The original post published in May 2011. I’ve updated the photos to spare myself some embarrassment from the total lack of photography skills in the early days of blogging.
Ask anyone from Mississippi if they know about Comeback Sauce and they will look at you shocked for even asking the question. Of course, everyone in Mississippi knows about Comeback Sauce. Even if you’ve never heard the name, you probably know it, too. The sauce that’s served by the steak house chain made famous by the onions that bloom, is reminiscent of Comeback Sauce. Chances are you’ve had it on a burger or sandwich at a new age sandwich shop. It’s a versatile sauce that also makes a great salad dressing. The origins are debated, but most attribute the sauce to a Greek immigrant who settled in Mississippi after WWII.
Most recipes agree on the proportions of mayonnaise to ketchup to chili sauce and heavy on the black pepper. After that, the amounts of all the other ingredients are up for grabs.
Del Monte Chili Sauce. Look for it on your condiment aisle. If you can’t find Del Monte, Heinz is a suitable substitute.
Chili Sauce is a condiment that is usually found on the same aisle as ketchup, mayo and mustard. Look for it on the top shelve. The bottle contains 12 ounces. I’ve always preferred Heinz, but, my store was recently out of Heinz and I bought Del Monte which I’ve found is just as good. It’s always nice to have an option. Chili Sauce and chili pepper are not the same.
I formulated this recipe to give it as much shelf life as possible. Since I opted for garlic powder and onion powder over fresh garlic and onion, the sauce will keep in your refrigerator for as long as you would keep mayonnaise and ketchup. But, don’t worry. It will be eaten long before you have to worry about it spoiling.
It’s uses are many. It’s a dip for vegetables and chips, a salad dressing, a sauce for seafood or a sandwich spread. I will be serving mine tonight with Salmon Patties. It is good on EVERYTHING, except Cheerios.
Comeback Sauce
Mix all ingredients well and store in refrigerator overnight. It needs to sit to let the flavors become “acquainted”. They shouldn’t rush into marriage.
yield: one pint
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise (one of my Favorites)
1/4 cup Heinz ketchup
1/4 cup chili sauce ( I prefer Heinz or DelMonte. DO NOT substitute Thai Chili Sauce)
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup light olive oil
juice of one lemon
Mix all ingredients well and store in refrigerator overnight.
Comeback Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise one of my Favorites
- 1/4 cup Heinz ketchup
- 1/4 cup chili sauce I prefer Heinz or DelMonte. DO NOT substitute Thai Chili Sauce
- 1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients well and store in refrigerator overnight. It needs to sit to let the flavors become “acquainted”. They shouldn’t rush into marriage.
- Comeback Sauce goes with EVERYTHING.....except Cheerios.
Lynn Carter says
I found this on Pinterest and made it today. I usually can’t make anything but this is fabulous. Thank you for the recipe.
Jackie Garvin says
Lynn,
I so glad you like the recipe! Please visit us again! 🙂
Ashley says
I just looked on Amazon.com and you can order Duke’s if you’re interested 🙂 i <3 amazon lol
Jackie Garvin says
Ashley,
I got an email today about them being on sale at Amazon! 🙂
Angie says
Comeback sauce is awesome! Except I used micale whip instead of mayo.
Jackie Garvin says
Angie,
You should use Miracle Whip if that’s a flavor that you enjoy. It’s all about making it to suit your taste preference. 🙂
mississippigirl says
Needed a sauce for wrap sandwiches made with a tortilla one day this week and thought of comeback sauce but didn’t have any chili sauce. I pondered what to use in its place and saw that I had some Ortega Original Thick and Smooth Taco sauce (mild but spicier would be great, too) so I used that. WOW is it good. This was great on our sandwiches but would be especially good on a taco salad or even as a dip. This was very similar to some of the ranch style spicy dressings. This turned comeback sauce into a fiesta!
Jackie Garvin says
Mississippigirl,
What a clever substitution! Thank you so much for sharing your creative genius with us! 🙂
hoosiergala says
I just made this and it came out very orangish??? The pic, the sauce looks lighter. What did I do wrong?
Jackie Garvin says
Hoosiergala,
I don’t know that you did anything wrong. What kind of chili sauce did you use? Something in your ingredients must have had more of an orange tone.
Hoosiergal says
I used an off brand. I still tasted amazing though. I put it on everything this weekend 😀
Jackie Garvin says
Hoosiergal,
All that matters that it tastes good! I’m so glad you like it and are finding lots of uses! Thanks so much for letting me know! 🙂
Jsi says
Yum! This was a hit at my son’s birthday party this weekend, and it is so easy, there’s no excuse not to always keep this on hand. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Jackie Garvin says
Jsi,
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for letting me know. Happy birthday to your son! 🙂
Mari says
Just curious how long can you keep this before it goes bad.
