Sunset & Sewanee Tartar Sauce

For most, tartar sauce is usually an afterthought…a simple mayonnaise and sweet pickle relish when ordering a side with their fried fish, clams, or fried potatoes. The late, great Paul Bocuse referred to it as Tartare sauce which is actually a Remoulade sauce and a whole different creature in American cooking.

This recipe is taking it up a notch with a mixture of onions, pickles (gherkins), green olives, capers, pickled jalapeños, parsley, lemon juice, and diced egg. I assembled these on my cutting board so you can see them.  Feel free to add all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse a few seconds to get an even distribution. For best results, make your Tartar sauce the day before so the flavors co-mingle and reach their full potential, though, in a pinch, it can be used immediately. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

In some of my casual seafood restaurants, I would make this by the gallon, so you can scale this up or down if you need to.

Gather your ingredients, chop, juice, and get ready to mix.

Add onions, pickles, green olives, capers, pickled jalapeños, parsley, lemon juice, and diced egg to mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. (For best results, pulse the mix in a food processor for maximum goodness!)

Tartar Sauce. Done.

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Sunset & Sewanee Tartar Sauce

There are many versions of Tartar Sauce. Most people are satisfied with the simple recipe of store-bought mayonnaise and sweet pickle relish. Classic French cooking often refers to Remoulade and this sauce interchangeable, but the difference in this country is very different depending on where you live. (I have a separate New Orleans style Remoulade recipe in the blog to better capture my version.) This recipe is a strong contender for the standard. I've given a few options and substitutions to make your tartar sauce a little more unique if you want to go there. Once you taste the difference, you may not go back to the simple recipe.

Course Condiment/Sauce

Cuisine Southern

Keyword Condiment, Tartar Sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 QT

Author David of Sunset & Sewanee

Equipment

• chef knife
• cutting board
• whisk
• food processor
• measuring cups and spoons
• rubber spatula
• storage container with a tight-fitting lid

Ingredients

• 4 cups mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup onion, peeled and minced
• 1/3 cup pickle, kosher, minced
• 1/3 cup olives, green pits removed and chopped
• 2 tbsp capers, drained minced
• 1 tbsp lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped (you can substitute tarragon for more herbaceous flavor)
• 1 tbsp jalapeno pickled, minced (optional) minced (optional)
• 1 whole Egg hard-boiled, peeled, and chopped
• 2 dashes Tabasco style hot sauce

Instructions

• Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until well incorporated.
• If chopping/mincing by hand, add ingredients to a mixing bowl. Stir the tartar sauce until well incorporated.
• Place into an airtight container and refrigerate until needed.

Notes

(You may notice that I've eliminated the need for extra salt. This is because the olives, capers, and pickled vegetables already have a great deal of salt, and they more than make up for it.)