Tartar Sauce

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The ultimate seafood condiment, this creamy tartar sauce is rich, tangy, and slightly sweet.

Spoon in a bowl of tartar sauce.

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 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, seafood sandwiches, crab cakes, or salmon cakes.

What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Tartar Sauce

tartar sauce ingredients

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin by mincing the shallot and capers.

minced shallots, capers, and lemons on cutting board

In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, capers, shallots, lemon juice, relish, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper.

tartar sauce ingredients in mixing bowl

Stir to combine.

mixed tartar sauce

Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Homemade tartar sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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Tartar Sauce

The ultimate seafood condiment, this creamy tartar sauce is rich, tangy, and slightly sweet.

Servings: 1⅓ cups
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 15 Minutes

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

  1. 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.
  2. Make-Ahead Instructions: The tartar sauce will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • 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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Comments

  • 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.

    • — Lexi on August 10, 2024
    • Reply
  • The best tartar sauce that I have ever tasted. My previous recipe was also quite good but this is without question the best!

    • — Shawn Albers on August 3, 2024
    • Reply

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