Bang Bang Sauce is a creamy sauce and condiment that is sweet, spicy and just a little bit tangy. It's an addictive dip for chicken, shrimp and fries. It's really easy to make and takes just a few minutes to mix together.
If you like homemade Bang Bang Sauce, you'll also want to try my recipe for another homemade dipping sauce, Boom Boom Sauce. Both sauces are creamy with a sweet spicy kick. If you want straight up spicy and garlicky, then go for Sriracha aioli.
You'll also love horseradish aioli, which is a creamy dip with a spicy kick of horseradish and garlic.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
Mayonnaise: This ingredient gives the sauce its creamy base. You can use your favorite brand of regular or vegan mayo. If you're trying to eat healthier, you can use Greek yogurt instead of mayo, but the sauce won't taste quite the same.
Sweet chili sauce: You can find jars of this ingredient in most grocery stores, usually in the aisle that has Asian sauces and condiments. Sweet chili sauce is sweet and also a little bit spicy. It gives the sauce its red-orange color. There really isn't a substitute for this distinct ingredient, it gives Bang Bang Sauce most of its flavor.
Hot sauce: Spicy hot sauce is necessary to balance the sweet flavor of the sauce. The first choice for hot sauce is Sriracha sauce, which is chili sauce inspired by Thai sriracha. It is tangy, spicy and just slightly sweet. However, you really can use any type of hot sauce, just use your favorite if you don't have Sriracha.
Rice Vinegar: Most recipes for Bang Bang Sauce don't add vinegar, but I find that this sauce needs a tangy, bright boost of flavor so it doesn't taste too sweet and heavy. A teaspoon is all you need to elevate the flavor.
How to Make Bang Bang Sauce
These easy instructions for how to make Bang Bang Sauce have only one step: mix the ingredients together! For exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the end of the blog post.
Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, hot sauce and rice vinegar.
Adjust the flavor to your liking, adding more chili sauce for sweetness or more hot sauce for heat.
To thin out the sauce and make it pourable, just whisk in a few tablespoons of water.
What is Bang Bang Chicken?
Bang Bang Sauce is often served with fried chicken, chicken tenders, chicken sandwiches or as a sauce for an American dish called Bang Bang Chicken.
However, the americanized versions of Bang Bang Chicken barely resemble recipes for traditional Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken.
The blog The Woks of Life has a recipe for the original Bang Bang Chicken from Sichuan Province. The blog post also explains how the dish got its name. The traditional recipe tosses poached chicken and cucumber in a spicy and tangy sauce made from chicken stock, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chili oil and Sichuan peppercorns.
What is Bang Bang Sauce Used for?
Bang Bang Sauce is typically used as a dipping sauce or condiment for fried foods, especially shrimp and chicken. It's also used as a fry dip and burger sauce.
Shrimp: Bang Bang Shrimp is battered and fried shrimp that is served with this sauce. You can also serve grilled shrimp or pan-seared shrimp. The sauce is also good drizzled over fried or grilled fish.
Burgers: Use this as a burger sauce for beef burgers, turkey burgers, veggie burgers and fried chicken burgers.
Chicken: Serve with fried chicken, chicken wings and chicken tenders, also grilled chicken skewers. See the paragraph above for links to Bang Bang chicken recipes.
French fries: If you like dipping fries in mayo, you'll love using this sauce as fry dip! You can also drizzle the sauce over roasted or fried potatoes.
Sweet potato fries: Sweet fries + sweet and spicy dip is delicious!
Fried or roasted cauliflower: Bang Bang Cauliflower is coated in batter and panko and baked or fried until crispy. You can also just roast plain cauliflower and drizzle this sauce on top.
Tofu: Drizzle Drizzle the sauce over cooked tofu to add flavor. To make the sauce more pourable, simply whisk in a little bit of water.
Fried Food: This is a good dipping sauce for almost anything fried, such as egg rolls and spring rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a sauce and condiment made from mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce and hot sauce (usually Sriracha). It's often served with fried chicken, fried shrimp, French fries, and all types of burgers. It's sometimes written as Bangbang Sauce.
Bonefish Grill is a restaurant that has their own version of the sauce that is served with their Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. Other restaurants also serve versions of this sauce.
It's addictively sweet, spicy and creamy.
All three sauces have very fun, catchy names and share similar ingredients. The main differences are that Boom Boom Sauce includes ketchup and garlic and Yum Yum Sauce doesn't add sweet chili sauce and often adds vinegar and sesame oil.
Storage Suggestions
This sauce will stay fresh for 5 to 7 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The sauce will thicken up in the fridge. You can thin out the consistency by whisking in a few tablespoons of cold water.
Print📖 Recipe
Bang Bang Sauce Recipe
Bang Bang Sauce is a creamy sauce and condiment that is sweet, spicy and just a little bit tangy. It's an addictive dip for chicken, shrimp and fries and served with dishes like Bang Bang Chicken and Bang Bang Shrimp.
- Prep Time: 5
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 ½ cups sauce 1x
- Category: Side Dishes
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha or other hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Whisk together the mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, hot sauce and vinegar until smooth.
- Adjust the flavor by adding more chili sauce for sweetness or more hot sauce for spiciness.
- If you'd like to thin out the sauce to make it pourable, whisk in a few tablespoons of cold water.
Notes
Some recipes add honey but I find that sweet chili sauce adds plenty of sweet flavor to the sauce. However, if you'd like more sweetness than add a teaspoon of honey.
This sauce will stay fresh for 5 to 7 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
If you'd like less sauce, simply cut the recipe ingredient amounts in half. You don't have to worry too much about adding exact measurements of chili sauce and hot sauce, just taste as you go.
Jenny says
Love the sweet and spicy flavor!