6 Easy Sauces
Six sauces, one shared technique. Start with a classic homemade mayo, then take it in five different directions — herby, spicy, briny, smoky or tangy — depending on what you’re serving.
The base mayo is the only one that takes any real technique, and even that’s just a few seconds of patience with an immersion blender. Every variation after that is as simple as stirring extra flavour through.
All six keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. None of them freeze, since they’re all built on a raw-egg emulsion that splits once thawed — so make them fresh and work through them across the week.
6 Easy Sauces
SAUCE · CONDIMENT · EASY
Mayonnaise (The Base)
Just four ingredients and an immersion blender — egg, vinegar, mustard and oil, layered in that order so the egg sits at the bottom. Once it emulsifies, this is the base every other sauce here starts from.
Herby Mayonnaise
Dill and parsley blended straight into the base mayo until it turns a light, even green. Bright and fresh — great on sandwiches, grilled fish or as a dip for roasted veg.
Chilli Crisp Mayonnaise
Chilli crisp oil and a splash of buttermilk folded gently through the mayo, so you get pockets of crunchy chilli and garlic in every bite. Excellent on burgers, fries, or spooned over eggs.
Tartare Sauce
The classic — minced pickles, shallot, capers and a hit of lemon and Dijon. Keep it chunky by mixing in a bowl, or blend briefly for something smoother. Built for anything fried, especially seafood.
Outback Sauce
Smoked paprika, garlic, ketchup, horseradish and a dash of Worcestershire — a smoky, tangy steakhouse-style dipping sauce with a bit of a kick from the horseradish.
Ranch Sauce
Sour cream and buttermilk loosen the mayo base, with dill, parsley, chives and garlic powder for that classic ranch flavour. Thin it out with extra buttermilk if you want it as a pourable dressing rather than a dip.
Mayonnaise
SAUCE · CONDIMENT · EASY
A five-minute base for everything else
Layering the egg, vinegar and mustard into the jar before the oil means the blender catches the egg first at the bottom, which is what actually kicks off the emulsion. Get the order right and the technique takes care of itself.
Keeping the blender still for those first 10 to 15 seconds lets the emulsion form properly at the base before you start lifting it through the rest of the oil. Rush that step and it's much more likely to split.
This is the base every other sauce in this collection starts from — nail this one and the flavoured versions are just stirring in extra ingredients.
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Egg
- 15 ml White Vinegar
- 10 g Dijon Mustard
- 180 ml Neutral Oil Avocado or Sunflower Oil
Method
- Add the egg, vinegar, mustard, and oil to a tall jar, in that order, so the egg sits at the bottom.
- Insert an immersion blender all the way to the bottom of the jar. Without moving it, blend on high for 10–15 seconds until the emulsion starts to form and turn opaque at the base.
- Once it's holding together, slowly tilt and lift the blender through the rest of the mixture, blending until fully combined, smooth, and thick.
- Season to taste and transfer to an airtight jar. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Herby Mayonnaise
SAUCE · CONDIMENT · EASY
Bright, fresh, built in one jar
The dill and parsley go in whole — no chopping needed, the immersion blender breaks them right down. It's about as low-effort as a fresh herb sauce gets.
Blending in short bursts rather than one long push matters more than it sounds — too much friction heats the mixture, which dulls the colour and can turn the flavour slightly bitter.
It comes out an even, vivid green and works on almost anything — sandwiches, grilled fish, or just a dip for roasted vegetables.
Herby Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 250 g Mayonnaise
- 15 g Dill
- 10 g Flat Leaf Parsley
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Add the base mayonnaise, dill, and parsley to a tall jar — no need to chop beforehand, the immersion blender will break them down.
- Blend on high speed in short bursts, moving the blender through the full depth of the jar, until the herbs are fully incorporated and the mayo turns a light, even green.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper as needed. Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
Chilli Crisp Mayonnaise
SAUCE · SPICY · EASY
Crunchy, smoky, seriously moreish
Stirring the chilli crisp oil before measuring it out matters — the fried garlic and chilli solids settle at the bottom, and skipping this step means you get all oil and none of the crunch.
Mixing everything gently rather than stirring hard keeps the mayo's emulsion intact while folding the chilli crisp through in streaks rather than blending it into a uniform paste.
It's excellent on burgers and fries, spooned over fried eggs, or as a dip for pretty much anything that needs a smoky, crunchy kick.
Chilli Crisp Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 250 g Mayonnaise
- 60 g Chilli Crisp Oil
- 15 ml Buttermilk
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Give the chilli crisp oil a good stir before measuring, to redistribute the settled solids.
