10 Simple Condiment Combinations That Make Perfect Burger Sauces

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A burger is nothing without its sauce. Sure, there's nothing wrong with a well-seasoned beef, turkey, chicken, or veggie patty, but when you combine it with a melted cheese and an oversized burger bun, you get a very dense and heavy bite that's hard to escape. Sauces fill in the gaps — both metaphorically and physically. Not only do they add an extra dose of moisture, but they also introduce small doses of complementary flavors, like sweetness, tanginess, and heat, that might otherwise fall through the cracks. 

Although burger sauces have big shoes to fill, their composition doesn't have to be all that complicated. In order to gather some simple condiment combinations that could be used to make tantalizing burger sauces, we drew upon our own burger-making experience and got some expert insights from Chef David Cingari from the Cingari Family Markets of Southwest Connecticut. Cingari not only suggested two- or three-ingredient condiment combos, but also the types of burgers they pair best with. We also looked at what types of toppings could further elevate the respective sauces and help you take your burger to the next level. 

Barbecue sauce is one of the best toppings for a burger, especially if you're already a fan of ketchup. It has the same sweet, tomato-forward base, just with a little more of a savory and woody kick to it. Chef David Cingari from the Cingari Family Markets recommends pairing trusty barbecue sauce with hot honey for a tasty, spicy-sweet bite. "The smoky depth of [the barbecue] sauce blended with spicy honey creates a perfect balance of tang, sweetness, and heat that plays off the burger's savory char," he says. Hot honey is made by combining chiles, honey, and sometimes aromatics into a well-balanced, sticky condiment that can be used for everything from a sandwich topping to tantalizing cocktail add-in. 

He recommends using this delicious condiment on beef burgers, though it's easy to see how the combination could also spice up a relatively bland chicken, turkey, or veggie burger, too. Try pairing your upgraded hot honey barbecue sauce with other barbecue-adjacent toppings, like crispy onion rings, caramelized onions (which would play off the honey's sweetness quite well), or savory bacon. Since the sauce is already sweet and smoky, it may also be wise to balance out that heavy bite with a more refreshing and lighter topping, like lettuce.

Even if you aren't a big fan of mayo, you might be a little more amenable to this condiment when you add smoky chipotles to it. David Cingari recommends trying a chipotle mayo, made with mayo, canned chipotles in adobo, and lime juice, on your beef burgers. "Pureed chipotles add smokiness and gentle heat, while lime juice brightens up the mayo," he says. To prepare this simple burger sauce, combine the ingredients with an immersion blender or food processor until it's smooth and creamy. You can also cut some of the mayo with sour cream to lighten its flavor and supplement the acidic tang from the limes. Chipotle mayo is a delectable creamy stand-in for any burger that you would normally add barbecue or "secret sauce" to — like an In-N-Out-style or smash burger. 

This sauce is simple, yet still can be jazzed up with extra add-ins. "A sprinkle of cilantro brings fresh herbaceous notes for a truly layered burger experience," Cingari says. You can also take Gordon Ramsay's suggestion and add a little bit of honey to your chipotle mayo to offset the heaviness of the peppers and the creamy base. The sauce is creamy and versatile, and if you have any left, you can always use it as a topping for your breakfast sandwich or a smoky play on a grilled cheese.

Every burger place might have its own variation on secret sauce, but lucky for us, David Cingari offered a little insight into three simple ingredients you can use to make it at home: mayo, ketchup, and sriracha. He says it "blends creamy tanginess, tomato sweetness, and vinegary spice into a smooth spread that enhances every bite," and recommends slathering it on your beef burgers. Each one of these ingredients alters the bite; the mayo gives it its body while the sriracha offers the perfect bright and spicy contrast to the ketchup's sweetness and umami undertones. 

This DIY recipe is the perfect alternative to when you don't want to buy a store-bought version or make a trip to a local fast food joint. And what's nice is that every secret sauce is different, so you can always add new ingredients to switch up the bite. McDonald's Big Mac sauce, for example, can be recreated at home by adding sweet pickle relish, white wine vinegar, Dusseldorf mustard, and spices like paprika, onion powder, and garlic. Chick-fil-A sauce, on the other hand, is way less complicated than it looks. It's made with all pre-made sauces: honey mustard, ranch, and barbecue sauce — which could use the spiciness from the sriracha, sweetness from the ketchup, and creaminess from the mayo. Start with Cingari's basic secret sauce recipe for a balanced bite, then try your own creation at home and watch how it can elevate an array of burgers and toppings, from staples like lettuce, red onion, and tomato to funkier accoutrements like fried onions and potato chips.

