This 4-Ingredient Sauce Makes Honey-Walnut Shrimp Better Than Takeout

Honey walnut shrimp is a delicious takeout option, but sometimes cooking your favorites at home can be even tastier because you can adjust recipes and ingredients to suit your own palate. Battered shrimp topped with honey walnuts and tossed in a sweet, creamy sauce sounds like a tricky dish to master, but this is a comfort food that can absolutely be whipped up in your own kitchen — and it only takes 15 minutes, thanks to recipe developer Jennine Rye's grilled honey walnut shrimp recipe.

To make the dressing, simply whisk mayonnaise, sweetened condensed milk, honey, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Each ingredient pulls its own weight, offering sweetness, bright acidity, and enough substance to result in a thick, creamy sauce that can be easily spooned into dishes. This basic dressing can be spruced up with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, or you can use kewpie mayo for a zingier bite. Mayo can be further enhanced with duck fat, sweetened with maple syrup, or spiced up with hot sauce. A homemade garlic aioli can bring herby freshness to your dish if you're wanting a less sweet option. Regardless of your decisions, this is the kind of dressing that can easily find its way onto vegetables or other proteins like chicken hot off the grill or air fryer tofu as well.

Experiment with ratios of ingredients to nail the perfect level of sweetness for your meal. Start with two tablespoons each of mayo and sweetened condensed milk, one tablespoon of honey, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to taste before making adjustments. Adding more lemon will make for a zingier glaze, while more honey will deepen the sweetness.

Plus, with the flavors in your hands, you can make adjustments to your homemade honey walnut shrimp, like using beer-battered shrimp or adding a whisper of heat with red pepper chili flakes to suit your plate. Drizzles of the sauce can add extra oomph to pizzas or be served as a dip for wings. While you're already in the kitchen, make more candied walnuts than what you think you'll need for your shrimp dish. Pieces can be used to stir into baking projects or be thrown into batches of granola. When stored in airtight containers, they will stay fresh for several weeks and wait for your next homemade batch of honey walnut shrimp.