Try this homemade tartar sauce, and you’ll never want store-bought again. This has amazing flavor and texture with every bite. It’s perfect as a dip for fish sticks, crab cakes, or a spread for seafood sandwiches.
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Homemade Tartar Sauce
I was frustrated with store-bought tartar sauce; one disappointing can after another. Solution: homemade tarter sauce. Making your own is really easy. It’s fresh and amazing for these salmon cakes fish sticks or breaded fish fillets.
My Aunt Anna taught me how to make this Tartar Sauce recipe – she learned it in culinary school, and this is the recipe they made in their restaurant. I’ve probably made this a hundred times, and my fishstick-loving teenage son makes it regularly. It’s our go-to because it’s so easy to make, has simple ingredients and keeps really well in the fridge.
See those fish sticks in the photo – yeah, those are from Costco. Maybe one day, I’ll make my own fish sticks, but for now, these are really good (the Trident brand). Sometimes, I find that I eat more tartar sauce than fish sticks (sounds gross, but this sauce is THAT GOOD!). This recipe stays fresh in the fridge for a few days.
Tartar Sauce Video
Watch my easy video tutorial, and you’ll have this recipe memorized in no time!
Ingredients for Tartar Sauce
- Real Mayonnaise – you can use your favorite storebought mayo or homemade mayonnaise
- Dill pickles – I prefer baby dills for extra crunch since they have more surface area.
- Dill (or) Parsley – you can use fresh or frozen – it adds freshness.
- 1 tsp lemon juice – freshly squeezed is best
- 1 tsp sugar – this balances the sauce, but you can add it to taste
- Pepper – freshly cracked smells and tastes the freshest
- Onion – it’s 2 Tbsp of chopped onion, and it’s optional (I usually skip it when I’m feeling lazy to chop an onion).
How to Make Tartar Sauce
This is really complicated, so pay attention. Are you ready?…
1. Combine everything in a mixing bowl and give it a good stir. Done!
Serve Tartar Sauce With
There are so many great uses for Tartar Sauce, from a dipping sauce to sandwiches. Outside of fish sticks, we love it with:
- Crab Cakes
- Shrimp Cakes
- Fish Tacos
- Salmon Patties
- Onion Rings
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Grilled Salmon Sandwich
Storing Tartar Sauce
Homemade Tartar Sauce keeps really well in the refrigerator. Transfer to an airtight container or jar and refrigerate. It is best enjoyed within 1 week but can last up to 2 weeks.
Tartar Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise*
- 1 cup dill pickles, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp dill, fresh or frozen, OR 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped, optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add more lemon juice or pickles if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
I like to add cilantro in mine. A friend made this for me once and since then I have been hooked!
Mine needed a touch of salt, even though there was plenty in home made pickles I chopped for the recipe. Other than that, it was pretty good!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
5 stars just for the instructions… made me laugh! Getting real tho – I scaled the recipe to yield 1/4 cup because it’s just me and I’m a vegetarian so I’m going to eat fake fish. At first this was so abrasive! Like fear for your veneers abrasive! BUT. Make it a bit ahead (I only did 12 minutes) and there’s magic happening. Rivals any commercially available. Except for the scaling, I didn’t change anything and it’s good. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, thanks for sharing your experience trying out this recipe and good to know that you enjoyed it!
Love This! 😋😋Frozen Dill? Where can you find frozen herbs? I Never seem to have fresh on hand…Help?!
Hi Kari! Some grocery stores carry them in the frozen section but you can also buy fresh herbs, wash them, pat them dry and freeze them yourself as well. I hope that helps.
If you grow your own dill (which we do) it is cut, washed, separated into as many individual use sections, wrapped up in waxed paper like a cigar. Then all are put into a large freezer bags and frozen. Take out when needed.
This is the best tartar sauce we have ever had. The entire family loves it!!!
Hi Bonnielyn! Thank you for the feedback. I’m so glad your family loved it!
I have tried a few of your recipes and really like them. Eggs rolls is one of my favorites. I just made the relish for fish and I really like it. Thankyou.
That’s great! Thank you for trying my recipes.
Your recipe is so clear I could make this with 9 year old daughter who loves them. Pickles in tarter sauce were a big hit.
That’s wonderful to hear, Madeleine! I appreciate the feedback.
Make this tartar sauce and you will never buy store bought again! Easy, tastes great and wonderful with fish. I added a wee bit of horseradish instead of the onions. Will definitely make this again.
That’s great to hear, Janet! I’m so glad you love the recipe. Thank you for the feedback.
Love this tarter sauce, it’s easy to make and taste GREAT!!! I make my own tarter sauce now that i’ve found your recipe. I am a big vinegar fan ,so I do add some to the mix.
I’m so happy you loved it, Ed! We never buy it anymore!
Perfect Tartar sauce, few tweaks, omitted sugar, added splash of pickle juice. Delicious! Thanks 😊
Sounds great, Amadea!Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I halved all the ingredients & subbed dill relish for the dill pickles which probably made it thinner. Next time I’ll cut the relish down a bit more. Overall it was very tasty and my hubby loved it… TY appreciatively for the recipe.
You’re very welcome, Frances!
When I read the ingredients in premade tartar I decided to make this recipe and it was delicious. Can we freeze the leftover sauce?
Hi Krista! The tartar sauce keeps covered and refrigerated for 5 to 7 days but I have not tested freezing.
Once again you knocked it out of the park! Every recipe of yours we had tried has been fantastic.
So glad you loved it, Bob! Thank you for the feedback.
My kind of girl and recipe….omit raw onions!!! Great taste…thank you!
I just made this for dinner. I love it! My husband didn’t really care for it, but what does he know. LOL
Hi Pamela! Well, I’m glad you loved it. 🙂
Natasha
love all of your cooking
l have love this dish
Ps! waiting for your cook book in October
Thank you, Bruce! 🙂
Natasha, I follow you every day and Ir have made so many of your recipes. Now I have a problem, where can I find a large recipe for Tartar Sauce for our church fish try. I mean really large, like to start with for a 100 servings. Our little packets of Tartar sauce Friday night were awful.
Love your family.
Hi Carol Ann, you can go to the recipe card and click servings to adjust the serving size but the maximum is 20 servings so I would multiply it if you need more.
Did not know you can change serving size by changing the number. Thank you. I usually do that in my head, but this is much easier. Thank you.
I’m so glad that’s helpful, Randy!
My only suggestion is squeezing most of the juice out of the pickles. The sauce was more runny than I’d like.
Thanks for your suggestion, Greg!
Agree! Hoping putting in the fridge is going to help make it less runny for tonight’s dinner. Otherwise tastes good
I use relish in my potato/macaroni salads. I dump a whole jar of the relish in my mid size strainer and let it drain for quite a long time over a bowl or cup. My salads don’t get to “drippy” that way. Good luck.
This is delicious! I halved the recipe and we put them on fish sandwiches. SO good! Way better than store-bought.
Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you loved it!
How long will this Tartar sauce keep in the fridge? My husband is the only one that likes Tartar sauce so takes him months to go thru a 12 oz. bottle.
The tartar sauce keeps covered and refrigerated for 5 to 7 days.