This easy homemade Tartar Sauce, made with creamy mayonnaise, pickle relish, briny capers, and fresh dill, brings the perfect blend of savory, sweet, and tangy flavors to every bite. Serve it with seafood favorites like fried fish, crab cakes, and shrimp for a restaurant-quality meal at home.
About This Recipe
With just 10 minutes of prep (plus some chilling time), you can whip up a classic homemade Tartar Sauce that tastes so much better than store-bought. This recipe is my go-to “all-purpose” Tartar Sauce–it uses 8 ingredients (you might already have them on hand!), and you can easily customize it to taste.
How to Make Homemade Tartar Sauce
Prep Your Add-Ins
Before you mix up your Tartar Sauce, you’ll need to prep a few ingredients.
- Chop: Fresh dill (use the feathery fronds instead of the more rigid stems) and drained brined capers.
- Grate: Use a coarse microplane or the large holes of a box grater to grate a peeled wedge of onion–this will allow it to blend into the sauce. I like the mild flavor of sweet onions (such as Vidalia); use yellow onion for a savory, sharper flavor.
- Drain: Some brands of pickle relish contain more liquid than others. When the relish is on the looser side, I drain it lightly (but not completely) to get great flavor without making the sauce runny.
- Measure: Mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Since the entire base of this sauce is mayonnaise, I recommend starting with a high-quality mayo brand like Duke’s or Hellmann’s for the best flavor.
Sweet vs. Dill Relish: Which to Choose?
Using sweet pickle relish will give you a milder, sweeter Tartar Sauce, while dill relish adds a more tangy, savory flavor. My family’s favorite? A 50/50 blend of sweet and dill relishes for the perfect balance!
Mix and Season the Sauce
Place the mayo in a medium boil and add your relish, capers, grated onion, dill, and Dijon mustard. Stir everything together until the mixture is well combined.
To finish the sauce, season it to taste with freshly squeezed lemon juice, granulated sugar (optional), extra dill (if needed), and a few grinds of black pepper. The amount of dill, lemon juice, and sugar you need will depend on whether you’ve used sweet or dill relish and your flavor preferences.
Since capers and dill relish can be pretty salty, I rarely add extra salt to this Tartar Sauce. Brands can vary, so give it a taste and add a pinch of salt only if needed.
The best Tartar Sauce needs some time after mixing for the flavors to meld. Cover it and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably 2-4 hours (overnight is even better!) before serving. While this sauce is delicious after a short rest, it tastes even better with time.
This recipe stays fresh, covered, in the refrigerator for 5-7 days—though it rarely lasts that long in my kitchen! I keep it in a mason jar or swing-top glass storage jar.
Variations
- Instead of relish, you can use small-diced dill pickles, sweet bread and butter pickles, or a mixture of the two.
- Instead of fresh dill, you can substitute dried dill weed (use 1/3 the quantity of fresh). You can also try substituting other chopped herbs, such as parsley or tarragon, to change the sauce’s flavor.
- If you want to add a pop of heat to your Tartar Sauce, use a sweet-spicy pickle relish, such as Wickles Original {affiliate link}.
- For a lighter option, you can use reduced-fat mayonnaise, but it might give the sauce a thinner texture.
What to Serve with Homemade Tartar Sauce
- Fish and Chips: Crispy battered or breaded fish fillets with golden fries are made even better with a generous dip into this creamy sauce. (And yes, I dip the fries too!)
- Crab Cakes or Salmon Cakes: Tartar sauce is a classic condiment for seafood cakes. Try it with my Air Fryer Crab Cakes or Roux Crab Cakes, both made with lump crabmeat!
- Fried Shellfish: Serve Tartar Sauce alongside fried shrimp, calamari, oysters, clams, or scallops for an alternative to cocktail sauce, marinara sauce, or remoulade.
- Fish Sandwiches: A generous slather of Tartar Sauce is the perfect finish for a fried or grilled fish sandwich (my family loves making them on brioche buns).
- With Salmon: Serve a dollop of Tartar Sauce with oven-baked, poached, or pan-seared salmon to add a bright pop of flavor.
- With Veggies: I love this sauce with breaded cauliflower bites or fried zucchini.
More Dipping Condiments:
- Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing
- Homemade Russian Dressing
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Creamy Horseradish Sauce
- Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce
Homemade Tartar Sauce with Pickle Relish
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise (such as Hellmann's or Duke's)
- 1/4 cup sweet and/or dill pickle relish (lightly but not completely drained–leave just a little bit of liquid)
- 1 tablespoon grated yellow or sweet onion (I use Vidalia)
- 1 tablespoon chopped brined non-pareil capers , drained
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 to 3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (added to taste)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional, added to taste)
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together mayonnaise, relish, onion, capers, Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tablespoon fresh dill.
- Season to taste with lemon juice, sugar (optional), additional dill (if needed), salt (only if needed), and pepper.
- Cover the Tartar Sauce and refrigerate it for at least an hour, preferably 2-4 hours, or overnight for the flavors to meld. (It tastes better with time!)
- Store in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 5-7 days. Serve with your favorite seafood dishes or veggies. (See the "Serving" section in the article above for suggestions.)
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
