Tartar Sauce
intro
Creamy, tangy, briny homemade tartar sauce, the perfect cool accompaniment for fried seafood, crab cakes, and fish and chips, made with simple pantry staples.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep chopped mix-ins
First, pat 50g (1/3 cup) dill pickles dry with paper towels to remove excess brine, then finely dice them into uniform 2mm pieces. Rinse 20g (2 tablespoons) capers under cold running water, pat dry, and finely chop; mince 20g (2 tablespoons) white onion into fine, even pieces, and chop 6g (2 tablespoons) fresh dill fronds, discarding any thick, woody stems.
Mix creamy base
Add 240g (1 cup) full-fat mayonnaise to a medium glass mixing bowl, then stir in 5g (1 teaspoon) Dijon mustard and 15ml (1 tablespoon) freshly squeezed lemon juice. Mix with a silicone spatula at room temperature until completely smooth with no lumps, about 30 seconds of steady, gentle stirring.
Fold in solid ingredients
Add the prepped diced pickles, chopped capers, minced white onion, and chopped fresh dill to the mayonnaise base. Fold gently with the spatula to evenly distribute the solid ingredients throughout the creamy base, taking care not to over-mix (which can break the mayo and cause watery texture), about 20 seconds of slow folding.
Season and adjust flavor
Add 1g (1/4 teaspoon) kosher salt and 0.5g (1/8 teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper to the sauce, then stir to combine. Taste the sauce, and if you prefer extra tang, stir in 5ml (1 teaspoon) reserved dill pickle brine, adding 1ml increments at a time to avoid thinning the sauce too much.
Chill to meld flavors
Transfer the mixed tartar sauce to an airtight glass jar, seal the lid tightly, and place it in the refrigerator set to 4°C (40°F) for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together before serving.
Stir and serve
After chilling, remove the jar from the refrigerator, give the sauce a quick 10-second stir to reincorporate any small amount of separated liquid, and serve alongside fried fish, crab cakes, fish and chips, or fried shrimp. Store leftover sauce sealed in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Tips
2.Use full-fat mayonnaise for the richest, most stable texture; low-fat or light mayonnaise has added water and fillers that cause the sauce to separate easily and taste overly tart.
3.Do not skip the 30-minute chill time: this resting period allows the briny, herby, tangy flavors to meld together, rather than tasting like plain mayonnaise with scattered mix-ins.
OMG this tartar sauce is a total game changer! I used to just grab the jarred stuff from the grocery store for our weekly fish fry nights, and I never realized how much better homemade tastes. My kids even asked for extra to dip their tater tots in, that’s how good it is! Only took 10 minutes to throw together, and the chill time let all the dill and pickle flavors meld perfectly. Will be making this for every potluck from now on!
Really solid tartar sauce recipe! I made this to go with the coconut shrimp I made for my family dinner last Sunday, and everyone raved. I knocked a star off because I felt like it needed just a little more lemon juice for my taste, but that’s just personal preference. Super easy to make, even for someone who burns toast half the time like me.
SO good, I prepped a big batch of this on Sunday to use for my work lunches all week. I’ve been slathering it on salmon burgers, dipping fried zucchini in it, even adding a dollop to my Cobb salad for extra tang. It held up perfectly in the fridge all week, no weird separation or watery texture like some homemade sauces get. 10/10, this is going to be a permanent meal prep staple for me now.
I brought this to our neighborhood block party potluck last weekend to go with the fried fish platter, and people would NOT stop asking me for the recipe! A couple people even said it was better than the tartar sauce at our favorite local seafood shack. I added a tiny bit of extra sweet relish because that’s how my grandma used to make it, and it turned out chef’s kiss.
Quick question before I make this this weekend—can I use dill pickle relish instead of chopped dill pickles? I have a half jar of relish in the fridge I need to use up, and I don’t feel like making a special grocery run. Also, does this work with dairy-free mayo? My son has a dairy and soy allergy so I have to swap a lot of ingredients for our family dinners.