Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

Creamy homemade tartar sauce is a huge step above commercial tartar sauce. With fresh dill and lemon juice, it has loads of flavor!

Homemade tartar sauce is unexpectedly good. This “old fashioned” sauce is totally amped up with dill pickles, red onion, and fresh dill. Lemon juice adds just the right acidity and tang to the sauce.

Tartar sauce is perfect for shrimp, crab cakes, fish & chips, fish sticks, fish tacos, and salmon. It also makes an amazing spread for fish fillet sandwiches and po’ boys!

And why limit it to seafood? Use it as a lemon dill dip for crispy sweet potato fries or to top baked potatoes instead of sour cream. Tartar sauce is great on a black bean burger, too.

I served this sauce as a dip for crispy air fryer breaded shrimp (look for the recipe in a couple of days!) and it would also be fantastic on coconut shrimp. While the shrimp were really, really great, my husband just kept saying, “This is the best tartar sauce I’ve ever had!”

And it actually is that good! Have you ever heard anyone exclaim over tartar sauce from a jar or plastic bottle? Yeah, probably not.

About this creamy tartar sauce

Homemade tartar sauce with lemon is so much fresher tasting than store bought and just plain easy to make. All it takes is a little chopping, a squeeze of lemon and a grind of black pepper. Add all that to mayonnaise and it’s ready to serve.

Look for the complete printable recipe at the end of this post.

What you need

• Mayonnaise: This is a mayonnaise based sauce. If you like low-fat or olive oil mayo, that will work fine. Please don’t use Miracle Whip as it is sweeter and will change the flavor too much.
• Lemon Juice: You’ll love the tangy brightness that a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice adds to your tartar sauce.
• Fresh Dill: This fresh herb makes all the difference in the world. You can substitute dried dill but don’t use as much (use 1 teaspoon instead).
• Dill Pickles: You’ll find that tartar sauce is more flavorful without relish. Relish can add too much liquid and the pickle is so finely processed that you can hardly taste it. Chop dill pickles for a lot more pickle-ness (!).
• Red Onion: The sharp tang of finely chopped onion is sort of an unexpected, but very welcome, flavor.
• Black Pepper: for just a bit more seasoning.

How to make tartar sauce

It’s very easy to make homemade tartar sauce. Begin by a little chopping. Finely mince red onion, dill pickle, and fresh dill. How finely you chop the onion and pickles depends on how you like your sauce: larger pieces mean you’ll have a chunkier sauce, smaller pieces mean your sauce will be a bit smoother. Totally up to you!

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, stir the mayonnaise with the rest of the ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to use your homemade tartar sauce.

Tartar sauce makes a delicious dip or spread!

FAQs

How to make this sauce your own

• Instead of dill pickles, make it with capers, bread & butter pickles, sweet pickles, or pickle relish.
• Prefer a smooth sauce? Put all the ingredients into a small food processor and process until no chunks remain.
• Like a little zing? Add a 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard or hot sauce. A dash of ground red pepper is great too.

Make Ahead Ideas

Homemade tartar sauce is actually better if you make it a day ahead to let the flavors blend. Store it in a tightly covered container in the fridge. If it separates slightly, give it a good stir.

Storage Suggestions

The sauce can be stored covered in the fridge for up to a week. Please don’t freeze tartar sauce because mayonnaise doesn’t fare so well in the freezer.

Leftover Love

If you’re bored with dipping, try mixing leftover tartar sauce with a bit of buttermilk to create a salad dressing!

More homemade sauces

Add pizzazz, flavor, and nutrition to your favorite dishes with homemade sauces. Try:

• Chipotle Salsa (easy blender recipe)
• How to Make Salsa Verde
• Homemade Tzatziki Recipe (Cucumber Yogurt Sauce)
• Fry Sauce – Easy French Fry Dipping Sauce
• Easy Cheese Sauce – Microwave or Stovetop
• Tahini Sauce Recipe – 3 Ingredients
• BBQ Sauce Recipe – easy homemade barbecue sauce
• Jalapeño Ranch Dip (or dressing)
• Healthy Ranch Dressing Recipe