Remember that tofu burger that I raved about having at Nepenthe in Big Sur? I swear it was the best tofu burger that I’ve ever eaten.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find the actual tofu burger recipe yet, but I’m still on the hunt. I did find the recipe for their amazing ambrosia sauce that they slather all of their burgers with, as well as serve up with their shoestring fries. We all devoured and raved about this secret sauce. The kids loved it, the in-laws loved it, and John and I loved it. It gave each of our burgers a pop of flavor, and was also a great and addicting dipping sauce for our fries. I replicated the sauce at home and honestly couldn’t believe how simple it was. We served this sauce up on a thin, lean burger patty and used the extra sauce to dip our onion rings into. My kids said that this sauce made their burgers, and the sauce turned their boring old baked onion rings into a gourmet experience. Seriously, it’s a simple 3 ingredient sauce that will give some real flavor to your next beef or buffalo burger. Burgers and ketchup equal boring, but burgers with ambrosia sauce equal flavor.
I’m giving you 2 quantities below. The full recipe is great for those nights when you’re having friends over and grilling up some burgers. The half recipe is perfect for those nights when your just making burgers for the family. We made the full recipe and found that it was a bit too much for a family of four and we had plenty of leftover sauce, so next time I’m going to make the half recipe for the family. I know the below ingredients seem strange, but mixed together they really make a great sauce.
ambrosia sauce:
recipe from Nepenthe
full recipe:
- 1 cup mayonnaise – use the real stuff, not miracle whip
- 1/4 cup mild green salsa – I actually used some of my leftover tomatillo sauce
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
half recipe:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise – use the real stuff, not miracle whip
- 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) cup mild green salsa
- 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) tomato sauce
Measure out your mayonnaise, green salsa and tomato sauce.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, green salsa and the tomato sauce until well combined. That’s seriously it! I told you this sauce was easy.
Top this sauce on your favorite burger or use it to dip your fries or onion rings into.
Next time you’re in Big Sur, you have to stop by for lunch or dinner at Nepenthe. The restaurant not only has amazing food, but a view that will take your breath away.
Here’s the view from our table. 
- 1 cup mayonnaise - use the real stuff, not miracle whip
- ¼ cup mild green salsa - I actually used some of my leftover tomatillo sauce
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise - use the real stuff, not miracle whip
- 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) cup mild green salsa
- 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) tomato sauce
- Measure out your mayonnaise, green salsa and tomato sauce.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, green salsa and the tomato sauce until well combined. That's seriously it!
- Top this sauce on your favorite burger or use it to dip your fries or onion rings into.
The veggie patties is actually not homemade by them and is available at many whole foods and other similar stores. It’s Wildwood’s sprouTofu, original.
I saw this recipe on pinterest. We made it tonight to top our burgers and it was amazing! Kids loved it, hubby loved it. So much better than ketchup. I can’t wait to try your cilantro-lime mayo next. Thanks so much for the recipe. Btw, we made the half version and it was the perfect amount! Colleen
Hi Colleen! I’m psyched that you loved this sauce and yes, it’s so much better than ketchup. It just gives your burger that extra burst of flavor. I know you will love the cilantro lime mayo, it really has a nice kick to it. 🙂
I know, I would have never thought to combine those three ingredients on my own. I don’t know that I have actually made this recipe without first trying it at the restaurant. I was sold after trying it, so I knew that it would be great in spite of the weird combination. I think the dipping of fries in tarter sauce is an all around the country thing. I like it as well 🙂 I hope you had fun at hula practice! Aloha girl!
Me too, if I saw this recipe just by itself I don’t think I would have thought to try it either! Practice was good, it always is. 🙂 Talk to you later, Aloha! 🙂
Mmm! What an original sauce, I’ve not seen a recipe like this! I’ll have to try it. I love dipping my fries in tartar sauce. I don’t know if its a pacific NW thing or not, LOL! I’ll also have to remember this restaurant if we are ever in the Big Sur area. It’s been wayyyy too long since we’ve been there and I’d love to visit again. Hope you have a good evening! I have been running around so much, just home between stops for an hour and catching up on email, then running out again soon for hula practice. Talk to you soon. xoxo, Sharon
this sauce sounds great..and i so agree ketchup is so boring. i love that you used your tomatillo sauce which that again sounds amazing. i would love to try that restaurant sometime…maybe i can convince hubby for a super duper long road trip. lol
Hi Angela! Yes, it would be a super duper long road trip for you, but so worth it to go down the California coast. Gotta make use of those leftovers somehow, right? I know you’re all about that! 🙂