Tiger sauce brings bold, tangy heat with a hint of sweetness. It is perfect for waking up your taste buds. This versatile condiment adds a fiery kick to everything from grilled meats to creamy dips. Get ready to meet your new flavor obsession. It’s tangy with a little bit of bite that you’re sure to love.
A sauce elevates an ordinary dish to an extraordinary one. Two of my favorites are my Homemade Teriyaki Sauce and my Buffalo Ranch Sauce.
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Why this Tiger Sauce Recipe is a Keeper
This easy, homemade tiger sauce recipes as delicious as it is simple to make. You’ll love it because it’s super customizable, quick and goes with everything.
- Speed and Simplicity: It’s often made with just 3-5 ingredients and can be whipped up in under a minute.
- Controllable Flavor: It allows for easy customization of the spice level (by adjusting the horseradish) and tang (with lemon juice/vinegar).
- Versatility: It pairs exceptionally perfectly with meats including roast beef, pork, steak, grilled chicken, shrimp, other seafood and poultry, French fries, and various appetizers.
- Superior Freshness: Homemade versions are often considered much fresher and more flavorful than store-bought creamy horseradish sauces.
What Does Tiger Sauce Taste Like?
This unique condiment blends cayenne pepper heat with vinegar’s tang and a noticeable sweetness from sugar, creating a flavor profile that’s often compared to a cross between hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
What Reader’s Are Saying…
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“OMG! My golfing ladies will NOT let me go on our golfing jaunts without TIGER SAUCE! It’s EASY… YUMMY… and ESSENTIAL for STEAKS!”
~ Stephanie
Ingredient Notes to Make Homemade Sauce
All of the required ingredients are easy to find at the store, but some of the ingredients may be around the kitchen already.
Get the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions in the recipe card below.
- Mayo: Mayonnaise is going to be the creamy base for this dipping sauce.
- Prepared Horseradish: For the most part, the horseradish will bring the spice instead of a spicy blend of ingredients or seasonings.
- Lemon: Juice half of a lemon to add the tangy flavor.
Variations and Substitutions for Savory Tiger Sauce
This recipe is so versatile. I like to switch up the flavors by using different ingredients.
- Creamy Base: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, or a mix of mayo and sour cream. These provide a lighter or tangier base compared to all mayonnaise.
- Spice Level: Since horseradish is the primary heat source, you can increase or decrease the amount to make more or less spice. Feel free to add hot sauce, cayenne pepper, chili peppers or crushed red peppers to make it a spicy sauce.
- Tang: Apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or more lemon/lime juice. Adjust the amount of acid for more brightness and flavor.
- Flavor Boost: Dijon mustard, oregano, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, finely chopped chives/parsley, fresh garlic powder or a pinch of sugar. A little Dijon adds depth, and sugar can balance the heat if needed.
How to Make Tiger Sauce
This recipe comes together in just 1 easy to follow step. This sauce is so easy and delicious, I come back to it again and again.
Get the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions in the recipe card below.
- Mix Ingredients: Mix together the mayonnaise, horseradish, lemon juice, garlic power, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before enjoying.
Prep Ahead Suggestions
Since this recipe is already super easy, there are only a couple things you can do ahead of time.
- Make Ahead: The sauce can be made completely ahead of time.
- Chilling: It’s highly recommended to chill the sauce for at least 30 minutes (or ideally a few hours) before serving. This allows the strong flavors of the horseradish, garlic, and vinegar to “marry” with the mayonnaise, resulting in a more cohesive and mellow flavor.
Store, Reheat and Use Tiger Sauce Leftovers
- Store: Store in an airtight container (like a sealed jar) in the refrigerator. It will last for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the freshness of your ingredients. If made with commercial mayo, it can last as long as the mayo’s best-by date, but flavor is best within a week.
- Reheat: Do not reheat. As a cold, mayonnaise-based condiment, reheating will cause it to separate and ruin the texture.
- Use Leftovers: Use as a spread on sandwiches, as a dip for vegetables (like carrots and celery), with potato skins, or mixed into mashed potatoes for a spicy kick. Feel free to add a little minced garlic to up the flavor.
Common Questions About This Recipe
Nope. Crying tiger sauce is more of an Asian inspired sauce than an American dipping sauce.
Sure, if you want the most intense flavor grate your own horseradish root.
Expert Tips for Making Original Tiger Sauce
- Chill is Key: Always allow time for the sauce to chill. The flavors are much more intense and often harsh when freshly mixed. You could also try it as a marinade to enhance meats.
- Prepared vs. Fresh Horseradish: For the creamy version, stick to prepared horseradish (found in a jar in the refrigerated section of the grocery store). It gives the classic Baltimore-style sauce flavor and consistency. Avoid “horseradish sauce,” which is already diluted.
- Control the Texture: If the sauce is too thick, thin it out with an extra splash of lemon juice or vinegar, or even a teaspoon of water, until you reach your desired drizzly consistency.
- Salt Adjustment: When using fine sea salt or table salt, use less than you would for coarse kosher salt (e.g., cut the amount in half) to avoid over-salting.
- Serve With: This sauce pairs well with dips and soups, and grilled meats, so try it with Grilled Salmon Salad, Grilled Skirt Steak or Grilled Crispy Chicken Wings.
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Tiger Sauce
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Prepared horseradish
- ½ Lemon, freshly juiced
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Christina’s Notes
- This Recipe Can be Doubled: This recipe can easily be double, just increase all the ingredients and mix together in a bigger bowl.
- Lime Juice: You can also use the juice of a lime in place of a lemon for a slightly different flavor in this tiger sauce recipe.
- Healthier Swap: For a healthier swap, use avocado oil based mayonnaise in this tiger sauce.
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided are estimates. It is recommended that you verify this information with your own trusted resource.
We love honest feedback, but to keep reviews helpful for everyone, we reserve the right to remove star ratings if it is clear the recipe has not been made, if the comment does not provide meaningful input, or if significant substitutions or alterations were made. Please note that ratings should reflect the original recipe as written to avoid confusing other readers.
This recipe is my personal adaption of an ethnic-inspired recipe. It is not intended to be an authentic recipe. I’ve recreated this recipe because I enjoy the flavors and I want to encourage my readers to expand their tastes and try new flavor combinations. The recipe, ingredients, and processes may have been adapted to make the recipe accessible to the average American. I have provided links to authentic versions of the recipe in the post above. I encourage you to visit these pages and learn more about the traditional version(s) of this recipe.
OMG! My golfing ladies will NOT let me go on our golfing jaunts without TIGER SAUCE! It’s EASY… YUMMY… and ESSENTIAL for STEAKS!
This sauce is one of the best! It is so delicious and perfect for my favorite sandwich. YUM!
Now I need prime rib to dip in this sauce!! YUM!!
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make tiger sauce recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
I’m a big horseradish fan – love this! Thank you for the recipe!