Quick Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce is the perfect companion to seafood. With just four ingredients, this tartar sauce recipe comes together so quickly and easily. All you need is five minutes and you'll have a creamy and flavorful dipping sauce ready for any fish, oyster, or crab cake dish, or even veggies and pita bread. You might never need to buy another bottle of tartar sauce again.

What is Tartar Sauce?

Tartar sauce is a cold dipping sauce that is usually served alongside seafood, mainly fish. It's a creamy condiment that is known for its rich and tangy flavor.

Tartar sauce is a staple condiment at many seafood restaurants because it's mostly used for fried fish and fried oysters. But it can also be used as a dipping sauce for sandwiches and roasted veggies or as a salad dressing.

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

Wondering what's in tartar sauce? It's typically made with mayonnaise, chopped pickles or relish, lemon juice, and herbs (like tarragon and dill). There are also a handful of optional ingredients you can add that take the tartar sauce's flavor to the next level. For example, this recipe includes yellow mustard. Other ingredients may include capers, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, olives, or onion.

How to Make Tartar Sauce

Making homemade tartar sauce is quite simple. All you have to do is mix all your ingredients together in a bowl — then your sauce is ready to go. For best results, refrigerate the sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.

The relish (or pickles, if that's what you're using) will make the sauce a little chunky, so you can puree your sauce in a food processor or blender for a smoother consistency.

What Is the Origin of Tartar Sauce?

Tartar sauce's roots are difficult to track. It's believed that tartar sauce originated in France after the 18th century because France first invented mayonnaise, which is a main ingredient in tartar sauce.

The name might just be an even bigger mystery. Many people think tartar sauce was named after the Tatars, who also may have lent their name to steak tartare. It's thought that the French based the sauce's name off their spelling of Tatar, which is tartare. That's why it's called sauce tartare in France, tartare sauce in the U.K. and other parts of the Commonwealth, and tartar sauce in the U.S.

How Long Does Tartar Sauce Last?

When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, homemade tartar sauce should stay fresh for up to two weeks.

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"This was super easy! We ran out of store-bought stuff, so I made this quick. I didn't have relish, so I threw a couple forkfuls of hamburger pickles into the Ninja, added the mayo, mustard, and lemon juice to the chopped pickles, and it was perfect. I might never buy store-bought again," says Tracy Robinson.

"This was, without a doubt, the easiest and most tasty tartar sauce I've had- period. The base flavor is great because it isn't just a bland mayo with sweet pickles, it actually has mustard to spice it up. I can't say enough good about it except to mention that it keeps amazingly well too," raves Mina Y.

"It is definitely quick, and very tasty. I always have these ingredients on hand, so I will use this recipe again and again! If you prefer your tartar sauce with a dill flavor, just use dill relish instead of sweet," according to Pam Ziegler Lutz.

Editorial contributions by Bailey Fink