Easy Sauce Recipes to Keep in Your Back Pocket

Updated October 30, 2018
Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Pour these simple sauces on all the things. 

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Quick-and-Easy Pesto

Credit: Helen Dujardin; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

Quick-and-Easy Pesto Recipe

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Sesame-Ginger Marinade

Credit: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Mark Driskill; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Sesame-Ginger Marinade Recipe

This intensely flavorful and savory Asian-inspired marinade is a vibrant twist on our “Master Marinade,” and is a delicious match for anything from chicken wings to shrimp skewers. That said, we found that we especially love it as a marinade for crisp veggies—like broccolini and baby bok choy. This flavor bomb recipe is one worth keeping in your back pocket for sure. 

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Homemade Tomato Sauce

Credit: Greg Dupree; Styling: Lindsey Lower

Homemade Tomato Sauce Recipe

Looking for the best homemade tomato sauce recipe ever? Your search ends here. Though it comes together in under 10 minutes (we sure do love a quick and easy recipe), it'll need to sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Use it to top a pizza or spread it on bread for Italian bruschetta. It's also delicious tossed with penne. Seeding half the tomatoes keeps the sauce from becoming watery.

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Copycat Wendy’s Ranch Sauce

Credit: Time Inc. Video Studio

Copycat Wendy’s Ranch Sauce Recipe

Rich, creamy, and tangy—just like the signature Wendy’s ranch sauce, but without the preservatives. Easy to mix up and perfect for all kinds of dipping, this copycat Wendy’s ranch is the perfect homemade condiment to prep ahead and use all week long. 

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North African Marinade

Credit: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Mark Driskill; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

North African Marinade Recipe

This incredibly flavorful North African-inspired marinade, also known as chermoula, is delicious twist on our “Master Marinade.” While it would be delicious used on beef, seafood, or any other number of proteins, we especially loved the fresh, exotic flavor profile of this marinade matched with grilled lamb. 

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Tahini Sauce

Credit: Victor Protasio

Tahini Sauce Recipe

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Do-It-All Marinade

Credit: Kate Sears

Do-It-All Marinade Recipe

Use this versatile marinade to lend zesty flavor to chicken, beef, pork—even tofu or vegetables.

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Buttermilk-Bourbon Caramel Sauce

Credit: Kate Sears

Buttermilk-Bourbon Caramel Sauce Recipe

The key to this sauce is the sugar's color. You're looking for a large patch of golden-colored sugar (this usually develops in one section of the saucepan).

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Quick Marinara Sauce

Credit: Kate Sears; Styling: Toni Brogen

Quick Marinara Sauce Recipe

You can whip up this five-ingredient homemade marinara sauce in about 20 minutes. Use the highest-quality canned tomatoes you can find for the best flavor.

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Sun-Dried Tomato Oil

Credit: Kate Sears; Styling: Susan Vajaranant

Sun-Dried Tomato Oil Recipe

Sun-dried tomatoes add visual dazzle as well as flavor to this seasoning oil. Use Sun-Dried Tomato Oil as a marinade, drizzle for salads, or dipping oil for breads.

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Soy-Ginger Dressing

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Styling: Gerri Williams

Soy-Ginger Dressing Recipe

Whisk together Soy-Ginger Dressing for your favorite salad greens, or use the dressing as a dipping sauce for your favorite cabbage rolls. With only 5 ingredients, Soy-Ginger Dressing is as versatile as it is delicious.

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Spinach-Walnut Pesto

Credit: Greg Dupree

Spinach-Walnut Pesto Recipe

An evergreen, everyday pesto will perk up pastas and pizzas when fresh basil is no longer in season. The warmth from the toasted walnuts will help the sauce emulsify; don't skip this step. Try the sauce on seared salmon or chicken.

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Ultimate Quick-and-Easy Pasta Sauce

Credit: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro

Ultimate Quick-and-Easy Pasta Sauce Recipe

This easy pasta sauce is so tasty and versatile. You can substitute crushed or whole tomatoes for the diced. Crushed will give you a smooth, thick sauce; whole adds a nice chunkiness. Serve this sauce with your favorite pasta.

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Do-It-All Marinade

Credit: Kate Sears

Do-It-All Marinade Recipe

Use this versatile marinade to lend zesty flavor to chicken, beef, pork—even tofu or vegetables.

