Ina Garten’s tartar sauce is simple and straightforward to make, with only a few steps involved in the creation process.
This tartar sauce is delicious and pairs fantastically well with fish dishes.
This recipe only takes 5 minutes to make in total, and with the original ingredients, it serves 4 people. If you want to make more, simply double up on the ingredients.
Below, we’ve listed the ingredients you’ll need, as well as the steps involved.
Ingredients
Made using just a handful of ingredients, Ina Garten’s tartar sauce is cheap to make, and the ingredients needed are easy to get hold of.
You can find all the ingredients you need in your local grocery store, so you don’t need to worry about getting specialty ingredients.
The ingredients needed to make Ina Garten’s tartar sauce are:
½ cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons small diced pickles or pickle relish
1 Tablespoon Champagne or White wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon coarse-grained mustard
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Step 1: The first step requires you to take all of the ingredients and put them in a food processor or mini chopper fitted with a steel blade.
Step 2: Blend the ingredients together until the dilled pickles are finely chopped. Make sure all the other ingredients are blended as well, but not puréed.
Step 3: Keep chilled until you’re ready to serve.
Serving Suggestions For Ina Garten’s Tartar Sauce
Now you’ve got your sauce ready, you need something to serve it with.
Tartar sauce complements many fish dishes, but we’ve selected just a few of our favorites from the Barefoot Contessa for you to try.
This classic French fish dish is the perfect accompaniment to tartar sauce.
Consisting of sole, floured and fried, and served with hot melted butter, lemon juice, and parsley, Ina’s sole meuniere is a mouthwatering dish that isn’t too complicated to make and is jam-packed with flavor.
Serve with Ina Garten’s tartar sauce to make the most of this dish.
A popular dish in the United States, Ina Garten’s version will quickly become your new favorite.
Made using crabmeat that is drained and picked to remove shells, these crab cakes are the perfect accompaniment to the Barefoot Contessa’s tartar sauce recipe.
Made in just 40 minutes, this recipe serves up to 6 people.
Adaptations To Ina Garten’s Tartar Sauce Recipe
We think Ina Garten’s tartar sauce recipe is pretty perfect, but as with any recipe, it can be great fun to experiment and make it your own.
Once you’ve got the original recipe down, you can consider the following adaptations:
Create A Vegan Option: For your vegan diners, substitute traditional mayonnaise with a vegan-friendly alternative made from plant-based ingredients like soy, canola, or avocado oil. Ensure other ingredients, such as pickles and mustard, are also vegan-friendly.
Spice It Up: Add a kick of heat by incorporating ingredients like chopped jalapeños, sriracha sauce, or a pinch of cayenne pepper. Adjust the spice level to suit individual taste preferences.
Add A Herb Infusion: Enhance the sauce with fresh herbs like dill, parsley, or chives for added freshness and depth of flavor. Finely chop the herbs and mix them into the tartar sauce for a fragrant twist.
Add A Burst Of Citrus: Brighten the sauce by incorporating zest from citrus fruits such as lemon, lime, or orange. The citrus zest adds a zesty, aromatic element that complements the tanginess of the vinegar and pickles.
Turn Up The Creamy Texture: For a creamier consistency, blend in a small amount of Greek yogurt or sour cream along with the mayonnaise. This addition introduces a subtle tanginess and richness to the sauce.
Customized Pickles: Experiment with different types of pickles, such as bread and butter pickles, gherkins, or spicy pickles, to impart unique flavors and textures to the sauce.
You can adapt your tartar sauce to suit the fish you’re serving it with to create a restaurant-worthy meal that is sure to impress your guests.
Our Tips For Making Perfect Tartar Sauce
Tartar sauce isn’t complicated to make, so next time you consider buying it from the grocery store, just grab the ingredients to make it at home instead.
Below, we’ve included our top tips – they’re tried and tested to ensure perfect tartar sauce every single time.
1. Blend, But Don’t Purée
It can be really tempting to just blitz the ingredients down until the whole mixture is puréed, but the trick with Tartar Sauce is that you want chunks in the final product.
When it comes to blending your Tartar Sauce, you just want the ingredients to be blended down into a saucy consistency. As soon as most of the mixture has that consistency, leave the remaining chunks as they are.
Of course, if you’re averse to texture, you can blitz it until you’re happy with the end result.
2. Always Chill Before Serving
For the best results, it is always best to chill tartar sauce in the refrigerator before serving.
And when we say chill, we don’t just mean for 5 minutes.
Ideally, you want to refrigerate the sauce for at least 30 minutes. Tartar sauce is usually enjoyed chilled, and leaving it in the refrigerator for this long gives the mixture more time to set and blend together.
If you serve it straight away, it will be too thin to serve.
3. Know What To Serve It With
Tartar Sauce doesn’t go with every single food, and what you serve it with will largely impact how much it is enjoyed.
Typically, it is served with seafood. Any fish-based dish, and crab dishes especially, work well – just take a look at our ideas above for some inspiration.
Something you may not have considered, though, is to pair it with roast vegetables – trust us, it’s divine.
What you pair your homemade tartar sauce with is ultimately up to you – and you may need to experiment with different pairings, but start with fish and roasted vegetables first.
4. Never Freeze Your Tartar Sauce
You might be tempted to freeze your tartar sauce to speed up the chilling process or just to make it last longer, but we strongly advise against this.
Anything that is made with mayonnaise does not fair well when it is frozen, and it can actually result in it going bad much faster.
The only way to store homemade tartar sauce is in a tight container in the refrigerator, and you shouldn’t use it if it’s been stored for longer than 1 week – we’re quite sure this won’t be an issue though, as you’ll want to use it up quickly (yes, it’s that good!)
Final Thoughts
Ina Garten’s tartar sauce is the perfect sidekick for seafood dishes.
Not only is it delicious, but it is also easy to make, and there are some wonderful adaptations of the original recipe you can try if you want to mix things up a bit.
Try making Ina’s tartar sauce recipe for yourself and liven up your next fish supper.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Traditional Tartar Sauce Made Of?
Traditional Tartar Sauce is made using mayonnaise and dill pickles as the main ingredients. Other ingredients that are usually included in traditional Tartar Sauce are chopped dill, capers, a bit of lemon juice, and a dash of mustard.
How Long Will Homemade Tartar Sauce Keep?
If you are making Tartar sauce for yourself, it will last for up to 1 week before it goes bad. Make sure to keep it covered and in the refrigerator for the best results. After a week has passed, dispose of any Tartar Sauce you have left.
What Is A Good Substitute For Tartar Sauce?
If you are looking for a suitable substitute for Tartar Sauce, the best alternative is Remoulade Sauce. This sauce is made from mayonnaise, mustard, capers, pickles, and herbs, which are also used in Tartar Sauce.
I'm Barbara Hunt, the founder of WomenChefs.org. Being a mom of two, I understand the challenges of meal planning and the monotony it can bring.
That's why I created WomenChefs.org, a platform dedicated to showcasing the skills and delicious dishes crafted by amazing women. My goal is to provide a space where women can find delectable recipes that tantalize their taste buds and ignite their senses.
I hope you'll join me in exploring WomenChefs.org and discovering your next favorite recipe. Let's embrace culinary diversity and try something new together!
