What Is Dragon Sauce?

Seen a recipe that calls for Dragon sauce? Or maybe you’ve seen it on a menu somewhere, it’s been recommended or you’ve stumbled across it. Either way, what exactly is this sauce, and what does it taste like? Here is all you need to know.

So, what is Dragon Sauce? Dragon sauce is an Asian-inspired condiment typically made with tamari, nutritional yeast, garlic, an oil, and other herbs/spices. However there are also variations, and you can even find Hot Dragon Sauce on the market too.

You likely still have some questions.

I certainly did.

So let us now take a closer look at what you can expect from this interesting and unique sauce!

What Is Dragon Sauce Made Of?

Dragon sauce is typically made from nutritional yeast flakes, olive/sesame seed oil, crushed garlic, tamari, water, honey/maple syrup, and sometimes ginger.

In all actuality, this sauce varies quite a bit.

You’ll find numerous different recipes and variations out there.

Some call for a very limited number of ingredients, whereas others seem to throw a bit of everything in.

I’ve even seen recipes with chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, corn starch, and tomato paste too.

So, that’s certainly something to consider here too.

It doesn’t nor will not always be the same.

And then there are other interesting variations too.

For example, Trader Joes sell their Green Dragon Hot Sauce. As you can imagine, this is spicy.

The ingredients for that are as follows:

Ingredients: Water, Organic Jalapeño Pepper Puree, Tomatillo Puree, White Distilled Vinegar, Cane Sugar, Cilantro Puree (Cilantro, Vegetable Oil [Canola Oil and/or Olive Oil], Citric Acid [for Freshness]), Salt, Garlic Puree (Garlic, Water), Garlic, Spinach Powder, Lime Juice Concentrate, Habanero Pepper Powder, Xanthan Gum.

Quite different as you can see. But this is a hot sauce, first and foremost.

At least compared to more typical recipes.

How Hot Is Dragon Sauce?

Traditional recipes of dragon sauce are not typically hot. Instead, they are more tangy and sweet in flavor. However, hot sauce variations of dragon sauce are considered to be relatively spicy – medium, compared to other hot sauce condiments.

Of course, how spicy this depends entirely on the brand or recipe of dragon sauce.

If you are making it from scratch, you can largely dictate and influence how spicy you want it to be.

That being said, if you follow most online recipes, you shouldn’t expect any real heat at all – they often do not even include chillis, or other hot peppers, in the ingredients list.

What Does Dragon Sauce Go Well With?

Dragon sauce is very versatile and can pair very well with various meats, seafood, rice, or even with pasta dishes.

Where Can You Buy Dragon Sauce?

Dragon sauce is commonly available in Asian specialty stores and some supermarkets.

In fact, this particular sauce can be quite a challenge to find.

The only real exception here is the Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Hot Sauce – which is much more widely available.

As you can imagine, that is available at Trader Joe’s along with the other major grocery store chains, including Walmart.

You can also order it over at Amazon.

Finally

Dragon sauce.

It is certainly one to try.

The beauty of this particular condiment is that it is so versatile and you can really experiment with the recipe.

Most of the time you can expect a sweet and tangy sauce.

At least from typical recipes.

And it will be a little fiery – from the inclusion of garlic and sometimes ginger.

But if you’re really looking for heat then either include your own chilis, such as jalapeño and habaneros or buy a hot sauce version like Trader Joe’s.