Tartar Sauce
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Creamy, zippy, and loaded with chopped pickles and capers, this homemade tartar sauce will instantly upgrade any fish dish.
Tartar sauce is a rich seafood condiment made with mayonnaise, capers, chopped pickles, minced onion, and other seasonings. If you’ve been buying it at the supermarket, you’ll be delighted when you taste this homemade version. It’s easy to whip up and tastes infinitely better than the bottled stuff. Plus, it’s composed almost entirely of pantry staples; the only ingredients you’ll need to buy fresh are a lemon and shallot.
The flavor of this tartar sauce recipe is tangy and slightly sweet, thanks to the addition of briny capers, tart lemon juice, and sweet pickled relish. Serve tartar sauce with fish and chips, fried seafood dishes, fish sandwiches (like these shrimp burgers), crab cakes, or salmon cakes.
“I’ll never buy tartar sauce at the store again — this is easy and amazing! We’ve used it on Jenn’s crab cakes, fish sticks, even fish tacos.”
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Tartar Sauce
- Mayonnaise: The base of the sauce that provides its creamy texture—use a good-quality brand like Hellmann’s or Duke’s for the best flavor and mouthfeel.
- Capers & shallots: Add briny brightness and a savory, slightly sharp bite that cuts through the richness.
- Lemon juice, sweet pickle relish, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard & black pepper: Bring sweet, zesty, and tangy flavor with just a hint of depth and spice to balance everything out.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Prep the mix-ins and combine the ingredients. Begin by finely mincing the shallot and capers. In a medium bowl, combine them with the mayo, fresh lemon juice, relish, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper.
Step 2: Stir and season. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Homemade tartar sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Pro Tip: If time allows, let the tartar sauce sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge before serving to help the flavors meld.
Other Sauces and dressings you may Like
Tartar Sauce
A quick blend of mayo, pickles, capers, and lemon creates a bright, briny sauce that’s a natural with seafood.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
- 1½ tablespoons minced shallots (from 1 small shallot)
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- ¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, capers, shallots, lemon juice, relish, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The tartar sauce will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 165
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Sodium: 205 mg
- Cholesterol: 9 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Delicious! This is the best tartar sauce recipe I have ever made. Pairs perfectly with your salmon cakes. Thank you for sharing.
This sauce is to die for. My family loved it on the crab cakes, and a few days later added a bit of horseradish and put it on steak. Phenomenal. Many thanks.
The best tartar sauce that I have ever tasted. My previous recipe was also quite good but this is without question the best!