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Tartar sauce topped with fresh dill in a small glass jar.
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5 from 2 votes

Homemade Tartar Sauce

This easy Homemade Tartar Sauce flavored with lemon and dill is the perfect condiment for seafood. Creamy, fresh, and ready in 5 minutes!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time0 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 88kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup mayonnaise I use olive oil mayo
  • ¼ cup light or regular sour cream
  • ¼ cup diced pickles or pickle relish bread and butter, sweet, or dill
  • 1 tablespoon grated white or yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • ½ lemon juiced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. I think the flavor improves after it chills so I like to make it an hour or two before serving.

Notes

Nutrition information was calculated with olive oil mayonnaise and light sour cream. 
Storage
Transfer the Homemade Tartar Sauce to an airtight plastic storage container or a small mason jar and refrigerate it for a week or more. For the best quality, I recommend using it in under 2 weeks.
Important Ingredient Notes and Tips
  • Mayonnaise - Skip the light mayo and use regular or a healthy fat mayonnaise for the best flavor. My favorite healthy fat mayo of the moment is olive oil mayo. I can't distinguish the difference in taste from regular and it has half the fat and almost half the calories.
  • Sour cream - I always have light sour cream in my fridge and we can't distinguish a difference in taste from regular. Both light and regular work well.
  • Pickles - Use diced bread and butter, sweet, or dill pickles or pickle relish. If you have pickle chips in your fridge, there's no need to go out and buy relish. Just dice them and it works perfectly. I like this Homemade Tartar Sauce best with bread and butter pickles. They are sweet but not too sweet and add such great flavor.
  • Onion - Use a cheese grater to grate a sweet yellow or white onion. This is a great way to add onion flavor to sauces and condiments without adding the crunchy texture of raw diced onion.
  • Dill - Dill adds that classic flavor that pairs so well with seafood. Either fresh or dried dill works great.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 88kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 275mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 41IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg