By Sarah Ozimek
This healthy homemade tartar sauce recipe is a must-have if you eat fish. It’s simple and delicious, so skip the artificial grocery store tartar sauces!
I love tartar sauce!
It’s kind of an odd condiment because most people only eat it with fish, but I love it anyway. Fish fries, baked fish, fish sandwiches, po’boys. Even hush puppies and french fries are all better with tartar sauce.
A good tartar sauce recipe is a beautiful balance of acidity and sweetness that brings the best out of fried and baked seafood alike.
But, like many condiments, if you head to your grocery store shelves you will find bottles filled with artificial ingredients and flavorings.
What is Tartar Sauce?
At its most basic, tartar sauce is a mayonnaise-based condiment that adds some acid (typically in the form of lemon juice or vinegar) along with some sweetness from sweet pickles or relishes.
Ultimately, tartar sauce gets its name from the Golden Horde, Mongols who invaded Europe in the 13th century, who were known to the locals as Tartars.[1]
You could definitely make your own tartar sauce using homemade mayonnaise and the seasonings in the recipe below, but I wanted to take things a step further.
Making Healthy Homemade Tartar Sauce
Maybe it was fueled by my slight obsession with tartar sauce, or my tendency to pile it on to my plate or sandwich (only slightly guiltily), but I wanted to make a tartar sauce recipe that was actually good for you! One that I wouldn’t feel bad taking an extra large scoop of.
To achieve this, I turned to my go-to, healthy creamy base: homemade yogurt. By blending plain yogurt with the classic tartar sauce elements, you get a healthy condiment that seriously satisfies any tartar sauce craving.
Choosing A Yogurt For Your Base
If you use plain, Greek yogurt to make your tartar sauce, the sauce will be a bit thicker and sturdier.
If you use plain, regular yogurt to make your tartar sauce, the sauce will be a bit thinner. (Another solution would be to strain your regular yogurt for a couple of hours in a few layers of cheesecloth. This would give you a thicker yogurt base for your sauce.)
Either way, your homemade tartar sauce will still taste great. It all depends on the texture you’d prefer in your sauce.
Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Mix Time
- 5 minutes
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Servings
- 12 Tbsps
- Course
- Condiment
- Cuisine
- English
- Estimated Cost
- $2
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
- 3 Tbsp minced sweet pickles
- 1 Tbsp minced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced capers
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp dill
Instructions
-
To make this homemade tartar sauce recipe simply mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
-
Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours before serving.
Notes
Your homemade tartar sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutrition:
Made this recipe?
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Have you ever tried making a homemade tartar sauce recipe? Try it, it’s easy and delicious!
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Sources
- Tartar Sauce. Wikipedia. Accessed July 2019.
