Homemade dill tartar sauce
- Preparation 5 min
- Servings About 1 ½ cups (375 ml)
- Freezing I do not suggest
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🌿 My homemade version after testing all the others
I tested a bunch of tartar sauce recipes on the internet, took what I liked from each one, and crafted my own version. The result? A tartar sauce so good you could eat it by the spoonful with nothing else. Not exaggerating. It’s the combo of fresh dill + sweet relish + capers + French shallot that does all the work. Most recipes use parsley or chives; I went with dill because its herbaceous and slightly anise flavors bring something that no other herb can do with fried fish. Every time I serve this sauce, guests tell me it’s the best tartar they’ve ever tasted. To try it is to adopt it.
🥄 The two secrets that make the difference
First secret: sweet relish instead of chopped pickles. Honestly, I never eat relish in my daily life. It’s only in this sauce that I use it. And I use the SWEET, not the dill, because the capers and dill already bring all the tangy-herbaceous side. The sweet relish adds a subtle sweet side that balances everything and gives a roundness you won’t find in any other tartar sauce. Trust me on this, it’s what changes everything. Second secret: don’t salt TOO much. The first time I made the recipe, I over-seasoned and it was too salty. The capers and mustard already bring a lot of salinity. Go easy and taste before salting.
🍟 Versatile: fish & chips, calamari, croquettes, fried foods in general
This sauce is the secret weapon you need to have permanently in your fridge whenever there’s fried food on the table. Classic on golden fish and chips, perfect for dipping perfectly fried golden calamari, magnificent with fish or shrimp croquettes, sublime with crispy homemade fries. It’s also the kind of entertaining recipe that transforms an impromptu dinner with friends into a successful feast. Bring out the sauce, put a well-chilled bottle of white on the table, and everyone goes crazy. It keeps for a week in the fridge and even gets better after two or three days when the flavors have had time to marry. Double the recipe if you plan multiple uses during the week, it goes fast.
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🌿 Fresh dill MANDATORY, never dried
Fresh dill and dried dill are two completely different ingredients. The dried loses all the essential oils that give the sauce its herbaceous signature. You can find fresh dill in all grocery stores, even small ones, in the fresh herbs section. If you really can’t find any, make your recipe another day rather than substitute.
🥒 Sweet relish, not dill relish
Small detail that makes all the difference: use sweet relish (the sweet green one), not dill relish. The capers and dill already bring the tangy-herbaceous side; the sweet relish adds a subtle sweet side that balances everything. It’s my signature trick. I never use relish otherwise in my life. Only here.
🧂 Go easy with the salt
Mistake I made the first time: too much salt. The capers in brine and Dijon mustard already bring a lot of salinity. Taste BEFORE salting, and adjust little by little. You can always add more, never take it away.
🥄 Homemade or commercial mayonnaise
If you have time to make your homemade mayo with an egg yolk and oil, it’s a plus for freshness. But honestly, good commercial mayonnaise (Hellmann’s, Kraft) does the job perfectly and no one will tell the difference in a tartar sauce. The ratio of other ingredients is what makes the magic here, not the mayo.
🍋 Fresh lemon 100%, not bottled
Bottled lemon juice has a metallic bitterness that we don’t have in fresh lemon. For only 1 tbsp of juice, squeeze half a lemon by hand. It takes ten seconds and the result is just incomparable.
🫙 Storage: better after a few days
This sauce keeps in an airtight Mason jar in the fridge for up to a week. Little surprise: it gets better after two or three days, when all the flavors have had time to marry. If you’re having guests, prepare it the day before instead of the same day.
🌶️ Optional twist: roasted garlic
Want to vary? Add half a teaspoon of roasted garlic purée to the sauce. It gives a sweet-grilled roundness that pairs really well with dill and amplifies the indulgent side. Try it on an evening when you’re feeling funky.
✅ What to serve my homemade dill tartar sauce with?
This sauce is made for fried food in all its forms. The obvious classic: serve it with my Fish and Chips with blond beer and dill tartar sauce (its original recipe). Dip for my Shrimp and crab cakes or for my Crispy shrimps with homemade cocktail sauce as a replacement for cocktail sauce. Magnificent also for saucing my Air Fryer French fries or as a creamy alternative on my Poboy sandwich with fried oysters.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 ml) mayonnaise
- ¼ cup (60 ml) sweet relish
- ¼ cup (60 ml) capers in brine, drained and finely chopped
- ¼ cup (60 ml) French shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tsp (10 ml) Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh dill, finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste, go easy)
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Preparation
- In a bowl, combine all the tartar sauce ingredients and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate. The sauce develops with a little rest and becomes even better after a few days.
It’s my signature twist. Sweet relish (the sweet green one) adds a subtle sweet side that balances the salinity of capers and the acidity of lemon, without ever making the sauce too sweet. The capers and dill already bring the tangy-herbaceous side we would normally look for in pickles. Avoid dill relish here because you’d be doubling the dill for nothing.
No, really not. Dried dill loses all the essential oils that give this sauce its personality. The result would be bland and flat. Fresh dill is found in all grocery stores in the fresh herbs section. If you really can’t find any, wait until you have some rather than substitute.
Up to a week in an airtight Mason jar in the fridge. Good news: it gets better after two or three days, when all the flavors have had time to marry together. If you’re entertaining, prepare it the day before for optimal results.
Pretty much everything that gets fried. Classics: fish and chips, fried calamari, fish croquettes, crab croquettes, shrimp croquettes, cod fritters. Homemade or air fryer fries. Fried fish sandwich (po’boy). Vegetable tempura. Onion rings. Once you have it in your fridge, you’ll find ten uses per week.
The obvious classic: with my fish and chips à la blonde de Chambly (its original recipe). As a dip for my croquettes de crevettes et de crabe or as an alternative to cocktail sauce on my crevettes croustillantes. Also perfect for saucing my frites au air fryer.
This tartar sauce blends mayonnaise with sweet relish, capers and finely chopped French shallots, brightened with Dijon mustard, lemon juice and fresh dill. It comes together in one bowl and gets even better after resting in the fridge for a day or two.
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