping sauce by adding more hot sauce. Use your favorite kind of hot sauce: Tabasco, Frank’s, Sriracha, Louisiana, chipotle, etc. There are a lot of different kinds to choose from. You can also just add a bit of cayenne pepper to make it spicy.
• Change the ratio of mayonnaise and ketchup. Many recipes have more mayonnaise than ketchup.
• For a smoky flavor, instead of ketchup, use barbecue sauce.
• Replace the yellow mustard with Dijon or horseradish.
• Use sweet pickle relish instead of dill. Or leave it out. Some recipes call for pickle juice instead so the sauce remains smooth.
• This recipe is gluten-free. It’s straightforward to mix it vegan by simply using a vegan mayonnaise such as Vegenaise.
• We just know that someone’s going to want a fry sauce made without mayo. We haven’t tested it but we're thinking you could substitute Greek yogurt for the mayo. The final product will be a bit tangier so you may have to adjust the other seasonings a bit.

Keeping leftovers

You can keep a tightly covered bowl or jar of this dipping sauce in your fridge for whenever you need it (and why wouldn’t you want to?). It will keep at least a week. Just give it a stir before you serve it.

Note: It won’t keep as long if there are double dippers in your family or if the sauce is left sitting out on the counter for an extended period of time. Better just to take out what you need and keep the rest in the fridge.

• Yield: 16 servings
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Total: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (such as Frank’s)

Method

1. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, stir all ingredients together.
2. Serve cold with French fries, chips, or as a spread on burgers or other sandwiches. Refrigerate until needed.

Notes

Makes 1 cup, or 16 servings (1 tablespoon each).

Refrigerate fry sauce in a tightly covered bowl or jar for up to 1 week. Stir before serving.

For a completely smooth fry sauce, substitute pickle juice for the pickle relish.

For a spicier fry sauce, increase the hot sauce or add a dash of cayenne pepper.