Jackie Garvin says
Mari,
It will keep as long as you would keep mayo and ketchup in your fridge….a long time. It’ll be eaten long before you have to worry about it going bad. 🙂
Paige Campbell says
Is the Dijon mustard the dry Keen’s kind or otherwise? Can’t wait to try this sauce. Thanks
Jackie Garvin says
Paige,
I use wet Dijon mustard. 🙂
Derek says
Made this this weekend. Delicious! The taste is almost dead-on with Raising Cane’s sauce, with a sightly different aftertaste.
Jackie Garvin says
Derek,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the sauce. Thanks for letting me know! Several people have asked if this was similar to Raising Cane’s sauce and I couldn’t answer them because I’d never had it. Now, I can tell them, “Yes!” 🙂
Heather says
how long does this stay good in the fridge?
Heather says
nevermind i saw someone had recently asked lol
Jackie Garvin says
Heather,
Did you get your answer? I went back and highlighted that portion of the narrative. People were having a hard time seeing that.
Thanks for stopping by, Heather!
Kristin says
i just made this sauce and it is every bit as delicious as it’s touted to be! YUM!!
Jackie Garvin says
Kristin,
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks a million for letting me know. 🙂
Kristin says
yeah, i had to make my husband take it away from me so i didn’t have it (with fresh crusty bread) for dinner. we’re going to have it tonight on fresh cracked crab! 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Kristin,
You will always have a jar in your refrigerator for evermore! 🙂
Fern says
I too came across you through Pinterest. I just made up a batch of comeback sauce. Being from Michigan I’ve not heard of this before, but it sounds like something hubby and I will enjoy. I will have to check some of the local store for Dukes Mayo. I haven’t browsed through your site yet, but I love looking through recipe websites of all kinds….so many recipes….so little time to make and eat all the wonderful foods I find…
Jackie Garvin says
Fern,
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoy Comeback Sauce as much as we do. Please let me know what you think once yoy make it.
Welcome home! 🙂
britney says
Woah! Tons of comments on this post! I was wondering about the importance of using tabasco sauce. My sister gave me this huge jar of Valentina mexican hot sauce and have nothing to do with it. I’m thinking of taking a chance and using it for this comeback sauce that i CAN’T WAIT to try!
Jackie Garvin says
Britney,
You can certainly substitute your Mexican hot sauce for the Tabasco sauce. The only significance of Tabasco is that I happen to like it. 🙂
Please let me know what you think about the sauce after you try it.
Lisa says
Love your site! I’m from central Louisiana, and our favorite quick sauce is a simple remoulade with ketchup, mayo and Tony Chachere’s seasoning. I have seen recipes for comeback sauce before but yours sounds the best. The complexity of flavors is what I’m looking forward to most.
My daughter is so addicted to our remoulade that she has actually mixed ketchup and ranch dressing at school for a dip. Her friends made fun of her — until they tasted it! I’m willing to bet she will love having a jar of comeback sauce in the fridge at all times. Guess I need to go buy some new mason jar lids…
Oh, and even though I’m from LA, I live in Georgia. I was introduced to Duke’s mayo years ago by a Georgia native. He said when he was growing up, he thought the white condiment’s only name was Duke’s — not Duke’s mayonnaise. Just Duke’s. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Lisa,
Please let me know if your daughter, the Remoulade junkie, approves of Comeback Sauce. I hope your whole family enjoys it.
Your GA friends thought that Duke’s is so popular it goes by one name…..like Oprah! 🙂
Welcome home! 🙂
Fern says
I made pan fried talapia today and we used this on it rather than tradition tartar sauce. Oh, wow! Hubby LOVED it! This is something I’m going to have to keep on hand. It’s been “marrying” for a few weeks so the flavor is so yummy!
Jackie Garvin says
Fern,
Comeback Sauce is especially good with seafood. A long marriage makes the flavor get better and better.
Thanks for stopping by, Fern. Welcome home! 🙂
Linda says
Amazom has Duke’s Mayo!
netter says
need to know how much difference it would make to use “yellow” mustard in place of dijon? And also leaving out the onion altogether.
Jackie Garvin says
Netter,
Neither mustard nor onion powder are main components. Modifying them shouldn’t make a great difference in the flavor.
netter says
thank you so much. I do not use onion of any type because of my dogs…and I did not realize that it called for dijon til I got home from the store! Now I will be making this recipe tommorrow!!
Jackie Garvin says
Netter,
I hope you enjoy the Comeback Sauce! Please let me know what you think of it. 🙂
joan G says
never heard of this before. It looked good so I tried it ! OMG this is the best stuff. I like that it lasts however it never had a chance.. I ate it in EVERYTHING…I did leave out the hot stuff as I don’t do spices well but it was absolutely delicious.. Thanks for the great recipe !
Jackie Garvin says
Joan G,
Isn’t Comeback Sauce just the greatest? Use it with everything except Cheerios! 🙂