Earlier this week I made some amazing steak fries and I needed a dipping sauce for them that was equally as epic. Plain old ketchup was just not going to do, so I made some Comeback Sauce. Comeback Sauce is a creamy, tangy, sweet, and savory sauce that’s great for dipping, dunking, drizzling, and smearing onto just about any food. It’s not called “comeback sauce” for nothing. It will keep you coming back for more. And more. And MORE. (I “accidentally” ate an entire bunch of broccoli in one sitting, thanks to this delicious sauce.)
Pictured with Oven Roasted Broccoli.
What is Comeback Sauce?
This unique sauce is said to have originated in a Greek restaurant in Mississippi, but it quickly spread throughout the entire south. The original sauce had a base of mayonnaise and Heinz Chili Sauce (a tomato-based sauce not to be confused with Sweet Chili Sauce), plus some other seasonings. There are many interpretations of this addictive sauce, with each person putting their own spin on the original as it spread across the region. Because Heinz Chili Sauce is not something I keep in my pantry, I made a few substitutions to create a similar flavor profile using items that I keep on hand, and in the process put the Budget Bytes stamp on the classic comeback sauce. ;)
What Do You Serve it With?
What can you not serve it with is probably a more appropriate question! It’s a fantastic all-purpose dip for things like roasted potatoes or vegetables (shown with roasted broccoli), fried foods like french fries, chicken fingers or nuggets, tuna patties, BBQ Wings, fish sticks, or chips. It’s also great smeared onto burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, or wrap sandwiches. I wouldn’t be opposed to using this as a salad dressing, or using it to make an extra flavorful batch of coleslaw!
Comeback Sauce
Servings 5 2 Tbsp eachIngredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise ($0.80)
- 2 Tbsp ketchup ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.01)
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp hot sauce* ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Check out these other homemade sauces:
How to Make Comeback Sauce – Step by Step Photos
Combine ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, ½ tsp Dijon mustard, 1/8 tsp hot sauce, ¼ tsp smoked paprika, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, ⅛ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, and ⅛ tsp salt.
Stir the ingredients together until smooth. Serve or refrigerate until ready to eat!
Shown with roasted broccoli – toss broccoli in oil, then roast at 400ºF for about 30 minutes, or until you reach your desired level of brown.
Fry sauce! It’s been in Utah forever and everyone claims to have the perfect recipe. I might have to try this one, especially since I swear chili sauce is really just ketchup in a more expensive bottle.
I left out the hot sauce and my kids thought it tasted like a less spicy Zaxbys sauce. Loved it! Thanks for posting
This is basically fry sauce on steroids. Fry sauce is, at its simplest, mayonnaise and ketchup mixed together. Utah likes to claim it invented it, but it’s also a popular condiment in Puerto Rican cuisine, so who knows if Utah’s claim is accurate — regardless, it is ubiquitous in restaurants throughout the Mountain West and a pantry staple and I haaaate that I can’t find it in Ohio grocery stores, so thank you I’m going to bookmark this for future reference.
I made this last night – got a good price on broccoli so away I went – we LOVED it and I can see many more uses for the sauce. Thanks for posting it!!!
And really good on slices of avocado!
I’m not a fan of either mayo or ketchup by itself, but this sauce was SO. DANG. GOOD. I just enjoyed some as a dip for some air-fried potatoes and grilled chicken. This is definitely going to be a staple in my kitchen! Next time I’m going to give it a try with half the amount of mayo and use greek yogurt for the other half.
So good! Reminds me of Thousand Island dressing, but not as sweet. I’ve been using it to dip my pizza/pizza crusts in…
If I wanted to make this with Heinz chili sauce, is it just chili sauce and mayo and if so what is the ratio? I don’t keep ketchup or hot sauce in the house. However, I like the taste of Heinz chili sauce, so I would find something to use the leftovers on.
amazing sauce mouth watering
I never wanted roasted broccoli more than I do now. The sauce looks so good :)
This looks like exactly the kind of sauce that I need with my air fryer fries! Great idea serving it with broccoli, then it makes it seem healthier?
would this be a great sauce to top a homemade fish cake?
Oh yes I think so!
Question: if we don’t have hot sauce on hand, should some sort of vinegar be added (since you said any vinegar based hot sauce) or can it be omitted altogether? Your recipes are so delicious and loved in this house!
It’s such a small amount that I think you could get away with just omitting it all together. :)
That looks good enough to eat by the spoonful!
Is there a good alternative to Dijon? I usually have it on hand but we recently moved so I have to restock. Somehow I have everything else though :)
You can just use regular mustard in a pinch.
These sorts of recipes are my favorites. I also don’t keep Chili Sauce in the cabinet, but hey – Beth solved it, here!
Would love your take on hibachi w that pink “shrimp sauce” and ginger sauces to make at home!
Agreed! I would love a good recipe for the shrimp sauce. I can never get it right at home.
How long will this last in the fridge after making it?
Just to err on the safe side, I don’t recommend keeping homemade sauces longer than 5 days. The actual life span, the world may never know! Haha!
I’ve never used actual dimensions to measure, but we’ve been keeping a container of this in the fridge consistently for years now-works with everything. Sometimes up to a few weeks before we need to make more, but I would recommend you might want to replace it a little sooner. Nice to see an actual recipe for it, Beth! Thanks!