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Carne Asada Marinade

Credit: Kelsey Hansen; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Adam Hickman

Carne Asada Marinade Recipe

A hunk of skirt steak and this classic, flavor-packed carne asada marinade are the staples of the most epically delicious taco night you'll ever have. While we went with skirt steak to prepare our traditional Carne Asada, you can use this multipurpose marinade for just about any type of meat you want. 

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Tangy-Sweet Barbecue Sauce

Tangy-Sweet Barbecue Sauce Recipe

For a quick, 5-ingredient barbecue sauce, add apricot jam, honey, soy sauce and vinegar to ketchup.   It's ideal for summer entertaining on both grilled chicken and pork.

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Ranch Olé

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Styling: Gerri Williams for James Reps

Ranch Olé Recipe

Ranch Olé makes a tasty topper for plain burgers thanks to the jalapenos and scallions that lend kick and flavor to ranch dressing.

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Alabama White Sauce

Credit: Alison Miksch; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham

Alabama White Sauce Recipe

Goes with: Wonder Wings

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Classic Gravy

Credit: Sang An

Classic Gravy Recipe

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Sunshine Sauce

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Sunshine Sauce Recipe

Liquid sunshine? Yep. This sauce is a warm, tangy hug with a mission to brighten up your day—and your grilled meats. It’s a great crowd-pleaser that’s as easy as it gets. Try it on grilled meat (We recommend drumsticks, hot dogs, and pork tenderloin) or a highly spiced meat, like barbecue. Keep this recipe in your back pocket, or at least on the door of your fridge: People are definitely gonna ask for this one. The best part? You probably already have all the ingredients.

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Curry Ketchup 

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Curry Ketchup  Recipe

Need to use up extra curry paste? Give your ketchup a serious upgrade. This bright curry ketchup has a decent spice from the curry paste that the lemon juice moderates. If you’re feeling fancy, you can even make your own curry paste. Just use it wherever you’d use regular ketchup: Burgers, hot dogs, and fried foods, especially fried seafood. 

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Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

Picky eaters of any age will love this simple sauce. It’s got everything you need in a sweet and sour sauce, and you don’t need any high-end ingredients. We tested it with chicken fingers, but it’d also work for stir fries, carrot sticks, shrimp and salmon—pretty much anything you need to convince a kid to eat. 

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Spicy Umami Sauce

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Spicy Umami Sauce Recipe

This super intense sauce takes strongly flavored ingredients to the next level. To cut back on the heat, reduce or omit the sambal. You can also use low-sodium Worcestershire sauce without altering the taste. This is great for meat (Brush it on a steak or chicken thighs) or anything highly caramelized, like stir-fried vegetables. A little bit goes a long way, so you’ll have plenty to go around. 

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Basic Remoulade

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Basic Remoulade Recipe

Looking for an all-purpose sauce that can be used all over the place? Make some remoulade. Ours has a sweet richness, and its mouthfeel is enhanced thanks to the presence of relish and mustard seeds. It’s creamy, tangy, and sweet with a titch of spice that enlivens things. Remoulade is obviously great paired with shrimp and crab cakes, but it’s also incredible on a roast beef sandwich. When in doubt, serve it with something fried and crunchy. 

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Creamy Tahini Dressing

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Creamy Tahini Dressing Recipe

Lots of flavors battle it out in this rich, sweet topping with acid and spice thrown in for good measure, but tahini wins at the end with a mouth-coating finish move. Use warm water to dissolve the tahini—it’ll moderate the graininess. This goes well with meat, like grilled chicken (it’s also great used as a board dressing) and both fresh and roasted vegetables. Drizzle it over a grain bowl or veggie-heavy salad for some extra flavor. 

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Banh Mi Mayo

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Banh Mi Mayo Recipe

This stuff has a perfect balance of fish sauce, lime, sugar, tanginess, and relish. Don’t skimp out when it comes to buying fish sauce: The cheap ones might taste harsh, but the high-quality sauce will last. Try this on a sandwich with plenty of raw veggies (carrots, cucumbers, radishes, sprouts, avocado) and a lean protein like grilled chicken breast or pork tenderloin. Or, since there’s a slight tartar sauce flair, pair it with crispy seafood. 

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