The Ultimate Homemade Tartar Sauce: Fresh, Flavorful, and Unforgettable
Once you experience the vibrant, fresh taste of truly homemade tartar sauce, there’s simply no turning back to the commercial varieties. Those often rely on corn syrup and a long list of unpronounceable preservatives, resulting in a bland and overly sweet condiment. This easy homemade tartar sauce recipe, however, delivers pure deliciousness, crafted from a handful of simple, wholesome ingredients: creamy mayonnaise, zesty pickles, briny capers, fresh parsley, bright lemon, and a subtle hint of onion. It’s a game-changer for any seafood lover.
Why Choose Homemade Tartar Sauce?
The difference between a store-bought tartar sauce and one made from scratch is astounding. Commercial options often disappoint with their lack of depth and artificial sweetness, overshadowing the delicate flavors of your meal. By making your own, you gain complete control over the ingredients, ensuring a fresher, healthier, and far more delicious condiment.
- Unmatched Flavor: Fresh ingredients simply taste better. The crispness of fresh parsley, the tang of real lemon juice, and the nuanced flavor of grated onion create a symphony of tastes that jarred versions can’t replicate.
- Healthier Choice: Say goodbye to high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, and unnecessary preservatives. Our recipe is clean, simple, and transparent, giving you peace of mind about what you’re serving.
- Customization: Love a bit more tang? Add extra lemon. Prefer a milder pickle? Adjust accordingly. Homemade allows you to tailor the sauce to your exact preferences.
- Surprisingly Easy: Despite its gourmet taste, this tartar sauce comes together in minutes with minimal effort, proving that convenience doesn’t have to sacrifice quality.
- Impress Your Guests: Serving a homemade condiment instantly elevates any meal, showing thoughtfulness and culinary prowess without requiring hours in the kitchen.
The Simple, Flavorful Ingredients
The beauty of this best homemade tartar sauce recipe lies in its straightforward ingredients, each playing a crucial role in creating a perfectly balanced flavor profile.
- Mayonnaise: This forms the rich, creamy base of your tartar sauce. While a good quality store-bought mayonnaise works wonderfully, making your own mayonnaise from scratch will take this sauce to an entirely new level of decadence and freshness. The choice is yours, but for the ultimate experience, consider whipping up a batch of homemade mayo.
- Minced Dill Pickles: These provide the essential tangy, salty crunch that defines tartar sauce. We opt for dill pickles for their classic savory flavor, but as a handy tip, if you’re in a pinch or prefer a slightly sweeter note, bread-and-butter pickles can be a delightful substitute. Ensure they are finely minced to blend seamlessly into the sauce.
- Capers: These tiny, briny flower buds are a secret weapon for adding a burst of salty, pungent flavor. Rinsing and finely chopping them helps distribute their intense taste evenly without overwhelming the other components. If you’re not a fan, you can omit them, but they truly add a layer of sophistication.
- Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley Leaves: A vibrant herb that introduces a fresh, green, and slightly peppery note, brightening the entire sauce. Finely mincing the parsley ensures its flavor is present in every bite without being overly herbaceous. Its visual appeal also adds to the sauce’s freshness.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: The indispensable acidic component that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise and fried foods. Lemon juice provides a crucial bright, zesty tang, balancing the flavors beautifully. Always start with the recommended amount and adjust to your taste for that perfect zing.
- Grated Onion: This is a clever touch that many commercial sauces miss, and it’s a favorite among our recipe testers. Grating the onion, rather than mincing it, allows its savory, aromatic essence to permeate the sauce subtly, without any harsh crunch or overpowering raw onion flavor. It truly enhances the depth of flavor, making people wonder what that delicious “something” is.
Homemade Tartar Sauce
By David Leite
Saved
Condiments
American
10
Makes about 1 1/3 cups
154
kcal
10 minutes
10 minutes
Ingredients
-
1
cup
mayonnaise
-
2
tablespoons
minced dill pickles,
(in a pinch, you can swap in bread-and-butter pickles) -
2
tablespoons
capers,
rinsed and chopped (optional) -
1
tablespoon
minced flat-leaf parsley leaves -
1
tablespoon
fresh lemon juice,
or more to taste -
1
teaspoon
grated onion*
Instructions
-
In a small mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, finely minced pickles, rinsed and chopped capers (if using), minced fresh parsley, fresh lemon juice, and grated onion. Stir all the ingredients together thoroughly until well combined.
-
Cover the bowl and refrigerate the tartar sauce until thoroughly chilled, for at least one hour. For the absolute best flavor, allow it to chill overnight. This crucial step allows the various flavors to meld and deepen, creating a more harmonious and delicious sauce.
-
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more lemon juice for extra tang, a pinch of salt if desired, or a grind of fresh black pepper. Serve chilled with your favorite seafood dishes.
