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
So good. I am never buying tartar sauce again. Even my husband liked it and he never does. Thank you
So great to hear that, Linda. Thank you so much for your good feedback!
In my humble opinion, in needs a heaping tablespoon of sour cream to finish. I used parsley as opposed to the dill as that is what I had. Great recipe though!
That sounds great and I will have to try it. Thank you!
You left out the one ingredient that turns mayo into tartar sauce.
Tsk!
Hi Grace, I hope you give our tartar sauce a try before making your decision. It is excellent.
Just like mine except I add fresh garlic as well…. sooo yummy!!
Yum! Great idea! Thank you for sharing that Andrea!
You hare HILARIOUS ! Love it
Outstanding, what a treat! Made with my teenager and we used Vegenaise for mayo (which is great egg-free alternative), homemade dill pickles, and chopped up dill from our pickles because we didn’t have fresh. Ea-sy!! Compelled me to review. Thank you, Natasha!
You’re welcome! I’m happy
you enjoyed that!
This tartar sauce is amazing. I don’t care much for tartar sauce but everytime I cook fish I have to make this. Delicious
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for your wonderful feedback, Cassie.
I had to do a little improvising because I only had few ingredients on hand. What I came up with was; only about a Tbsp of mayo (and then since I ran out I used plain greek yogurt for the mayo part instead), pickle, fresh dill (which I think is totally the key to the tartar sauce), a few cracks of black pepper, and that’s it! I didn’t have parsley, lemon, sugar, or onion. But it still tasted great, and especially with your salmon cakes recipe!! My boyfriend loved that meal. Next time I will have to try adding the rest of the ingredients when I have them. But it’s nice to know it still tastes good with fewer calories, so you can’t go wrong there ;). Thanks Natasha!!
Sounds great! I’m so glad your were able to make it work. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Finally a tartar sauce that taste amazing!!!! No more trying store-bought brands and no more making other recipes. This is a winner! My family and I love it. The only ingredient I omit is the sugar. To me it doesn’t need it. The tangy-ness is perfect without it. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I love to watch your recipes.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
i like to add a little horseradish
How long can u keep tartar sauce in the fridge?
Hi Janie, The tartar sauce keeps covered and refrigerated for 5 to 7 days.
I tried it with just parsley because I didn’t have fresh dill and then opted to add a dash of dried–definitely needs the dill. Awesome sauce
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Luci!
The BEST tartar sauce I have ever tasted!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Lynn! Sounds like you found a new favorite!
The sauce came out great. I thought the quantity was too much for my family as I wanted to whip up some tarter sauce to go with the kids fish sticks. Next time I will make half the quantity needed for the recipe so the rest won’t go to waste.
Thank you for sharing that with us! The tartar sauce keeps covered and refrigerated for 5 to 7 days.
Thanks ! Just made it tonight and it was delicious, will make more fish just to have the tartar sauce again.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me Betsy!
Loved it! Didn’t have fresh dill but used some dried and added a 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish.
Nice to know that Lena. Thank you so much!
would love to have your batter recipe for the cod. Looks amazing
& if you make your own mayonnaise it’s even better & you know what’s in it (added preservatives, &c.).
Into your blender put: one egg, approx. 3 T vinegar OR lemon juice OR [I often use] orange juice, ¼ – ½ t sugar, ¼ – ½ t salt, one pitted green olive [if you want that “olive oil effect], aprox 2 t mustard [Dijon, or anything, really]; then, start with ¼ c sunflower oil, start whizzing, & drizzle in more oil….until it thickens and stops integrating the oil instantly.
That’s it.
Costs almost nothing.
Thanks for sharing that with us!
Love this recipe and thoroughly enjoy all your recipe videos. I used pickle relish instead of chopping up the pickles and it was darn tasty.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Can I use dried dill for this instead? It’s hard to get fresh herbs where I am. Thanks!
That should work too, Claire.
Hi Claire, we prefer fresh but that should work.
Gotcha. Thank you!!
dont forget dried should be much less than fresh.
Did not have dill pickles, decided to use what I had – pickled onions! It was great. I still used the dill and I added a small amount of horseradish as someone else recommended. It was great!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! It has been so long since I have had a delicious tartar sauce like this one!
I did do a couple of variations based on what I had available. I used dried parsley and honey to taste. I also didn’t chop the pickles, but instead coarsely shredded them and discarded the pickle juice that they released.
Thank you again for posting such awesome recipes! Keep it up!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!