The Best Burger Sauce Recipe (Special Sauce)

What’s a good burger without some kind of sauce? Enter homemade BURGER SAUCE!

If you have been to In-N-Out, P. Terry’s (our household favorite), McDonald’s, or Burger King, you should have an idea of what burger sauce is. If not, it’s that red-orange-colored sweet and tangy condiment they put on hamburgers and cheeseburgers that is absolutely amazing!!

I honestly don’t know what goes into your typical hamburger sauce from restaurants. It reminds me of a ketchup and mayo hybrid with some other add-ins depending on where you are. But I do know it’s usually magical and the perfect touch on a burger.

So, of course, I had to recreate a healthy version of it and, as it turns out, it is so easy to make! If you have made my burger salad with the special sauce dressing, this is pretty much it, except tweaked slightly to make a huge batch, because it’s that good! It’s one of my favorite sauces and that is saying a lot coming from me!

We’ve been putting it on all kinds of burgers (beef, chicken, veggie…), it makes a great dipping sauce for fries, and I even mixed it with tuna the other day for a spiced-up tuna salad. You really can’t go wrong!

This hamburger sauce is also paleo and Whole30 compliant! Make sure to use a compliant mayo (homemade is best) and complaint pickles (I love the brand Grillo’s Pickles).

Ingredients

• mayonnaise – I prefer homemade (details on how to make it below)
• tomato paste – this will add some natural sweetness and color
• dill pickle chips + pickle juice – for that classic tang
• dijon mustard
• lemon juice
• garlic powder
• paprika
• salt and pepper

How to make burger sauce

1. Make homemade mayo (optional). If needed, make your mayo.
2. Make burger sauce. Add the mayo, pickles, tomato paste, mustard, pickle juice, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper to a large glass jar (I add the rest of the ingredients to the jar I make the mayo in) and whisk to combine. Adjust according to taste.
3. Enjoy! Burger sauce will keep for 2-3 weeks in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge (and the flavor gets better as it sits!).

How to make homemade mayo

Homemade mayo is so easy to make and you only need a handful of ingredients, most of them being pantry staples. You do need an immersion blender for this recipe, but you can find them pretty reasonably and will definitely get a lot of use of it.

Ingredients for homemade mayo:

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup avocado oil (or any kind of light-tasting oil – light olive oil will work, but extra virgin olive oil will not work)
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• pinch of salt

Instructions to make homemade mayo:

1. Add all your ingredients to a small-medium wide-mouth jar. Add egg, oil, dijon, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt in the order listed. I like to use a jar that I will be storing the mayo in and love these weck jars.
2. Blend. Place an immersion blender over top of the egg yolk at the bottom of the jar. Turn on the blender. After about 5-10 seconds, you will see the mixture start to make an emulsion and thicken. Continue blending and after about 30-45 seconds, slowly raise the immersion blender so all the oil is incorporated.
3. Store in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge.

Homemade mayo vs store-bought mayo

As you can see, making homemade mayo is pretty easy – you only need a few basic pantry staples and it takes less than one minute. That being said, not everyone wants to make it.

I have made this special sauce with both homemade and store-bought mayo and I prefer homemade. It is a lot creamier and the flavor is slightly different, giving the burger sauce a better flavor.

That being said, you can use store-bought mayo if you like, it might just alter the flavor a little. Opt for a classic kind without any additional flavorings.

How to use burger sauce

Whether you want to call it burger sauce, special sauce, secret sauce, or big mac sauce, you can’t really go wrong with how you want to use it! Here are a few suggestions to use this burger sauce recipe:

• on burgers – ground beef, turkey, chicken, or even veggies patties with lettuce, tomato, and onion, on either a bun or lettuce wrap.
• as a dipping sauce for french fries – these air fryer fries are the best!
• as a dressing – I love making a burger salad and using this as the dressing, but any kind of salad would work
• on sandwiches – use it instead of your typical plain mayo
• as a dip – use it for veggies, roasted potatoes, chips, or even chicken tenders/nuggets

Storage

• fridge – keep for 2-3 weeks in a tightly sealed glass jar (and the flavor gets better as it sits!). If using homemade mayo, it will last in the fridge for as long as the egg you used will last. Use the expiration date on your egg carton to determine when to use your mayo by.
• freezer – I do not recommend freezing this recipe as I feel like the texture will change.

More healthy sauce recipes

• tzatziki sauce
• enchilada sauce
• spicy red pepper sauce
• buffalo sauce
• peanut sauce
• greek yogurt blue cheese dressing

If you love quick and easy meals and want to learn how to build a balanced plate, check out our FREE How to Build a Balanced Plate Guide!