A Better Fish Dinner Is Only a Batch of Homemade Tartar Sauce Away (2024)

FAQs

Is tartar sauce only for fish? ›

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.

But you can also adopt some regional specialties, like hush puppies or rye bread, or switch out fries for oven-roasted potatoes, onion rings or sweet potato chips. Broccoli works, too! That's all to say, when you need sides for fried fish, the options are limitless.

Tartar sauce should be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about a week. Obviously, if it starts to smell funky in the fridge or the flavor is off before the week is up, you should dump it. Similar to other mayonnaise-based condiments, tartar sauce does not freeze well because the emulsion can break.

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, chopped dill pickles, capers, Dijon mustard, shallots, scallions, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Store: To store tartar sauce, keep it covered and chilled in the refrigerator.

Weeknight Pad Thai

Fermentation has been used for thousands of years to develop flavor in anything from fish to meat to beans to vegetables. Many cultures use or have used a fermented fish sauce, from the Greeks to the Chinese, but we most commonly associate it with Southeast Asian cooking.

Why is it called tartar sauce? Tartar sauce originated in France as sauce tartare, named after the Tatars who settled in Ukraine and parts of Russia. The French, in producing this mayonnaise or aioli sauce, may have based the "tartar" moniker upon their spelling of the Tatar name, which was Tartare.

Opened bottles of tartar sauce should remain good for up to six months as long as they're kept in the refrigerator. If you suspect your tartar sauce is going bad, check the bottle for an expiration date. If it has a strange odor or appears to have lost its texture, it's probably time for a new bottle.

According to McDonald's website, the ingredients for the actual tartar sauce that goes on the Filet-O-Fish include soybean oil, pickle relish, calcium chloride, spice extractives, polysorbate 80, egg yolks, water, onions, distilled vinegar, sugar, spice, salt, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, and parsley.

Refrigerate After Opening

This also goes for chutneys, horseradish, chimichurri, pesto, mayonnaise, aioli, remoulade, tartar sauce, jams, jellies, relishes, and the ginger and wasabi that come with sushi.

What is the real name of tartar sauce? ›

Tartar sauce (French: sauce tartare; spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped pickles and relish, caper, and herbs such as tarragon and dill.

Tartar Sauce Recipe Ingredients

These other key ingredients amp up the flavor even more: Lemon juice – It makes the sauce nice and bright. Capers and diced dill pickles – They add salty, briny flavor. Dijon mustard – It adds extra tang and a peppery bite.

The Origin of Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce, of course, comes from the Land of a Thousand Sauces—France. And while it doesn't achieve the status of bechamel, hollandaise, or the other Mother Sauces, it is a respectable Second-Cousin-Once Removed Sauce thanks to its ubiquitous presence on every fried seafood platter.

It's typically served with seafood, but trust me – this delicious condiment can do so much more. Lately, I've been using it as a dip for my crispy air fryer cauliflower, and the leftovers never go to waste. We slather the sauce on sandwiches, pile it onto baked potatoes, and dollop it onto grilled veggies.

Tartar sauce is great on hamburgers and in Japan they put it on fried chicken.

Inspired by Portuguese cuisine, Chicken Nanban is crispy, deep-fried chicken dressed in a tangy sauce and served with homemade tartar sauce.