Notes
*How To Grate an Onion for Perfectly Integrated Flavor
Grated onion is an ingenious way to infuse homemade sauces, dressings, and dips with incredible flavor without any textural disruption or raw onion bite. It’s often the secret ingredient that makes people wonder why your sauce tastes so good! To grate an onion, simply peel off its dry outer skin. Trim away the stem end, but critically, leave the root end intact. Holding the root end, press the cut stem end of the onion against the fine side of a box grater or a cheese grater and grate it over a bowl. The root end acts as a natural handle, making it safer and easier to grate. You may need to use your fingertips to scoop any accumulated pulp from the inside of the grater. Grated onion pulp can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, though its pungent flavor will gradually diminish over time.
Adapted From
The Kitchen Pantry Cookbook
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Nutrition
Calories: 154 kcal
Carbohydrates: 0.4 g
Protein: 0.3 g
Fat: 17 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g
Trans Fat: 0.04 g
Cholesterol: 9 mg
Sodium: 211 mg
Fiber: 0.1 g
Sugar: 0.2 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation only.
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Tips for the Best Homemade Tartar Sauce
- Chill Time is Crucial: While the sauce is delicious immediately, the flavors truly “marry” and deepen after chilling. Aim for at least an hour, but overnight refrigeration yields the best results, as noted by several recipe testers.
- Finely Mince Ingredients: For a smooth and cohesive sauce, ensure your pickles and capers are very finely minced. This prevents chunky textures and allows their flavors to distribute evenly.
- Adjust to Your Taste: Lemon juice, salt, and pepper are all adjustable. Taste the sauce after chilling and add more lemon for extra zing, or a pinch of salt or fresh black pepper if needed.
- Homemade Mayonnaise Advantage: For an unparalleled homemade tartar sauce, consider starting with homemade mayonnaise. It offers a richness and fresh flavor that store-bought versions simply can’t match.
- Explore Variations: While this recipe is perfect as written, feel free to experiment. You could try different herbs like dill or tarragon, or add a dash of hot sauce for a spicy kick.
Creative Serving Suggestions
While tartar sauce is the classic accompaniment to fish and chips, its versatility extends far beyond. Here are some delectable ways to enjoy your fresh homemade tartar sauce:
- Classic Fish Pairings: Beyond fish ‘n’ chips, it’s perfect with baked fish with lemon breadcrumbs, crispy fish sticks, or delicate fish baked in parchment. It also complements pan-fried cod, grilled salmon, or lightly battered haddock beautifully.
- Other Seafood Delights: Don’t limit yourself to fish! This sauce is fantastic with fried shrimp, crab cakes, scallop fritters, or even as a dip for steamed crab legs and oysters.
- Beyond Seafood: Get creative! Use it as a zesty spread for chicken sandwiches or turkey burgers. It makes an excellent dip for french fries, onion rings, or roasted potatoes. Try it with chicken tenders, or even as a flavorful dressing for a simple green salad topped with grilled chicken.
- Vegetable Enhancement: Roasted or grilled vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or zucchini get a delicious upgrade with a dollop of this tangy sauce.
Storage Information
This fresh tartar sauce can be stored, covered tightly, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Its flavors will continue to develop and deepen, often tasting even better on the second day!
Recipe Testers’ Reviews: Unanimous Praise for This Homemade Tartar Sauce
Our team of dedicated recipe testers put this homemade tartar sauce through its paces, and the verdict is in: it’s a resounding success! Their feedback highlights the sauce’s superior flavor, ease of preparation, and the subtle brilliance of certain key ingredients.
Sita Krishnaswamy
“Oh my, this homemade tartar sauce recipe has to be one of the most flavorful, fresh-tasting sauces I’ve ever come across. The recipe is perfect in that I didn’t have to adjust any seasonings. The salt, tang, and sweetness were equally balanced, and it’s a cinch to make. The dill pickles I used were homemade from this past summer and I made my own mayonnaise from the recipe on this site. I refrigerated the sauce for about an hour before serving it with the Pan-Fried Fish With Cauliflower.”
Helen Doberstein
“Why buy tartar sauce when it can so easily be made from pantry ingredients? The homemade tartar sauce recipe is easy to pull together and quick to make. With just a few minutes grating and chopping, there you are, done. I liked the idea of grating the onion in and it was undetectable in the finished sauce. I was a little pressed for time, so I used a good store-bought mayonnaise this time. I would shy away from the mayonnaise-type dressings for this as I think the taste might not be as good. I will say that this sauce does get better with age. It was tasty after half an hour, but it was so much better the next day. The only thing preventing this from being a perfect 10 in my book is I wanted a little more lemon zing in the final taste. I’ll certainly make this again and again, but next time I’ll grate a little lemon zest into the sauce to give it a little more zing, and maybe make my own mayonnaise.”
Kate S.
