Boom Boom Sauce

Boom Boom Sauce has one small problem: it disappears faster than whatever you made to dip in it. This is my copycat of the creamy, sweet-and-spicy sauce Sheetz is known for, and I stir it together in one bowl with five things you probably already have.

There’s no special trip and no bottle to buy, just mayo, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, and a little sriracha whisked smooth. I chill mine in the fridge before serving, and that’s the one step I wouldn’t skip.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Five ingredients, one bowl, and no cooking. You whisk it and it’s done, so it fits into the five minutes before dinner lands on the table.
• It bends to whatever you’re eating. Fries, wings, burgers, tacos, and shrimp all take the same jar.
• You control the heat. Start with a little sriracha and add more, so it suits both the kids and anyone who wants it to bite back.
• It’s a make-ahead. A batch stirred together on Sunday is ready for lunches and dinners over the next few days, and it keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
• Nothing here is special-order. Mayo, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, and sriracha are ordinary fridge and pantry staples, which keeps the cost of a jar down.

Ingredients You’ll Need

A couple of these are worth a note before you shop. The printable card below has the full list with exact measurements in cups and metric.

• Mayonnaise: This is the base and most of the body, so it sets the texture. A good full-fat mayo gives you that thick, spoon-coating feel.
• Sweet chili sauce: The bottled Thai kind. It’s doing the heavy lifting here, carrying most of the sweetness and a gentle background warmth, so it isn’t the ingredient to leave out.
• Ketchup: Just one tablespoon. It brings the tang and the faint pink color, and it’s what sets this apart from a plainer mayo-and-chili sauce.
• Garlic powder: A teaspoon of powder, not fresh garlic. It blends in smooth and even, where raw garlic would leave sharp bites in a cold, uncooked sauce.
• Sriracha: The only real heat, and the one to add slowly. A little goes a long way, so taste as you go and add more only if you want it hotter.

How to Make Boom Boom Sauce

Scroll down for the full recipe card containing a full printable recipe and measurements in both US customary and metric units.

You’ll be surprised how quickly this flavorful sauce comes together when you follow my easy steps; you can make it in minutes and use it all week long.

Mix the base

Put the mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, and sriracha in a small bowl and whisk until it’s smooth and one even color, with no streaks of ketchup running through it.

Adjust heat

Taste it right there in the bowl and add a little more sriracha if you want more heat, since that’s the moment to get the spice right before anything gets chilled.

Chill before serving

The active work is about five minutes. From there, scrape it into an airtight container and refrigerate it before you serve it.

I don’t skip the chill, because I think it tastes more settled and less sharp than it does straight from the bowl.”

Recipe Notes and Expert Tips

• Start low on the sriracha and build. Three-quarters of a teaspoon is a mild-to-medium starting point. Whisk and taste before each addition, because the heat is hard to pull back once it’s mixed in.
• If it firms up too much, loosen it with lime juice, not water. The sauce thickens in the fridge. A teaspoon of lime juice thins it and adds a little brightness, where water would only dull it.
• Sweet chili sauce is the backbone. If a batch tastes flat, it’s usually short on sweet chili rather than short on heat, so top that up before you add more sriracha.
• Let it sit out for a few minutes before serving. Straight from a cold fridge it’s stiff; a short rest on the counter loosens it back to a dip-able texture.

Recipe Variations

• More heat. Add a pinch of cayenne with the sriracha, or more sriracha on its own, and it climbs from medium to properly spicy. I’ve tested this hotter version plenty of times.
• Make it smoky. Add a small pinch of smoked paprika. It gives the sauce a warm, smoky depth and leaves the texture exactly as it was. This one’s tested.
• Closer to bang bang sauce. Leave the ketchup out for a sauce nearer to classic bang bang sauce. That’s a supported swap rather than one I’ve tested in this exact batch.
• Make it vegan. Swap the mayo for a vegan mayonnaise and the whole sauce comes with it, egg-free and plant-based. I’ve tested it that way and it holds together well.

How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover boom boom sauce in an airtight container in the fridge and use it within 3 to 4 days, giving it a stir before each use, since it settles as it sits. Don’t freeze it: the mayonnaise splits and turns oily and watery once it thaws.

How to Transport

Since this is a mayonnaise-based sauce, keep it cold on the way to a cookout or potluck. Pack it in an airtight container in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs, and keep it there until you’re ready to serve.

Don’t leave it out longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it’s above 90°F (32°C).

What to Serve With Boom Boom Sauce

The obvious home for this is a basket of fries or anything else fried. It’s a natural fry sauce for air fryer fries and onion rings, and it turns a plate of chicken tenders or air fryer chicken wings into a proper snack.

From there it spreads easily into a meal. I use it as a burger sauce, spoon it over shrimp, or drizzle it across ground chicken tacos and rice bowls when I want a little creamy heat on top. Thinned out, it even works as a salad dressing.

FAQs

More Dips, Sauces, and Party Favorites to Make at Home

If this one earns a spot in your fridge, here’s where I’d point you next:

• Copycat Chick-fil-A Sauce: the sweeter honey-mustard-and-barbecue dip to make when you want something milder than this spicy-tangy one.
• Easy Chipotle Sauce: the one I make when I want smoky and creamy instead of sweet and sharp.
• Mexican Street Corn Dip: my pick when the boom boom sauce is going on the fries and the chips still need something of their own.
• Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels: the make-ahead bite I like having ready before people arrive.
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders: where I go when the same crowd wants something more filling than a dip.