Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce
From chicken fingers to French fries to tacos, this Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce is an easy and tasty way to boost the flavor in all sorts of recipes!
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I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve pulled up this Cajun Grilled Shrimp recipe on my phone. Sometimes I’m actually making the grilled shrimp (they’re delicious, btw!), but most of the time I’m pulling that post up to get the recipe for this Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce.
This sauce deserves to be a post by itself. It’s easy to make, and it can be used in so many different ways! We’ve used it as a dipping sauce for grilled shrimp, French fries and fried cod. We’ve also spread a bit of this sauce as a drizzle for tacos.
Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce
This Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce recipe comes from a friend who set out to create a copycat Zaxby’s sauce. (If you aren’t familiar with Zaxby’s, it’s a fast food restaurant that only serves chicken fingers. Really, really good chicken fingers!) Oh yeah, this sauce is great as a chicken fingers dipping sauce, too!
Like many sauces, this one will benefit from a rest in the fridge for a couple of hours (or overnight). When you first make it, the horseradish stands out in a bit of a stark way. After resting in the fridge, though? The individual ingredients meld together into a delicious combination of flavors. If you’re anything like us, you’ll be looking around your kitchen for other ways to use this sauce!
This creamy sauce will be a new favorite in your house – trust me! Whenever we get the chance to go to Zaxby’s, I always order an extra Zax sauce. No need for that now – this sauce is just as good as the restaurant version!
This Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce is slightly tangy + slightly sweet. It’s truly the perfect balance…which probably explains why we make this sauce for everything from French fries to chicken fingers to tater tots. If you’re looking for an easy, flavorful sauce for fried foods, then keep this one in mind. I hope you love this sauce as much as we do! Cheers!
Did you make a batch of this Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see how you used your sauce!
Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp cream-style horseradish sauce
- 2 tsp ketchup
- 1 tsp dill pickle juice
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Using a small bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together until well combined. (Tip: This Dipping Sauce will taste better if you make it earlier in the day and then cover it and place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.)
Looking for ways to use this sauce? Check out these ideas:
cant wait to make this soon for me can i use vegan mayo i never had spicy cajun dipping sauce before perfect for my snacks or your snacks recipes love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Yes! I think you can totally use vegan mayo here, Ramya – I haven’t tried that myself, but it should work just fine. 🙂 Enjoy!
Oooh I’m intrigued by the addition of pickle juice to the dipping sauce, must give it that little zing! I’d use it in a nice big oyster po’boy!
The pickle juice is the “secret” ingredient here, Michelle! Don’t skip it. 🙂 And that oyster po’boy sounds fantastic. We’ve used this on shrimp po’boys, but I haven’t tackled making an oyster version here at home yet. Either way – enjoy!!
this sounds great david. we do love a spicy anything in this house 🙂 I might have to add more cayenne. cheers sherry
A little bit of spicy is where the party’s at, Sherry! Definitely try this sauce out when you get a chance…and a bit more cayenne is never a bad thing if you like to spice things up! 🙂
This sounds good! The pickle juice is a really interesting addition.
The pickle juice is key here, Mimi! It’s just a tiny bit, but that secret ingredient is what makes this sauce great! 🙂
I love the combination of mayo and ketchup as it makes a quick and tasty dipping sauce (And I might have mentioned before that there’s also a variation with added cognac. Even better. I bet it would be awesome with grilled shrimp.) Anyway, great sauce that definitely deserved its own spot 🙂
Cognac in this sauce? Woah – mind blown! I’m gonna have to try that sometime. The pickle juice in this one is really unique, and it adds a ton of flavor. But I’m intrigued by that cognac….
Mmm, this sounds like a great combination of ingredients. I don’t know how things like this happen so often, but you mention chicken fingers, and I just made chicken tenders the other day. The leftovers are still in the fridge, and I was thinking that I need to figure out some kind of dipping sauce for them.
It’s like I have one of those magic listening devices in your kitchen, Jeff! Not that I actually do…well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🙂 Seriously, though, this sauce is amazing! Yes, it’s mayo-based, but they dip fries in mayo in Europe!
Keith and I love to dip our fries in aioli instead of ketchup, so we would absolutely love this, David! That creamy, spicy kick is perfect for dipping and would make a fantastic sandwich spread too.
Oh you should totally go for this dip then, Marissa! Fries in this sauce? Delicious! And I like your idea of using it on a sandwich. I’ve never tried it, but I bet it would be pretty fantastic on a turkey sandwich…or a BLT!!
I love horseradish sauces… Sounds like this sauce would be great on tacos indeed!
This sauce has SO many uses, Nicole. I finally needed to give it the attention it deserved and just make a post for it. Haha. Hope your travels are going well so far!