Avocado is one of the most underrated burger toppings. It's creamy and adds levity to the dense, greasy burger. But, rather than just going to town on sliced avocado pieces or store-bought guacamole, David Cingari suggests trying a whipped avocado spread. He explains that the avocado itself increases the fat content, while ingredients like kosher salt heat to the bite. Although he sticks to beef burgers for this one, it's such a simple and agreeable condiment that we would recommend adding it to an array of other burgers, including chicken and turkey. You can play off the avocado and add some Tex-Mex-inspired seasonings (like cumin, chili powder, and cayenne), topping off the patties with salsa, melty Monterey or pepper Jack, and crunchy red onion. It would also be a standout condiment for a veggie or bean burger, which could use the fat and the subtle heat from the chili flakes to break it up a bit. 

While we love the fact that this is a three-ingredient burger topping, it doesn't have to stay that way. "Consider adding just a squeeze of lemon or a smear of mayo to make it extra savory," he says. You could bulk up this spread (besides, avocados are quite expensive) by adding unsweetened Greek yogurt to your dip. This condiment is just as easy to make as you'd think; combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend it until creamy. 

Hey wing lovers, this one is for you. David Cingari says that his Buffalo blue cheeseburger sauce "transforms a burger into a flavor-packed experience reminiscent of your favorite autumn game‑day snack." It combines the bold and funky flavor of blue cheese with bright and punchy Buffalo wing sauce to create the perfect harmonious bite that's an excellent pairing for beef burgers. Though based on the pairing of both Buffalo sauce and blue cheese, we could see this pairing also working for a juicy chicken burger. 

The key with a sauce like this is to balance the two bold sauces. If you aren't a fan of spice and heat, you may want to add a little more blue cheese to your dressing to offset its piquancy. However, if you aren't a big fan of blue cheese's admittedly acquired taste, you may want to lean more into the sauce, or cut the blue cheese with a less flavorful type of cheese. You can also bulk up this sauce and cut back on its flavor by adding in a spoonful of sour cream or mayonnaise, or increase its spicy complexity by adding garlic powder, onion powder, or paprika. Since these sauces are very punchy on their own, it's important to pair them with relatively dialed back burger toppings, like crunchy lettuce, dill pickles (the herbiness will balance out the heaviness of the spread), or cooling avocado.

Cranberries — wait, are we making a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich or a burger topping? It turns out that cranberry sauce can be useful for both. David Cingari recommends pairing whole-fruit cranberry sauce (meaning, leave that jelly stuff in your pantry for now) with Dijon mustard and honey to create a delectable topping for turkey burgers. "The bite of Dijon cuts through turkey's mildness, cranberry sauce adds sweet‑tart fruitiness, and honey ties it all together with a gentle sweetness, creating a Thanksgiving‑inspired topper that brings out the best in lean ground turkey," he says. 

Indeed, ground turkey has a lower fat content than beef burgers, but it is notoriously lacking in the flavor department. Both the cranberry sauce and the Dijon are sweet and punchy enough to elevate your bite and balance out the blandness of the meat. While sticking to these three ingredients will keep your recipe simple, you could also pep things up with a sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper, mayo, or Greek yogurt for a creamier bite, or apple cider vinegar for extra tang. 

When you start thinking about a Thanksgiving-like bite, there are plenty of burger toppings that may come to mind — as well as those you might not think of. We would recommend pairing this fresh and punchy condiment with a decadent and creamy cheese, like melted Brie or Swiss. The mustard would cut through the cheese's richness, while the fruity tartness of the cranberries would make the flavors seem like they just walked off a charcuterie board. 

You may have never heard of scarpariello sauce before, unless you grew up in an Italian American household. Pollo allo scarpariello, or "shoemaker's chicken," brings together relatively large pieces of the protein, hot or sweet Italian sausage, onions, garlic, peppers, and its signature ingredient: sweet pickled peppers. David Cingari's Howyadoin' scarpariello sauce takes inspiration from this dish and marries the unique and zesty pickled peppers with garlic and mayo. It's creamy, cooling, funky, and very unique — all the qualities of a great chicken burger sauce. Though, Cingari also suggests trying this sauce on top of a sausage patty, which he notes would be in good company with a little bit of lemon juice or rosemary. 

