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    Home / Recipes / Ingredient / Sauce

    198 May 4, 2011 Photo  |   Jump to Recipe

    The BEST Tartar Sauce Recipe

    This recipe for the BEST Tartar Sauce is a family classic made with simple ingredients. Enjoy it with fish sticks (or any fried fish) and plenty of french fries for dipping. Grab the recipe below! But first, a little backstory…

    This post may contain affiliate links.

    The BEST Tartar Sauce

    I hate tartar sauce.  A phrase I often found myself saying after tasting a dab of the unappealing, white goop that usually accompanies seafood entrees at restaurants.  With each order of fish ‘n’ chips, I always taste the tartar sauce thinking that perhaps one time it will actually taste good.  Somehow I am always disappointed. 

    So you can imagine the look on my face when my friend asked me to recreate his mother’s version of tartar sauce.  If you are having trouble imaging this look, let me describe:  mouth agape, eyebrows furrowed, face scrunched and upper lip slightly snarled.  Despite my obvious disapproval, he turned to me and said, “Trust me, you’ll love this.”  He was right. 

    Creamy mayo is blended with tangy dill pickles, salty capers, fresh parsley, minced garlic, bright lemon juice, salt and pepper.  The finished sauce packs a savory punch that works so well with seafood (especially crispy fried fish fillets).  You could even eat it with just a spoon!  Continue reading for the recipe.

    Chopped Capers

    Many tartar sauce recipes call for pickle relish (sometimes even sweet pickle relish – yuck!), but here I prefer using chopped dill pickles. This gives the sauce some nice tanginess and texture.

    Chopped Dill Pickles

    One thing that I really love about this recipe is that it’s prepared using ingredients that you usually might have in your pantry or fridge. I usually just have to pick up some fresh parsley and a lemon at the market, and I can whip this up in a matter of moments. And it’s so much tastier than store bought tartar sauce.

    The BEST Tartar Sauce

    The BEST Tartar Sauce

    by Brandon Matzek
    Recipe courtesy of Ruth Marrs.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Servings 11 ounces

    Ingredients
      

    • 4 small dill pickles, finely chopped
    • 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
    • 1 tablespoon capers, drained and finely chopped
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 1 cup mayonnaise
    • Kosher salt
    • Freshly ground black pepper

    Instructions
     

    • Combine dill pickles, parsley, capers, garlic, lemon juice and mayo in a small bowl. Mix until well combined. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
    • Chill for 1 hour before serving.
    Tried this recipe?Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can check it out!
    Making tartar sauce

    If you’d like to learn how to make some delicious fried fish that would go perfectly with this sauce, check out my recipe for Crispy Fish Tacos. Instead of the tortillas and toppings, pair this crispy fish with fresh batch of french fries.

    Crispy Fish Tacos

    198
    Brandon and Federico
    Brandon

    I’m Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Did you make a recipe? Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can see the how it went!

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    Categories: Photo Tags: black pepper, capers, dill, garlic, kosher salt, lemon, mayonnaise, parsley, pickles

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Averie says

      May 5, 2011 at 12:50 am

      great recipe but LOVE the pic with the pickles on wood and the knife. GREAT SHOT!

      Reply
      • Anonymous says

        May 5, 2011 at 11:28 pm

        Thanks Averie!

        Reply
    2. Complete kitchen says

      May 5, 2011 at 11:32 am

      The Tartar Sauce is really very healthy sauce for health. It is my favorite sauce. It looking awesome. It is really very great recipe. Thanks for sharing such a best sauce recipe.

      Reply
    3. foodies at home says

      May 6, 2011 at 2:01 am

      I seriously wish I had some fish to fry after reading this! I don’t usually like tartar sauce either but I bet this is so flavorful with all the fresh dill and pickles!

      Reply
    4. Tes says

      May 18, 2011 at 2:07 pm

       It sounds like a great tartar sauce ever! I want some fried fish now 🙂
      Tes
      http://tesathome.com

      Reply
    5. Authenticsuburbangourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 3:54 am

      Great combination of flavors and certainly several notches above the average tarter sauce.  Great photos!!! 

      Reply
      • Anonymous says

        May 23, 2011 at 1:18 am

        Thank you!

        Reply
    6. Veronica Gantley says

      May 21, 2011 at 2:05 am

      Brandon, you out did yourself this time. I ususally add some grainy mustard to my tarter sauce. I think I like yours better. As always, another great recipe. 

      Reply
      • Anonymous says

        May 23, 2011 at 1:17 am

        Thanks Veronica.  Mustard would be a nice addition.  However, this sauce is already packed with bold flavor.

        Reply
    7. [email protected] says

      May 25, 2011 at 10:06 pm

      I’ve never added capers to mine and now I can’t think why not! what a perfect addition. 

      Reply
      • Brandon @ Kitchen Konfidence says

        May 28, 2011 at 6:58 pm

        They do add a nice briny flavor.

        Reply
    8. Kateiscooking says

      June 15, 2011 at 5:19 pm

      That’s so close to the tartar sauce I make.  Love it!!!

