Homemade Tartar Sauce

Yum.

I have a thing for condiments, did you know that?

Like...have you noticed every time we make pasta I suggest you top it with parsley, sea salt, crushed red pepper, parmesan, and good olive oil?  That's five toppings.  And I ROUTINELY put that many things on my food. 

It's a bit silly, maybe, but I gotta be me. 

To that point, though, it's often much healthier and cheaper to make your own sauces and dips, like this one!

Tartar sauce.  It can be so good, or just absolutely wretched, in my opinion.   Tons of mayo mixed with sweet relish is NOT my idea of a good condiment, thank you very much.  This, though, is like....ranch with extra herbs mixed with a leeeetle bit of tartar sauce. It's good, kids, is what I'm trying to say. 

Here's what you need for this lovely concoction:   Parsley, dill, sweet AND dill relish, worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion, mayo AND sour cream, hot sauce, and capers.  Phew.  

I like the combination of mayo and sour cream because you get the tang from the sour cream and the creaminess of the mayo without too much eggy flavor.  That's my story, and it works for me. The hot sauce and worcestershire sauce add a really nice balance of tang and salt, too. 

The same concept applies for the relishes - the tang from the dill relish and the sweetness of the sweet relish are nice together - it gives you a hint of "real" tartar sauce without too much jarred flavor.  

As you would expect, you plop everything in a little food processor (or one of those handheld choppy things, OR you can just chop this all by hand!), and blend it up until it's smooth!

Now....you're done.  Give it a taste, and add more of anything you think it needs!  I usually add a bit more relish and worcestershire because I love both of those flavors a LOT.  

Now, this is kind of a boring recipe, and I recognize that.  SO, what could we do with tartar sauce?  

WELL.  Do I have some ideas for you. 

Remember when I made these crab cakes?  They'd go great with tartar sauce!

Or regular old shrimp cocktail - why not offer homemade cocktail sauce and tartar sauce?  Yes.  Do that.

Or THIS.  This super duper easy crispy shrimp is SO GOOD dipped in this stuff.  I promise. 

Enjoy this guys!  It's easy, keeps forever in the fridge, and is WAY better than the bottled stuff.  Trust me.  

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Homemade Tartar Sauce

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• Total Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients

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• ¼ cup fresh parsley
• ¼ cup fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon sweet relish
• 1 tablespoon dill relish
• 4 dashes worcestershire sauce
• 1 whole peeled garlic clove
• 1 chunk onion, about 1 inch piece
• ¼ cup mayo
• ½ cup sour cream
• 4 drops hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon capers
• salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. combine all ingredients in a small food processor or blender and combine until smooth, or chop everything very finely with a knife and stir together.
2. Taste, and add salt and pepper (or more of whatever) to your taste.
3. Serve with your favorite seafood dinner!

• Prep Time: 10

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4