Quick and easy, homemade sriracha mayo (spicy mayo sauce) recipe for a creamy, spicy, and garlicky sauce that you can use on snacks, sandwiches, salads, veggies, and sushi!
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The first time I had sriracha mayo (aka spicy mayo), I was blown away by how creamy and delicious it was and I simply had to re-create it at home so that I can put it on everything.
When I got home and tried to make it, my homemade spicy mayo flavor didn't really have the same flavor and kick that it had outside at restaurants. I thought to myself, how hard could it be? I just needed to mix mayonnaise and sriracha mayo right?
After experimenting with different ratios of sriracha to mayo, I started to notice that the spicy mayo wasn't very spicy so I increased the amount of sriracha but I noticed that it watered down the mayonnaise and made it runny and it was no longer creamy.
To work around that, I decided to add ground cayenne, instead of adding more sriracha to give it that spicy kick instead, and ta-da! I finally figured out what my missing ingredient was and this has been my version of homemade spicy mayo ever since.
This is also my go-to recipe for spicy mayo for sushi whenever I make it at home as well!
What is Sriracha Mayo Good On?
Here is a list of things I like to use spicy mayo on! It's definitely not limited to just my list and if you have a unique use for it, let me know! I'd love to try it out.
- Sandwiches and Burgers - This sauce is my go-to sauce whenever I make my umami pork and beef burgers. I also love to give any sandwich bit of a spicy garlic kick and creaminess with this sauce as well.
- Salads and Vegetables- I love to mix it into hearty salads like pasta salads, Japanese crab salad (kani salad), or chopped vegetable salads made with cucumber, tomatoes, and corn. I also like serving this at parties with vegetable sticks as an easy dip!
- Use It As a Dipping Sauce for Snacks and Appetizers - I usually serve appetizers like crab and cheese spring rolls, crispy chicken pakoras, and crispy buttermilk popcorn chicken with spicy mayo!
- Potatoes! - I love dipping my french fries, honey miso garlic roasted potatoes, tater tots, crispy hash browns, and sweet potato fries with it!
- Sushi and Poke Bowls! - This spicy mayo is must in any type of sushi or poke bowls especially if you have salmon with it!
- Noodle bowls and rice bowls - I love using this sauce in rice bowls like my Tuna Mayo Deopbap (Tuna Rice Bowl) recipe.
- Use It To Make Thick and Hearty Party Dips - To give my dips a kick of flavor, I will mix spicy mayo in crab dips and cream cheese dips.
- Potstickers and Dumplings - If you're making any type of pan-fried dumplings like gyoza, this spicy mayo goes amazing with it. I will usually whip up a batch for my bacon cheeseburger potstickers whenever I make it.
- Tacos! - This goes amazing with any type of tacos. If you need a creamy spicy kick for it, definitely consider using it on your tacos, especially fish tacos. I like to use it on my crispy lemongrass chicken tacos in place of sour cream if I don't have any on hand.
Ingredients & Substitutions for Sriracha Mayo
If you're wondering what my version of spicy mayo is made of, here is a quick list and summary of what I use to make it!
- Japanese Kewpie Mayo - I like to use Japanese Kewpie Mayo for Sriracha mayo, which you can usually find at an Asian grocery store but I have found it at Walmart and specialty grocery stores as well. It has a bit more flavor than the standard mayonnaise because of the MSG in it but if you can't find Kewpie mayo, you can definitely substitute it with standard mayonnaise (Hellman's) but I wouldn't use Miracle Whip for this recipe. I personally find Miracle whip is too sweet for this recipe and has less of a creamy buttery flavor.
- Sriracha Chili Sauce - There is no substitute for Sriracha Chili sauce for this recipe. The combination of garlic, vinegar, and hot peppers is what makes this spicy mayo delicious. Sriracha has been increasingly popular these days and can be found in any grocery store now. You shouldn't substitute it with tabasco sauce or any other hot sauce with it because it is missing the garlicky flavors from it.
- Ground Cayenne Pepper - Adding ground cayenne pepper the sauce gives the sriracha mayo a bit of a spicier kick and a stronger pepper flavor which gives the sauce a bit more flavor. A little goes a long way, so if you don't like spicy things, just put a small pinch and work your way up with taste testing until it is the right amount of spiciness for you.
- Garlic (Optional) - Garlic is not traditionally in sriracha mayo and is optional I but highly recommended it. Once you add garlic, you're basically making a sriracha aioli. I recommend grating the garlic so you don't have big chunks of garlic in the sauce. Start with just half a clove of garlic and do a taste test and add more if you want it garlickier. I like using 1 full garlic clove.
What is Spicy Mayo Made Of?
