For all the attention that burgers, fries, wings, and chicken sandwiches command at chain restaurants, the sauce is the glue that really makes those foods shine. And not just any sauce — we’re talking about one that sticks to your fingers and can be used to dunk just about anything. At Red Robin, that concoction is Campfire Mayo, also known as Campfire Sauce, and making the sauce at home is easy to do with a few ingredients.
Featured on gourmet burgers such as the Haystack Double, the smoky, creamy condiment is also a favorite for dipping sides like fries and onion rings. According to Red Robin itself, Campfire Mayo is a “tasty mix of ketchup, mayo, and spices.” The first two ingredients are extremely easy to find at the store, though many dupes call for sweet hickory barbecue sauce in place of ketchup.
Red Robin doesn’t specifically say what spices the red-hued mayo mix includes, but that hasn’t stopped curious home cooks from attempting to recreate it in their kitchens. Some recipes suggest doing away with the additional spices, while others use common pantry staples like chipotle powder with the basic ingredients.
Making homemade campfire mayo
No two copycat recipes are the same and that’s certainly true of attempts to duplicate Campfire Mayo. Those who want to make it with more specific ingredients can use Best Foods mayonnaise, Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory and Brown Sugar BBQ sauce, and, as noted earlier, a little bit of chipotle powder. Another attempt at a dupe uses mayo and the abovementioned Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce and adds additional flavor depth with honey, paprika, and brown mustard.
Sauce fans love a great dupe, especially if that dupe can be purchased for cheap or recreated at home without too much hassle, and that applies to other restaurant sauces as well. For example, McDonald’s famous breakfast sauce can be replicated with a little patience and the right mix of ingredients. Fans of the Golden Arches can likewise make a pretty faithful recreation of Big Mac sauce to throw on burgers and dip fries into.
While Red Robin Campfire Sauce can be purchased on Amazon, sometimes it’s more fun to make it on your own. With mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, and a few spices that are likely already in your pantry, you can whip up a dupe that tastes just as good as the original in just a few minutes.
