Quick Homemade Tartare Sauce Recipe

Name: Quick & Healthy Tartare Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 tbs mayonnaise; 2 tbs low fat plain yogurt (preferably Greek or thick); 1 tbs capers – drained and chopped; 1 tbs gherkins – drained and chopped; a few drops of the gherkin or caper vinegar; salt & pepper to taste

Published on June 1, 2017 by Helen 41 Comments
Last Updated on July 25, 2021

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An easy four-ingredient tartare sauce recipe, with a clever twist to make it healthier and our secret ingredient for a fully flavoured sauce. Many uses but perfect on fish and chips! Naturally gluten free.

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Home-Made Tartare Sauce

Ed and I are generally creatures of habit. Every two or three weeks, come lunchtime, we’ll deem it a fish & chips day. Ed will whizz off on his scooter to our local chippy and come back with haddock and chips. While he’s gone, I’ll lay the table, warm the plates and assemble all manner of condiments – after all, fish & chips is mainly about the dips and sauces, isn’t it?

I discovered some years ago that you can thin mayonnaise down with low-fat yogurt, to a ratio of about 1:2. This doesn’t have much impact on the flavour but significantly reduces the number of calories. It is trick that I often use, and you will find it in my healthy potato salad and my healthy Coronation chicken. Fewer calories means we are allowed more chips, surely?

The secret ingredient in this sauce is a few drops of the pickle vinegar. It really adds some sharpness that cuts through the rich mayonnaise. With only 4 ingredients you can make a batch of this in 3 minutes, far better than buying a jar from the store.

Tartar Sauce or Tartare Sauce?

Tartar is the more common spelling in the US, tartare in the UK and British-influenced areas. The sauce itself gets its name from its history as a common accompaniment to steak tartare.

How to Make Tartare Sauce

This is a simple no-cook recipe.

Step one – Measure out the ingredients.

Step two – Rinse the capers under running water in a small sieve to remove excess salt. Then chop them finely.

Cut up the gherkins (the easiest way to do this is to slice lengthwise into batons and then chop into small cubes).

Step three – In a small mixing bowl, mix everything together. Taste, and adjust as you prefer.

Homemade Tartare Sauce Hints & Tips

Sauce will keep for 3 days in the fridge.
Use any leftover sauce as a dressing for some salad leaves, or on a simple grated carrot and sliced cabbage slaw.
This sauce is also perfect in a slightly sinful fish-finger wrap or sandwich. Real comfort food!
Add diced small pickled onions for an extra flavour.
If the sauce is too thin, try straining the yogurt – the thicker the yogurt, the thicker and creamier the sauce will be.
Make this vegan or dairy free with your regular vegan mayo and yogurt.
Leftovers are perfect served as a dip with homemade tortilla chips, crudities or melba toast.

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A crisp thick cut chip dipping into a small dish of pale tartare sauce

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4.92 from 12 votes

Quick & Healthy Tartare Sauce

An easy recipe for tartare sauce, with a clever twist to make it healthier, and only 4 ingredients: mayo, yogurt, capers and gherkins. Ideal to pair with fish and chips.

Servings:

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time10 mins

Total Time10 mins

Ingredients

1 tbs mayonnaise
2 tbs low fat plain yogurt (preferably Greek or thick)
1 tbs capers – drained and chopped
1 tbs gherkins – drained and chopped
a few drops of the gherkin or caper vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Rinse capers to remove excess salt.
Finely chop the capers and gherkins.
Mix all the ingredients, and adjust to taste.

Notes

Sauce will keep for 3 days in the fridge.
Use any leftover sauce as a dressing for some salad leaves, or on a simple grated carrot and sliced cabbage slaw.
This sauce is also perfect in a slightly sinful fish-finger wrap or sandwich. Real comfort food!
Add diced small pickled onions for an extra flavour.
If the sauce is too thin, try straining the yogurt – the thicker the yogurt, the thicker and creamier the sauce will be.

Nutritional Information

This recipe is 2 Weight Watchers Smart Points

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition Facts

Quick & Healthy Tartare Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 61 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 4mg1%

Sodium 285mg12%

Potassium 46mg1%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 1g2%

Calcium 37mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: British, Fish, Traditional British

Keyword: Homemade tartare sauce

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What is your favourite dip for chips? You might also like my homemade kebab-shop chilli sauce – also ideal for chip dipping.

Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2010, but was rewritten and republished with new photos, step-by-step instructions, and hints & tips in April 2019.

An easy recipe for tartar sauce, with a clever twist to make it healthier and only 4 ingredients. Ideal to pair with chips.

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Tartar Sauce or Tartare Sauce?

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Homemade Tartare Sauce Hints & Tips