How Comeback Sauce Became An Iconic Staple Of Mississippi

Everybody loves a good comeback story, and this one's no different. Well, aside from the fact that it stars sauce as opposed to a beleaguered celebrity. For those whose culinary knowledge falls outside of Southern kitchens, comeback sauce is a creamy, tangy regional condiment that tastes like Thousand Island dressing and remoulade sauce got together and had a spicy little sauce baby. According to lore, when comeback sauce was first created in a Jackson, Mississippi-based Greek restaurant around the 1930s or '40s (the specific Greek restaurant is up for debate), customers loved the tasty sauce so much that they kept on "coming back" to get more. Decades later, the sauce is as popular as ever and has expanded beyond the Greek restaurants that first created it.

The sauce is made using a food processor or blender to mix all of the ingredients into a thick and creamy pulp. While details vary, most sauces feature a base of mayonnaise, chili sauce, and ketchup mixed with hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion, lemon juice, and a combination of spices like salt, pepper, paprika, and powdered mustard. Come back sauce is one of those things that's good on just about any dish that needs a spicy-creamy kick. Douse it on your turkey sandwich, drown your fries in it, add it to scrambled eggs, or over a veggie roast.

Many Greek restauranteurs have claimed to be the originators of comeback sauce, yet the verifiable creator has been lost to time. The murky origin story of comeback sauce extends to its recipe too. Neither Thousand Island dressing nor remoulade, a New Orleans classic, are particularly Greek sauces, yet comeback sauce feels as if it was born from the two. While there are some standard ingredients, the overall sauce has seen a lot of variations over the 80-plus years Southern cooks have been making and using it. One recipe even calls for peanut butter, which is an unexpected twist to a spicy, cream sauce to say the least.

A comeback sauce profile in the Magnolia Tribune written by Susan Marquez, a self-described comeback sauce snob, states that in order to make an authentic comeback sauce, you need grated yellow onion and fresh garlic. Marquez says that if you find a recipe that calls for onion or garlic in powder form, you should "run the other way." Certain recipes have you replace the chili sauce with sriracha, and while you might think this sounds good, Marquez says, "Just no." If you want to try genuine comeback sauce but are too overwhelmed with the variations, no worries, you can order your very own bottle of pre-made comeback sauce from Duke's on Amazon.