Homemade Tartar Sauce

Dip your favorite beer battered fish or fried shrimp into this creamy, tangy, and herbaceous Homemade Tartar Sauce with the bright bite of cornichons and fresh dill. With just a few simple ingredients and a quick stir, there will be no need for the bottled stuff.

Let’s be honest, sometimes certain foods are just a way to transport creamy, tangy sauce straight to our mouth. This dill tartar sauce will have even non seafood lovers double dipping and diving in for seconds. With minimal ingredients and bright, vibrant flavors, you’ll find yourself dipping hushpuppies and French fries into it along with topping off all of your favorite fish sandwiches.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Familiar Flavors – This is truly a classic tartar sauce recipe that gives you that balance of rich and creamy sauce with the bright acidic pop of lemon and vinegar. It’s tangy and instantly cuts through the richness of fried food while bringing the burst of citrus that is a natural pairing with seafood.
• Make Ahead – You can make this several days in advance and keep it stored in the refrigerator. The flavors just marry and get better. It also allows the mayo to thicken back up.
• Quality Control – Unlike storebought tartar sauce that is full of weird ingredients and preservatives, this gives you complete control of what goes into this easy tartar sauce. Have homemade pickles? Toss them in. A fan of vegan or avocado oil mayo? Swap it for the mayonnaise in this recipe.

Ingredients

• Mayonnaise – Pick a high-quality mayonnaise for this recipe. Duke’s is the preferred brand.
• Dijon Mustard – This adds a sharp, savory note and cuts through the richness of the mayo.
• Cornichons – These little pickles are crunchy, briny, and have a slightly herbal tang. You will also need some of the brine.
• Fresh Dill – Dill and seafood just belong together. The slightly anise like flavor is a little sweet, a little citrusy, and extremely fragrant. When it comes to this tartar sauce recipe fresh is best.
• Capers – This is an optional add in that adds both texture and a salty element.
• Lemon – Both lemon juice and zest give this dill tartar sauce a sunny and bright flavor.
• Hot Sauce – This is another optional add in that gives both a little heat and also additional tang. Add a little splash or add a generous shake. It’s completely up to you.
• Salt & Pepper – Because the cornichons are salty on their own this tartar sauce doesn’t need a lot of excess seasoning.

How to Make Homemade Tartar Sauce

• Finely chop the cornichons. If using capers give them a rinse and a rough chop.
• Mix together the ingredients. Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine.
• Let the tartar sauce chill. Allow the tartar sauce to refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Taste and adjust. Taste your tartar sauce and see if you need any additional seasoning.

How to Store Homemade Tartar Sauce

Because this is a mayonnaise based sauce you’ll want to keep it refrigerated at all times unless it’s being served. Keep it stored in an airtight container and it will last for up to a week.

Substitutions and Variations

• Whole Grain Mustard – Swap the Dijon mustard for whole grain mustard for additional texture.
• Cayenne Pepper – Skip the hot sauce and add a pinch of cayenne for heat.
• Dill Pickles – No cornichons? No problem. You can your favorite dill pickles for this. For the best texture pick smaller pickles so they add that pop of crunch. If you use dill pickle spears remove the seeds so they don’t make the tartar sauce so watery.
• White Wine Vinegar – Skip the addition of the pickle brine and add a splash of vinegar.
• Sweet Pickles/Sugar – If you like a little sweetness to your tartar sauce try adding a pinch of sugar or swapping out the cornichons for finely diced sweet pickles or relish.
• Aromatics – Add a tablespoon of finely diced shallots, or a minced garlic clove.

Tips From the Beach

• Quality matters. Because there are so few ingredients in this make sure that you are picking quality ingredients.
• Take the time and allow it to refrigerate. It will both thicken up and also allow all of the flavors to marry.
• When it comes to the lemon and dill, fresh is best! Dried dill won’t have quite the same impact as fresh, and nothing tops freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• Keep in mind what this tartar sauce is going to be paired with. If this is going to top off something salty or be used as a dip for salty foods, you may way to hold off adding any additional salt.

Looking for the perfect dipper? Make sure to check out the recipe for Crispy Fish Sticks!

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