Campfire Sauce
This easy 3 Ingredient Campfire Sauce is inspired by the Red Robin Campfire Sauce. It’s a smoky burger sauce that you’ll dream about slathering on your favorite cheeseburger or using as a French fry dipping sauce.
Read on to learn all the tips and tricks for how to make this campfire sauce recipe. Or just grab your liquid smoke, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make a smoky fry sauce with three ingredients!
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Ingredients
We often stop at the Red Robin in Wenatchee, Washington on the way to go cross-country skiing. And there was one time I asked for campfire sauce as a dipping sauce for my sweet potato fries.
I was hooked. I looked to buy a bottle of Red Robin Campfire Sauce, but reviews weren’t positive. I needed to make it myself.
After looking at the Red Robin ingredient list and a few of the copycat recipes, I started my initial recipe tests with different types of barbecue sauce, including my homemade BBQ sauce. But as luck would have it, success came the one time we had no BBQ sauce, and I used liquid smoke.
The combo of ketchup and mayonnaise are classic fry sauce, and it’s the basis for salsa rosada (aka pink sauce). But the flavor of this smoky sauce is all from the liquid smoke, flavor that comes from burning wood chips and collecting the condensation.
You can substitute chipotle powder if you don’t have liquid smoke, but it won’t taste the same. And once you buy it, you’ll want to use liquid smoke in marinades for meats, bean soups and chili, baked beans, or my cavatappi mac and cheese.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe tips and tricks
The classic fry sauce recipe starts with a two to one ratio of mayo to ketchup, but I personally prefer less mayonnaise. Feel free to play around and adjust this campfire fry sauce to your own taste!
What to serve with this campfire sauce
You can use your homemade sauce on anything! Here are a few suggestions:
- Burgers, a cheeseburger salad with mini smash burgers, or even duck burgers.
- Veggie burgers like these BBQ pinto bean burgers or cauliflower patties.
- As a sauce for falafel waffles or a dip for corn dogs or kale waffle chips.
Recipe FAQs
Keep this combo of ketchup and mayo in the fridge for up to one week.
Red Robin’s Campfire Sauce likely gets its name from its smoky flavor reminiscent of cooking and eating around a campfire.
Related sauce recipes
Check out other sauces and dips like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Campfire Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup (136 grams) tomato ketchup
- ½ cup (104 grams) mayonnaise plus up to another ½ cup, as desired
- 1 to 3 teaspoons liquid smoke
Instructions
- Combine the ketchup, mayonnnaise, and one teaspoon of liquid smoke in a small bowl, and stir well to mix.½ cup (136 grams) tomato ketchup, ½ cup (104 grams) mayonnaise, 1 to 3 teaspoons liquid smoke
- Add additional liquid smoke for flavor, as desired.
- To increase the thickness of the campfire fry sauce, add additional mayonnaise one or two tablespoons at a time.
Notes
Nutrition
Are you an adventurous home cook looking for inspiration in your weeknight meals and weekend baking? Get inspiration here:
Hi There! I love this recipe and it creates a perfect sauce. Thanks for sharing 🙂