“I haven’t purchased tartar sauce from the store in a long, long time, so I can’t say how this compares to the jarred stuff, but I can say that it’s far superior to anything I’ve ever been served in a restaurant. Whenever I used to make tartar sauce at home, I used to just throw this and that into some Hellmann’s mayo. It was always fine, but I’ll never stray from this recipe. It’s not sweet, which is what most people expect from a tartar sauce; instead, prepare yourself for the delightful combination of salty capers, sour pickles, and grassy parsley. I did stick to Hellmann’s as the base, although maybe I’ll try homemade mayo next time. The lemon juice and grated onion balanced everything perfectly, although I don’t think you could pick out the flavors if you didn’t know about them ahead of time. I’d definitely suggest making this at least 4 to 5 hours ahead of time to let the flavors marry—a perfect make-ahead item! I must insist that you really finely mince the capers and pickles so the resulting sauce is still smooth and not crunchy. After tasting the recipe as is, I mixed in some fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper and achieved what I deemed to be the perfect tartar sauce.”
Sue Epstein
“Wow! I’ve always purchased store-bought tartar sauce, but never again. I’ve already made this recipe three times. It’s simple, straightforward, and delicious. I’ve made this recipe with the mayonnaise recipe on the site (my go-to recipe) and with store-bought mayo. Both were delicious. One night I served grilled salmon for dinner just to have an excuse to eat this sauce!”
Larry Noak
“This is a very simple solution for all your tartar sauce needs. The addition of capers is absolutely FABULOUS. It takes only a couple of minutes to put this together. Honestly, the possibilities are endless in terms of what you can dice and add to your mayo but this recipe is perfect as written.”
Robert McCune
“This is my new standard for tartar sauce. For some reason, tartar sauce always ends up being a last-minute, thrown-together thing at our house. We go through the entire process of preparing the fish and cooking it, and then suddenly we realize that we don’t have any tartar sauce. I refuse to use the commercial stuff and I like for the sauce to be as fresh as possible, hence, the last-minute scramble. I usually throw the sauce together without really measuring, and it is very much “to taste.” But this recipe caught my eye because of the specific ingredients and amounts—no more guessing and tasting along the way. The ingredients are pretty much what I’ve used in the past, except for the fresh parsley, which adds a very nice touch. However, the standout in this recipe is the grated onion. I was afraid that grating it may enhance the flavor too much and make it overpowering, but I think that 1 teaspoon is just the right amount. It brings up the flavor of the tartar sauce without dominating it. I used store-bought mayonnaise, but will try it later with homemade, or may even try using milk mayonnaise. The amounts of pickle, capers, and lemon juice are just right. No more last-minute guessing!”
Erin W.
“This is a super easy variation on a standard. It took me just 3 minutes to whip this up and it’s so much better than what you can buy in the grocery store. If you have a few extra minutes, I recommend making this with homemade mayo. I served this with the Fancy Fish Sticks, which were crispy and tasty! [Editor’s Note: You’ll find the link to the fish sticks recipe she mentions in the note above the recipe.]”
Linda Pacchiano
“I served this tartar sauce with pan-seared, wild-caught cod and all my tasters liked it very much. The sauce had a nice, fresh taste, which I think was a result of the fresh parsley. I’ve never included parsley in my homemade tartar sauce, but I thought it was a great addition and will definitely be doing so again in the future. I used sweet onions, and while the presence of the onions was not all that apparent, they gave the tartar sauce an extra note of complexity and a bit of sweetness, but not the sugary, corn syrupy flavor of commercially prepared tartar sauces. I used store-bought mayonnaise just to be on the safe side. (If I’d had pasteurized eggs in my pantry, I probably would have made my own mayo.)”
Gail Rueckl
“I whipped up a batch of this tasty tartar sauce in less than 15 minutes. It had very good flavor with the dill pickles instead of sweet pickle relish—it was a really nice, fresh, and balanced savory flavor that complemented lightly battered baked haddock. I used a microplane to grate the onion. The little bit of tartar sauce that was left over went wonderfully on a seafood sandwich the next day. I have this one memorized and ready to use as a staple!”
Ralph Knauth
“I especially like the addition of the grated onion in this tartar sauce. It really makes a difference. I use grated onion in my latkes, but never thought of adding it to tartar sauce. It’s a great idea.”
Melissa Maedgen
“The author of this recipe makes two really good points with which I agree wholeheartedly. The first is that commercial tartar sauce is sweetened to the point of being unpalatable, not to mention being polluted with unwanted thickeners and other junk. The second is the power of grated onion, which is absolutely THE way to incorporate onion (or, for that matter, garlic, ginger, horseradish, etc.) into a dip. The flavor will be stronger grated than minced, so a little dab’ll do ya, as they say.
Consider this recipe a launchpad. It’s a solid template for a tartar sauce, but you can customize it as you see fit. Use tarragon instead of parsley. If you want it sweeter, use a sweeter pickle, like a bread and butter, or cheat and use sweet or dill relish. Want it a bit spicy? Dice up a pickled jalapeño. Make your own mayo to ensure it’s over-the-top delicious, although the sauce is still head and shoulders above a bottled tartar sauce if you use a good-quality store-bought mayo (I’m in the Duke’s camp myself).
Serve this with any fish, but especially fried catfish or flounder. Also, a good tartar sauce is a fantastic dip for french fries— my guilty pleasure.”