- Add the base mayonnaise, chilli crisp oil, and buttermilk to a bowl. Mix gently until fully combined and streaked evenly with chilli crisp.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper as needed. Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
Tartare Sauce
SAUCE · SEAFOOD · EASY
A proper classic, done right
Mincing the pickles, shallot and capers finely and evenly is what makes every bite consistent — uneven mincing leaves some spoonfuls chunky and flavourful and others tasting like plain mayo.
Patting the pickles and capers dry before mixing keeps their brine from thinning out the mayo base more than you want — a small step that keeps the texture right.
Mix it by hand for the classic chunky texture, or blend briefly for something smoother and more spreadable. Either way, it's built for anything fried, especially seafood.
Tartare Sauce
Ingredients
- 250 g Mayonnaise
- 2 slices Dill Pickle Minced
- 1 Shallot Diced
- 20 g Capers Minced
- 5 g Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
- ¼ Lemon Juiced
- 15 g Dijon Mustard
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well to combine. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt and white pepper as needed. Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
Outback Sauce
SAUCE · DIPPING SAUCE · EASY
Smoky, tangy, steakhouse-style
Adding the horseradish gradually and tasting as you go is the smart way to build this one — brands vary a lot in heat, and it's easy to overpower everything else if you dump it all in at once.
Whisking the smoked paprika and garlic powder in before the wetter ingredients helps them disperse evenly through the mayo instead of clumping into little pockets of spice.
Give it 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge before serving if you can — that's what lets the Worcestershire and horseradish properly meld into the mayo rather than tasting separate.
Outback Sauce
Ingredients
- 250 g Mayonnaise
- 4 g Smoked Paprika
- 4 g Garlic Powder
- 20 g Tomato Ketchup
- 20 g Creamed Horseradish
- 15 ml Worcestershire Sauce
- Salt & Pepper
Method
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well to combine. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt and white pepper as needed. Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
Ranch Sauce
SAUCE · DRESSING · EASY
Tangy, herby, endlessly useful
Finely slicing the chives rather than chopping them roughly keeps them from bruising and turning slimy, so the finished ranch looks fresh and flecked instead of muddy.
Letting it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving genuinely improves it — the buttermilk and herbs need that time to properly meld together.
As written it's closer to dip thickness. Thin it with a little extra buttermilk if you want it pourable enough for a salad dressing instead.
Ranch Sauce
Ingredients
- 250 g Mayonnaise
- 120 g Sour Cream
- 60 ml Buttermilk
- 2 g Fresh Dill
- 2 g Flat Leaf Parsley
- 2 g Fresh Chives
- 4 g Onion Powder
- 4 g Garlic Powder
- ¼ Lemon, Juiced
- Salt & Ground White Pepper
Method
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix well to combine. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt and white pepper as needed. Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
Can I use store-bought mayo instead of making the base from scratch?⌄
Yes — if you'd rather skip the emulsifying step, a good quality store-bought mayo works fine as the base for all five flavoured versions. You'll lose a bit of the fresh, made-from-scratch flavour, but the method for each variation stays exactly the same.
Why don't any of these sauces freeze well?⌄
All six are built on a raw-egg mayo emulsion, with sour cream added for the Ranch. That kind of emulsion splits once it's frozen and thawed — the fat and liquid separate and won't properly recombine. Best to make them fresh and work through them within the week.
Do I need an immersion blender for all of these?⌄
Only really for the base Mayonnaise and the Herby Mayonnaise, where blending is what builds the emulsion and breaks down the herbs. The other four are simple stir-together sauces — a bowl and a spoon or whisk is all you need.
Can I double or halve any of these recipes?⌄
Yes, all six scale up or down easily as long as you keep the ratios the same. The one exception is the base mayo — it's worth sticking closer to the written quantities the first few times until you're confident with the emulsifying technique.
What's the best way to store these once made?⌄
A clean, airtight jar or container in the fridge is all you need. Give anything with settled solids, like the Chilli Crisp Mayonnaise, a stir before using if it's been sitting for a day or two.
Can I mix flavours to make my own version?⌄
Definitely — these are meant to be a starting point. A spoonful of chilli crisp stirred into the herby mayo, or a bit of horseradish added to the ranch, are both easy ways to build your own combination once you've got the base down.
Which one should I make first if I've never made mayo from scratch?⌄
Start with the base mayo on its own before trying a flavoured version. It's worth getting comfortable with the layering and blending technique first, since every other sauce here builds on it.
