Learn how to make tartar sauce and you’ll never want store-bought again. It tastes so much better! Make this recipe in a snap with basic kitchen staples.

This homemade condiment has tons of flavor and is perfect for when you find your store-bought condiments at the back of the fridge with a past due date. 🙂

Tartar sauce is a French condiment, typically used on fried seafood like clam strips, fried oysters, fish and chips, and fish sandwiches. I especially like it with fish sticks!

How to make Tartar Sauce

It starts with a mayonnaise base and traditionally has finely chopped capers. American versions have gone the route of introducing diced pickles, dill to be exact. Tartar sauce also uses lemon juice as well as herbs such as dill and parsley to bump up the flavor.

Ingredients

I like to add diced dill pickles instead of capers. Some of the pickle juice is added to thin the sauce, but feel free to use the same amount of lemon juice.

Most recipes call for white vinegar with some sugar added, I like to substitute rice wine vinegar, taking care of both needs there. Rice vinegar is a sweetened vinegar that can be found in most markets in the Asian food aisle or vinegar section. I also use it to make pickled red onion.

Powdered garlic and onion are added as well as salt and pepper. My fresh or dried herbs would be dill or sometimes parsley. That’s it!

Whether used on seafood like baked salmon patties or blackened Mahi Mahi, or to dip french fries or potato wedges in, this is the perfect condiment to use.

Enjoy!

Now that you know how to make tartar sauce, do you think you’ll stop buying it from the store?