Comeback Sauce
A tangy Mississippi dipping sauce of mayonnaise, chilli sauce, garlic, Worcestershire and hot sauce, good with fries, salads and fried fish.
Photograph credit: Comeback sauce (lead image of the de.wikipedia article on comeback sauce) by Valereee · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
This is what to put on the table when people come back for seconds, which is where the name is said to come from. Comeback sauce is a creamy, savoury and mildly spicy sauce from the South, closely related to Thousand Island dressing but sharper and with more heat.
The base is mayonnaise, loosened with a little chilli sauce and ketchup for sweetness and colour. Worcestershire adds depth, hot sauce brings a steady burn, and grated onion and garlic give it body and bite. A squeeze of lemon lifts the whole thing. There is no cooking, so everything depends on how fresh the ingredients are.
Grate the onion on the fine side of the grater so it melts into the sauce, and chill it for at least 30 minutes before serving, so the flavours blend and the garlic mellows. Use it as a dip for fried pickles, fries and chicken, or spread it on a burger or a sandwich.
What People Ask
How long does Comeback Sauce take to make?
5 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 30 minutes of chilling, so allow 35 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Comeback Sauce: Step by Step
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Put the mayonnaise, chilli sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a bowl.
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Stir in the garlic, onion, lemon juice, pepper and paprika until smooth.
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Taste and add more hot sauce if you want. Cover and chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Grate the onion finely so it blends in.
- Add the hot sauce a little at a time and taste as you go.
- Thin with a teaspoon of water if you want a pourable sauce.
Changing the Recipe
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Pairs Well With
Fried pickles · French fries · Fried chicken · Green salad
Storage
Keeps in a covered jar in the fridge for 1 week.
Comeback Sauce Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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