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    🏠Home » Recipes » Sauces, Rubs, and Seasonings Recipes

    Quick and Easy Tartar Sauce

    May 11, 2013 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · Last modified: Aug 4, 2023 · Leave a Comment

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    3.83 from 45 votes

    Quick and Easy Tartar Sauce uses only four ingredients you already have in your kitchen. A small homemade version that is better than the store-bought version.

    tarter sauce on blackened tilapia
    Jump To:
    • 📋Ingredients
    • 👨‍🍳How to make homemade tartar sauce
    • ✔️Tips
    • Variations
    • ❓FAQs
    • Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖 Recipe
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    This simple sauce is great with baked or fried fish, oysters, fish sticks, and salmon or crab cakes. This smaller recipe is easy to double or triple for your needs.

    Very nice for what it is. Much better than the store-bought variety, and you can whip this up in a few minutes with pantry staples. Add some creamy, tangy flavor to your fish tonight.

    I broke this out of my Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia post so I could refer to it better from other recipes. And don't miss these other recipes you will love, like Grilled Blackened Tilapia, Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia, Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, and Lemon Butter Salmon.

    📋Ingredients

    • Mayonnaise
    • Lemon juice
    • Sweet pickle relish
    • Onion powder
    • Optional—capers, dill, mustard

    👨‍🍳How to make homemade tartar sauce

    1. Combine mayo, lemon juice, dill or sweet pickle relish, and onion powder. Mix well.
    2. Better if cooled for 20-30 minutes before serving for the best flavor.
    3. Refrigerate until needed.

    ✔️Tips

    • Use full-fat or lower-fat mayonnaise, but please avoid the fat-free.
    • Avoid Miracle Whip™ or flavored mayonnaise since they will add other tastes unless that is what you want.
    • The onion powder and lemon juice may switch those out for fresh, but you will be tossing leftover lemon or onion.
    • Use either dill or sweet pickle relish—your choice.

    Variations

    The other commonly added flavors are capers, dill, and mustard.

    Capers

    This recipe is without capers, which I never have when I want them. Most current recipes do not include capers, but they are traditionally used.

    To make tartar sauce with capers in my small recipe, drain and finely chop 1 teaspoon of capers. Increase proportionately for larger amounts.

    One final note on capers, general they are combined with a dill flavor.

    Dill

    They are several ways to make this a dill tartar sauce. First, skip the sweet pickle relish, then try one of these options.

    -Dill relish: 1 teaspoon (the suggested method)
    or
    -Dill Weed: 1 tablespoon fresh dill chopped or 1 teaspoon dried dill
    or
    -Dill Pickle: 1 tablespoon chopped

    Mustard

    Use ⅓ teaspoon of dijon or yellow mustard if you wish.

    ❓FAQs

    What is tartar sauce?

    Tartar sauce is a creamy condiment dipping sauce with a mayonnaise base, usually served with fish or other seafood dishes. It's creamy with rich and tangy flavors that you can vary.

    How to store leftover tartar sauce.

    The leftover tartar sauce should be sealed in an airtight container for a week. Do not freeze.

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    ↑Jump to Table of Contents

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Fish Recipes, Sauces, Rubs, and Seasonings Recipes
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    Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    mayo with lemon juice and rellish

    Stir in a small bowl ⅓ cup mayo, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder.

    mixing tarter sauce in white bowl

    Better if cooled for 20-30 minutes before serving for the best flavor.

    ↑Jump to Table of Contents

    📖 Recipe

    tarter sauce on blackened tilapia

    Quick and Easy Tartar Sauce

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Quick and Easy Tartar Sauce uses only four ingredients you already have in your kitchen. A small homemade version that is better than the store-bought version.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    3.83 from 45 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 4 servings

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
    • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
    • 1 teaspoon dill or sweet pickle relish
    • ¼ teaspoon onion powder

    Options

    • 1 teaspoon Capers - drained and finely chopped
    • Dill
    • 1 teaspoon yellow or dijon mustard
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Stir in a small bowl ⅓ cup mayo, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder.
      mayo with lemon juice and rellish
    • Better if cooled for 20-30 minutes before serving for the best flavor.
      mixing tarter sauce in white bowl
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips:

    1. This is a very small recipe making only 6 tablespoons, which I’m calling 4 servings. Most recipes will make three times that amount. So adjust to the amount you need.
    2. The quality of the ingredients is essential.
    3. If you add the optional capers, use a dill option and skip the sweet pickle relish.
    4. Dill options: Switch out the sweet relish for: 1 teaspoon of dill relish. Or add 1 teaspoon of dry dill weed or 1 tablespoon of fresh dill. Or add 1 tablespoon of chopped dill pickle.
    5. It should be sealed well without air. Good refrigerated for 1 week. Do not freeze.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Calories : 78 kcal (4%)Carbohydrates : 6 g (2%)Protein : 0.2 gFat : 7 g (11%)Saturated Fat : 1 g (5%)Polyunsaturated Fat : 4 gMonounsaturated Fat : 2 gCholesterol : 5 mg (2%)Sodium : 152 mg (6%)Potassium : 3 mgFiber : 0.01 gSugar : 2 g (2%)Vitamin A : 50 IU (1%)Vitamin C : 0.1 mgCalcium : 1 mg
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Rubs and Sauces
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published May 11, 2013. Updated with expanded discussion with options and re-edited photos. Table of contents added for navigation.

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