This is the sauce I make in the same two minutes it takes the sushi bake to come out of the oven. It's also what I put next to karaage, and what ends up on rice when there's nothing else in the fridge.
Most sriracha mayo recipes are mayo, sriracha, lemon, and garlic. This one uses Japanese mayo and a splash of soy sauce instead, which makes it savorier and closer to what you'd get at a sushi restaurant than what you'd put on a burger.
Kewpie is doing most of that work. It's richer and slightly sweeter than American mayo, and it changes how the sriracha lands.
Four ingredients, one bowl, no cooking.
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What Makes This Different
Search sriracha mayo and you'll get roughly the same recipe every time: mayonnaise, sriracha, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt. It's good and it takes two minutes. That's the sandwich version.
This one swaps two things. Japanese mayo instead of American, and a splash of soy sauce instead of the garlic.
The mayo. Kewpie is made with egg yolks rather than whole eggs and rice vinegar rather than distilled, which makes it richer and a little sweeter to start with. Whisk sriracha into Hellmann's and you taste mayo with hot sauce in it. Whisk it into Kewpie and it reads as one sauce.
The soy sauce. It does the savory work that garlic usually does here, but it stays smooth. Garlic gives you a sharp note on top; soy sits underneath everything and rounds it out.
The result is closer to what comes with karaage or gets drizzled over a sushi bake than to something you'd spread on a burger. Both are worth having. This is the one I make.
Ingredients
- Japanese mayonnaise: Kewpie is what I use, in the squeeze bottle with the red cap. Regular mayo works and the sauce is still good, it just tastes more like mayo with hot sauce in it rather than one thing.
- Sriracha: Huy Fong, the one with the rooster, is the standard and it's what the flavor here is built around. Other brands vary a lot in heat and sweetness, so if you're using something else, start with less and taste.
- Soy sauce: A splash. It's what makes this savory rather than just spicy, and it's the ingredient most sriracha mayo recipes leave out. Use regular soy sauce, not dark, which is too heavy for this.
- Lemon juice: Cuts the richness of the mayo so the sauce doesn't sit heavy. Optional, but I'd use it. Lime works and leans the sauce slightly more toward tacos than sushi.
How to Make Sriracha Mayo
- Whisk it together. Mayonnaise, sriracha, soy sauce, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk until the color is even, with no streaks of red running through it.
- Taste and adjust. Add sriracha a teaspoon at a time if you want more heat. More soy if it needs salt. More lemon if it feels heavy. Adjust before it goes in the fridge.
- Chill 30 minutes if you have time. Not required, but the flavors settle and the sauce thickens slightly. If you're making it while something else is in the oven, that's about the window.
Getting the Ratio Right
Start at four parts mayo to one part sriracha. That's a quarter cup of mayo to a tablespoon of sriracha, and it lands mild to medium.
From there, add sriracha a teaspoon at a time and taste between each. It goes up faster than you expect once the mayo is already coated, and there's no way back short of adding more mayo, which throws off the soy and lemon too.
Two things that catch people out:
Cold mutes heat. A sauce that tastes right warm from the bowl will taste flatter out of the fridge. If you're chilling it, season it slightly hotter than you want.
Sriracha brands are not the same. Huy Fong is the reference point most recipes assume. Other brands run hotter, sweeter, or thinner, so if you're not using the rooster bottle, start with less than a tablespoon.
Rose's Top Tips
- Whisk, don't stir. A spoon leaves streaks of sriracha through the mayo. A small whisk gets it uniform in about fifteen seconds, and the color tells you when it's done.
- Season it slightly hotter than you want. Cold mutes heat. If it tastes right at room temperature, it'll taste flat coming out of the fridge.
- Thin it for drizzling. A teaspoon of water at a time turns dipping consistency into something you can zigzag over a sushi bake. Squeeze bottle helps if you're doing it often.
- No garlic on purpose. Most sriracha mayo recipes use garlic powder. The soy sauce is doing that savory job here, and adding garlic on top makes it sharp rather than smooth. If you want garlic anyway, use powder rather than fresh so it stays even.
- Give it half an hour if you can. The sauce thickens slightly and the flavors settle. Straight out of the bowl the sriracha still sits on top of the mayo rather than in it.
- It gets hotter as it sits. Not by a lot, but a day-old batch reads spicier than a fresh one. Worth knowing if you're making it ahead for guests.
What to Serve It With
- Spicy tuna sushi bake: Thin it slightly and zigzag it over the top before serving. This is the pairing I make it for most.
- Chicken karaage: Keep it thick for dipping. Kewpie and fried chicken is the classic Japanese pairing and the sriracha just makes it better.
- Crab rangoon egg rolls: The cream cheese inside is rich and mild, so a spicy dip is what it needs.
- Sweet potato fries: The sweetness against the heat works better than regular fries do.
- Salmon or poke bowls: Drizzled over rice with the fish. Thin it first.
- Fish tacos: Lime juice instead of lemon in the sauce if you're going this direction.
Storage
Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. A glass jar with a tight lid is better than a bowl with plastic wrap, since mayo picks up other smells fast.
Give it a stir before each use. It separates slightly as it sits, which is normal and isn't a sign anything went wrong.
The heat builds a little overnight. If you've made it ahead for guests, taste it before serving rather than assuming it's where you left it.
Don't freeze it. Mayonnaise splits when it thaws and there's no bringing it back, and the sauce takes two minutes to make fresh anyway.
Recipe FAQs
Start at four parts mayo to one part sriracha, roughly a quarter cup of mayo to a tablespoon of sriracha. That lands mild to medium. Add more sriracha a teaspoon at a time from there, tasting between each.
No, regular mayo works. Kewpie is richer and slightly sweeter because it uses egg yolks and rice vinegar, so the sauce comes out smoother. With Hellmann's you'll taste the mayo and the sriracha more separately.
It's what makes this savory rather than only spicy. Most sriracha mayo recipes use garlic powder for that job. Soy sits underneath the sauce and stays smooth where garlic gives you a sharper note on top.
A week in an airtight container in the fridge. Stir before using, since it separates a little as it sits.
Yes. Use vegan mayo and check the sriracha label, since most are vegan but not all. The texture is thinner with most vegan mayos, so you may want a little less lemon.
The mayo and sriracha usually are, but regular soy sauce isn't. Swap in tamari and check your sriracha label.
Close. That's usually Japanese mayo with a chili sauce, sometimes sriracha and sometimes something else. This version is built the same way, which is why it works on a sushi bake.
More Sauces and Dips
- Easy Unagi Sauce (Eel Sauce): The sweet, glossy counterpart to this one. Drizzle both over a sushi bake and you've got the full setup.
- Filipino Vinegar Dipping Sauce: Sharp where this is creamy. What I put next to anything fried when I want acid instead of richness.
- Crunchy Chili Garlic Oil: For when you want heat with texture. Good spooned over rice, noodles, or eggs.
- Thai Peanut Sauce: Coconut milk, red curry paste, and tamarind. The other dipping sauce I keep in the fridge.
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Japanese Spicy Mayo (Sriracha Mayo)
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 to 2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, Sriracha, soy sauce, and lemon juice.
- Adjust spiciness to taste.
- Optionally, chill for 30 minutes.
- Serve as a zesty dip for chicken karaage or your favorite dishes.
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