      Reply
    9. poie wane says

      July 23, 2011 at 9:04 am

      Here this recipe i looking great and i always taste the tartar sauce thinking that perhaps one time it will actually taste good.  I wan to make it tonight.
      Physiotherapy in Knutsford

      Reply
    10. Mary Beth says

      July 9, 2012 at 9:16 am

      That is very close to the tartar sauce I make. I’ve never used the garlic, but I do use paprika. I will try yours without the paprika, and see if I like that too. Sometimes variety is great. Thanks for the great recipe.

      Reply
    11. Leah says

      January 24, 2013 at 1:01 pm

      Love this recipe! It was a little to tart for my hubby though(he prefers the sweet one, yuck!)…lol
      I added some sour cream and dill to it as well!

      Reply
    12. Susan Wright says

      March 10, 2013 at 6:57 am

      Thank you! I love anyone who takes the time to prepare worthy sauces! An addition of creme fraiche at our house made this the perfect tartar sauce for us. Well done!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        March 13, 2013 at 4:31 pm

        Thanks Susan. The Creme Fraiche addition sounds divine! I’ll have to give that a try.

        Reply
    13. Matt says

      April 6, 2013 at 12:19 am

      Add about half a teaspoon of wasabi and it is spot on for my recipe.

      Reply
      • VegasDude says

        July 20, 2018 at 5:09 pm

        Or regular Horseradish since most ALL of the Wasabi in US restaurants and stores isn’t from the grated root of the Wasabia Japonica plant… It’s basically just regular horseradish … Dyed Green.. :0)

        Reply
    14. Laurel Daunis-Allen says

      July 5, 2013 at 1:10 pm

      Brandon,
      I too hate Tartar sauce. It always tastes like it’s ruining the flavor of the food, instead of enhancing it. I tried your recipe with some crab cakes I made and I have to say it is fantastic! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        July 23, 2013 at 10:25 am

        Thanks Laurel! So glad the recipe worked out for you.

        Reply
    15. Mark says

      September 28, 2013 at 6:07 pm

      Just a perfect complement for quality fish, all the participants at the dinner party agreed.

      Thank you.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        September 30, 2013 at 2:31 pm

        So glad the recipe worked out for you!!

        Reply
    16. Emily says

      March 29, 2014 at 10:06 am

      In the middle of frying catfish at 11PM in a small town is a bad time to find out youve run out of tartar sauce. We live an hour from the closest 24 hour grocery so I attempted to make my own. I must say I dont believe I will ever go back to eating the store bought junk again! It took some getting used to, and we all kept wondering what it was missing and we realized the sodium level in yours was much lower than store bought. I now prefer it with less salt and think for the benefit of everyone in the house we will stick with this recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    17. John says

      April 29, 2015 at 10:00 am

      I wonder how finely grated radishes would fit in?

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        May 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm

        Interesting! I’m not sure. I would make the sauce as is, and then dip a slice of radish in to see how the flavors work together.

        Reply
    18. Heather says

      February 21, 2016 at 11:28 am

      Wow. Yes, you’re right. This tartar sauce is so good you can eat it with a spoon. I just had about five bites (hey, I was testing for salt levels, OK?). I halved the capers because I was using nonpareils, which I figured probably measure differently since more can fit in the tablespoon. Probably could have gone a little over half, but it was fine. Also realized after I started getting stuff out I was out of fresh parsley. Added a teaspoon of dry, which seems to be plenty.

      I do have to highly recommend that people try this with Duke’s mayo. We got it on sale a few weeks ago after seeing the commercials on TV and I’ll never go back. (That mayo is enough reason itself to eat this with a spoon!)

      Usually, I use mustard in mine, but the capers really make that unnecessary. Next time, I’ll try pulling out some of the pickle and adding a little jalapeño for a spicy version.

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        February 22, 2016 at 12:27 pm

        Ah ha! I’ll have to try Duke’s next time. Thanks for sharing, and YES, I can eat this with a spoon too 🙂

        Reply
    19. Prudence says

      March 17, 2018 at 10:51 am

      I forgot to get tartar sauce for tonight’s fish dinner. I’m so glad I did and glad I decided to make my own with this recipe. I thought it would be meh, that it would be like store bought…it’s not! This sauce is wonderful! It’s bright and delicious. I might make it on a regular basis for sandwiches. Really glad I found it.

      Reply
    20. VegasDude says

      July 20, 2018 at 5:15 pm

      I’ve been using this recipe for the last few years.. It IS the best I’ve ever found….
      I broke out the deep fryer to make Onion Rings.. So I made a batch.. Love Tartar sauce with onion rings…

      And Heather is right.. Dukes Mayo is THEE BEST MAYO.. EVER !!!.. I Order 4/32 oz jars at a time off Amazon or ebay…. I tried ALL the southern Mayo’s one year… Blue Plate is a close 2nd… and thanks to Heather for the reminder.. I NEED to order another 4-pack of DUKES !!!

      Reply
      • Brandon Matzek says

        August 18, 2018 at 9:30 am

        YAS! So glad you love this recipe. Good tip on getting Dukes from Amazon – I’ll order some now. Thanks for sharing!!

        Reply
    21. Laura says

      June 2, 2020 at 11:29 am

      Very nice! I didn’t have capers 😢 but I added horseradish! Thank you!

      Reply
    22. Denise says

      September 7, 2021 at 12:48 pm

      Nothing ruins seafood like sweet, store bought tarter sauce. I love using lots of onion or capers!!!

      Reply

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    Brandon and Federico

    I'm Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Read More…


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