How to Make Homemade Tartar Sauce with nine simple ingredients and 5 minutes! A tangy, delicious, and restaurant-quality dipping sauce with so many uses!
What is Tartar Sauce?
Traditional tartar sauce is a creamy, classic condiment/dipping sauce that is typically served with favorite seafood dishes, particularly fried or battered fish. It’s made with a mayonnaise base, then chopped pickles or gherkins, capers, and various herbs and spices like parsley, and dill are added in. It’s a super creamy and delicious dip with added texture from the chopped pickles (or relish) and capers.
Some recipes include ingredients like a little lemon juice, Dijon mustard, fresh onion, or shallots for added flavor, but today we’re keeping things pretty simple. The tangy and slightly sweet taste of tartar sauce complements the richness of seafood dishes quite well.
What Makes This Recipe Great
This tangy, flavorful, and easy Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe is way better than store-bought sauce versions! It’s so easy to make and takes just 5 minutes! It’s the perfect creamy condiment to accompany any fried fish recipe, and just in time for all those summer fish bakes and BBQs.
I love this recipe because it requires very basic ingredients (many of which I always have on hand) and is easily stored in the fridge for multiple uses throughout the week. I don’t know about you, but when summer comes and we’re spending more time outside, fish recipes are plenty around my house and tartar sauce is a must-have!
Ingredient Notes
- Mayonnaise: You can use your favorite store-bought mayo for the creamy base. Regular or light mayo works fine. For a vegan version, make sure you use vegan mayonnaise.
- dill pickles: You can replace pickles with sweet relish, but omit the sugar if you do. You can also use dill relish instead of chopping dill pickles.
- dill pickle juice
- capers
- fresh dill: Dried dill will work in a pinch, but I recommend fresh.
- fresh lemon juice
- sugar
- onion powder
- ground black pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add all ingredients in a mixing bowl or small mason jar and stir to combine.
- Taste to adjust the seasoning to your liking. Add salt and black pepper if desired. Serve with your favorite fish and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Pickles: There are a few variations of pickles/relish you can use in this recipe. You can replace the dill pickles with sweet pickle relish or chopped sweet pickles, but omit the sugar if you do. Alternatively, you can use dill pickle relish instead of chopping the dill pickles, but keep the sugar.
- Mayo: For a vegan tartar sauce, use vegan mayonnaise (homemade or from the grocery store works). If you want to make a “lightened up” version of this homemade tartar sauce recipe, you can substitute plain Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt for the mayonnaise.
Serving Tips
Enjoy with salmon cakes, tuna patties, crab cakes, fish sticks, fish tacos, fish & chips, fried fish sandwiches, and more! You can even dip french fries in it!
Storage Tips
Store leftover tartar sauce in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge. It won’t freeze well.
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
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Easy Tartar Sauce (Better Than Store-Bought!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup dill pickles finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dill pickle juice
- 1 tbsp capers fine chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Taste to adjust seasoning to your liking. Enjoy!
Notes
-
- Pickles: There are a few variations of pickles/relish you can use in this recipe. You can replace the dill pickles with sweet pickle relish or chopped sweet pickles, but omit the sugar if you do. Alternatively, you can use dill pickle relish instead of chopping the dill pickles, but keep the sugar.
- Mayo: For a vegan tartar sauce, use vegan mayonnaise (homemade or from the grocery store works). If you want to make a “lightened up” version of this homemade tartar sauce recipe, you can substitute plain Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt for the mayonnaise.
- Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Stir before each use.
- This sauce does not freeze well—the creamy texture won’t hold after thawing.
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