Easy Tartar Sauce (Better Than Store-Bought!)

a homemade tartar sauce recipe in a mason jar with a spoon

Easy Tartar Sauce (Better Than Store-Bought!)

This easy tartar sauce recipe is creamy, tangy, and comes together in just 5 minutes using basic ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. It’s the perfect dipping sauce for salmon patties, crab cakes, fish sticks, and all your favorite seafood recipes. Once you make this simple tartar sauce from scratch, you'll never go back to the store-bought kind.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Servings: servings (3/4 cup total)

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.

Nutrition