Making spicy mayo at home is super easy and literally takes a few minutes to make by just combining 3 ingredients: Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise, Sriracha chili sauce, and ground cayenne pepper!
If you like garlicky sauces, I highly recommend grating a clove of fresh garlic into it as well, just make sure you finely grate it in so you don't bite into chunks of garlic.
To make grating the garlic easier, I use a porcelain/ceramic grater. I highly recommend one as a kitchen tool if you use a lot of grated garlic and ginger in your cooking.
If you don't have a grater, you can definitely finely chop the garlic with a knife, but make sure the garlic is chopped super fine so you don't bite into large chunks of garlic in your sauce. Alternatively, you can also use a garlic presser or a zester/grater microplane.
Garlic graters don't need to be expensive or fancy and can usually be found at your local kitchen stores. I found mine at a thrift store, but if they are hard to find locally, you can pick them up online as well.
How to Make Sriracha Mayo
This is a VERY easy and simple spicy mayo recipe and there's not much to it!
- In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of sriracha chili sauce, and ¾ teaspoons of ground cayenne pepper together until everything is well combined.
- (Optional, but highly recommended) If you are adding garlic, grate it finely and put it in the bowl with the sauce, and mix everything together. Start off by grating half a clove of garlic and mixing it into the sauce. Do a taste test to make sure it is a good level of garlickiness. If you want it more garlicky, add the full clove.
- Enjoy this sauce with snacks, sushi, veggies, or sandwiches!
If you're wondering why I don't have any acid in this recipe like vinegar or lemon juice, it's because I feel like sriracha alone has enough vinegar in it to balance out the flavors. I also didn't add more vinegar or lemon juice to this recipe because I like my spicy mayo thick and adding more vinegar or lemon juice waters it down and makes it runny.
Does Sriracha Mayo Need to Be Refrigerated?
Since sriracha mayo contains mayonnaise and mayonnaise contains eggs, you definitely should refrigerate your spicy mayo if you have leftovers.
If you make a big batch of it, use a clean spoon to scoop out what you need from the bowl or jar of spicy mayo each time you want to use it - this is so you don't contaminate the batch with bacteria, which will cause mold to form on it.
I keep it in the fridge for no more than 2 weeks but this recipe is so easy that I find that I like to make small batches anyway and it never lasts more than 2 weeks.
FAQs
I store sriracha mayo in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Sriracha on its own is about medium spicy to me, but when combined with mayo it reduces the spiciness drastically and it becomes mild spicy. If you want to increase the spiciness after you mixed it with mayo, add cayenne to it.
More Sauces You May Like
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Recipe Card
Spicy Sriracha Mayo
Equipment
Recipe Notes
- Japanese Kewpie Mayo - I like to use Japanese Kewpie Mayo for Sriracha mayo, which you can usually find at an Asian grocery store but I have found it at Walmart and specialty grocery stores as well. It has a bit more flavor than the standard mayonnaise because of the MSG in it but if you can't find Kewpie mayo, you can definitely substitute it with standard mayonnaise (Hellman's) but I wouldn't use Miracle Whip for this recipe. I personally find Miracle whip is too sweet for this recipe and has less of a creamy buttery flavor.
- Ground Cayenne Pepper- Adding ground cayenne pepper the sauce gives the sriracha mayo a bit of a spicier kick and a stronger pepper flavor which gives the sauce a bit more flavor. A little goes a long way, so if you don't like spicy things, just put a small pinch and work your way up with taste testing until it is the right amount of spice level for you.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise (see notes below)
- 3 tablespoons Sriracha chili sauce
- ¾ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (see notes below)
- 1½ teaspoon garlic (optional but highly recommended, approximately 2-3 cloves)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix 1 cup of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of sriracha chili sauce, and ¾ teaspoons of ground cayenne pepper together until everything is well combined.
- (Optional, but highly recommended) If you are adding garlic, grate it finely and put it in the bowl with the sauce and mix everything together. Start off by grating half a clove of garlic and mix it into the sauce. Do a taste test to make sure it is a good level of garlickiness. If you want it more garlicky, add the full clove.
- Enjoy with snacks, sushi, veggies or sandwiches!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Josie says
It looks so good, ingredients are fine w/me. As soon as I saw this new Recipe came out, I showed to my kid, I was then asked to make it for him.
I promised, since everyone is at home, can't go for social distancing.....
Will follow up to let you know how my making turnout to be.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Josie!
It's great for snacks! You might want to omit the cayenne pepper for your kids so it's not too spicy! 😊
Josie says
To follow up my last comment. Yes, absolutely you are right. I made it without putting cayenne peppers, because 1 kid doesn't like chili hot food, while the other one can take mild. Finally, it turned out that I made was great, , both like it. Thank you..