You can find sweet pickled peppers in an Italian grocery store or buy Belveder Sweet Pickled Red Peppers from online retailers like Amazon. They're truly a special ingredient in this sauce and one that's not easily substitutable. That said, these peppers, and the sauce as a whole, is best paired with Italian-adjacent ingredients — namely melty mozzarella, provolone, or fontina. You could even cook up some onion and regular bell peppers and spoon them on top of your burger to channel that scarpariello sauce, or add a crunchy, fresh complement with spinach or arugula, or extra salt with pancetta or bacon. The chicken burger isn't really super flavorful on its own, so it will allow the sauce to shine here — as it should.

If you want to make an excellent burger sauce at home, there is one rule that you need to follow: contrast, contrast, contrast! The best sauces have elements that balance each other out and bring harmony to every bite; those that only focus on one element (be it spicy, savory, or sweet) are always too overwhelming and can shift the entire balance of the sandwich in the wrong direction. If you want to indulge in a tasty, well-balanced burger, try pairing two of the best condiments ever made together: ranch and hot sauce. 

Ranch has the perfect amount of zesty brightness and creaminess to complement a tasty and piquant hot sauce. Plus, the best thing about "hot sauce" is that there are more options for sauces that go well in this duo than ones that don't. If you like something super hot that will leave your taste buds tingling, go for it. But if you want to channel more smoky and warm flavors, you might go for a sauce featuring ancho chiles or chipotles. This sauce is versatile enough to adorn an array of burger types, including beef and poultry, and you could even pair a chipotle-infused hot sauce ranch with a salmon burger for a deeply smoky bite. We have seen fantastic results with spicy ranch and veggie burgers, too, seeing as how they often need a little boost of creaminess to offset the woody and vegetal flavors.

Peanut sauce ... on a burger? We understand why you may be skeptical about this admittedly out-there pairing, but once you try a peanut sauce, made with soy sauce, peanut butter, and a little squirt of sriracha, you won't go back to plain ol' ketchup ever again. Peanut butter is everything that these other sauces can't be — it's heavy, dense, and deeply complex. The soy sauce can help balance out this heaviness and shift its balance more in the savory direction, while the sriracha provides a much-needed boost of acid and heat to cut through the richness of the peanut butter. You can also lighten up the sauce with a little spritz of lime juice, though the three-ingredient burger sauce will still work without it. 

Whether you're grilling up beef, turkey, chicken, or a veggie patty, spicy peanut sauce definitely has a place on your plate. Since its texture is already pretty creamy, this is one burger that you don't really need to put cheese on. Instead of taking inspiration from Americanized burger condiments, opt for more Asian-inspired ones, like crunchy and spicy kimchi, sliced cucumber or radish, thinly-sliced chiles or jalapeños, or a simple slaw with cabbage and carrots. It's definitely a sauce that will require you to step out of your comfort zone, but the complexity of its flavors and the harmony you will get when pairing it with a charred burger patty is nothing short of revolutionary.

Many of the condiments that we included on this list are made with ingredients that you wouldn't find at a burger shack. Sure, you might be able to get some ketchup, mustard, and relish going on, but unless you're packing your pantry into your purse, it might be difficult to make some of these DIY sauces when you eat out. But that's not the case with this simple sauce, which can be made with just barbecue sauce and mayo. 

Barbecue sauce comes in many shapes and forms, including ones that are acidic and vinegar-forward to ones that are deeply umami and sweet. You'll have to do some mixing and matching to find a sauce that works for you, but once you do, you might not be able to settle for just ketchup. The sweetness of the barbecue sauce mellows into the creaminess of the mayo, the latter of which offers just enough acidity to counteract any extra overt sweetness. 

While these two condiments alone are excellent swirled into a sauce, they are also especially delicious with the addition of smoked paprika. This spice, not to be confused with sweet paprika or Hungarian paprika, offers warming notes that will contrast with the char of your burger well, whether you're opting for something beef, poultry, pork, or veggie-based. It plays its part in a delectable and well-balanced burger sauce that works well with an array of other burger toppings, including a crunchy and vinegary slaw, sliced tomato, or caramelized onions.