Red Lobster is known for its delicious tartar sauce, but it is hard to get some extra to go. You can make some copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce at home.
Red Lobster is known for its delicious tartar sauce and many people think it’s the best tartar sauce out there. However, it’s not easy to get some extra to go. Now you can solve this problem by making some copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce at home.
Nothing enhances the flavor of seafood like tartar sauce. It’s the perfect condiment for everything from fried or baked fish to crab cakes.
This copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce recipe takes a basic tartar sauce and raises it to the next level. This is a very simple homemade tartar sauce recipe using mayonnaise, diced white onion, chopped carrots, and pickle relish. The onions add a more distinctive bite and the carrots give you a little bit of sweetness to soften the overall sharpness of the sauce.
This combination of ingredients makes for a slightly sweet tartar sauce that has a pleasing crunch to it. The chopped carrots add a nice texture that you are going to love.
Table of Contents
How to Make Red Lobster Tartar Sauce From Scratch?
To make this copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce recipe, you simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, then refrigerate for at least thirty minutes before serving. That’s it! Easy to make and no cooking involved. Once you try this simple recipe, you won’t ever go back to premade tartar sauce from the store!
A Brief History of Tartar Sauce
American tartar sauce is quite different from the original French recipe. During the 18th century, sauce tartare began to appear on menus and in cookbooks as an accompaniment to the dish known as beef tartare, a highly spiced raw minced beef dish.
Sauce tartare called for nothing more than mayonnaise mixed with minced chives and shallots. Soon the sauce made its way across the Channel where the British found it went exceedingly well with fried seafood.
Over time, the British created their own version of the sauce made from mayonnaise, capers, gherkin pickles, dill, and lemon juice, and renamed it tartare sauce.
In the 1920s, Hellmann’s combined relish with its famous mayonnaise and sold it as tartar sauce nationwide. Hellmann’s version of the sauce soon became the standard on this side of the Atlantic.
Up Your Tartar Sauce Game By Making Your Own Mayonnaise
While you can use prepared mayonnaise from a jar, homemade mayonnaise will make the best tartar sauce ever with an unmatched flavor. If you want to try making mayonnaise at home, it is straightforward:
- Place the yolk of a room-temperature egg in the bowl of a food processor. Add a teaspoon each of fresh lemon juice and seedless Dijon mustard.
- Run the food processor at the lowest setting until everything is completely combined. With the food processor still running, slowly start to drizzle in 1 cup of a neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola. Continue until all the oil is gone.
- Scrape down the bowl and season the mayonnaise with a pinch of salt and another teaspoon of lemon juice.
Extra Tips For Making and Serving Tartar Sauce
- It is best to make this a couple of hours ahead of serving. This way all of the flavors will mingle together. It is even better when you make it the day or evening before.
- Keep the flavor and reduce the sharpness of the onions by chopping them as per the recipe and then soaking them in ice water for 10 minutes. Make sure to dry them thoroughly before using them. Soaking onions helps to mellow them out while adding a bit of extra firmness.
- Serving tartar sauce at room temperature will enhance its flavor. Take the tartar sauce out of the fridge 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
What’s in Red Lobster Tartar Sauce?
You might wonder what is in this recipe. It is very simple: you use mayonnaise, chopped white onion, pickle relish, and chopped carrots.
This combination together makes for a slightly sweet tartar sauce that is has a nice crunch to it. The carrot adds a nice texture to the tartar sauce that you are going to love.
Red Lobster Tartar Sauce Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Mayonnaise
- White onion
- Carrot
- Sweet pickle relish
- Sugar
- Salt
How to Make Red Lobster Tartar Sauce
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Then refrigerate the sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving.
That’s it! Easy to make and no cooking involved.
How Long Can You Store Homemade Tartar Sauce?
You can keep this homemade tartar sauce for up to seven days in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container.
Extra Tips For Making and Serving Tartar Sauce
- Keep the flavor and reduce the sharpness of onions by chopping them as per the recipe and then soaking the onions in ice water for ten minutes. Make sure to dry them thoroughly before using them. Soaking onions helps to mellow them out while adding a bit of extra firmness.
- Serving tartar sauce at room temperature will enhance its flavor. Take the tartar sauce out of the fridge 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Remember to put any leftover sauce in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Use up your remaining tartar sauce within a few days.
Tartar sauce is so wonderfully diverse. It’s a delicious dipping sauce and sandwich spread. This tartar sauce tastes wonderful with fried fish, baked fish, on fish sandwiches, and it even tastes great on a hamburger.
What Is a Good Substitute for Tartar Sauce?
- Greek Yogurt: If you want a sauce without mayonnaise, you can substitute nonfat Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has a similar appearance and texture to mayonnaise. It also provides a milder tart taste than mayonnaise’s acidic tang.
- Yogurt and Cottage Cheese: Combine 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese and 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon each of minced red onion, sweet or dill pickle relish, lemon juice, and minced fresh parsley.
- Aioli: Traditional aioli uses a combination of oil and garlic. You can add seasonings to it (e.g., dill and lemon zest) and convert it to a garlicky type of tartar sauce.
- Cucumber Sauce: Try a cucumber sauce made with fat-free yogurt and light mayonnaise. Use 1/3 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of mayonnaise for every 1 cup of freshly chopped cucumber. Season with mustard, chopped onions, lemon juice, and salt, and chill thoroughly before serving.
- For more healthy alternatives to tartar sauce, click on this link. Quora can also give you some good ideas.
More Red Lobster Copycat Recipes
Go ahead and make a batch of our Red Lobster Tartar Sauce copycat recipe, then try out these:
- Bacon Wrapped Scallops Recipe
- Clam Chowder
- Crispy Brussel Sprouts
- Red Lobster Biscuits
- Red Lobster Copycat Recipes
- Seafood Nachos
- Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Popular Restaurant Sauce Recipes
Be sure to check out more of my easy sauce recipes and the best Red Lobster recipes here on CopyKat!
Red Lobster Tartar Sauce Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tablespoons white onions chopped
- 1 tablespoon carrot finely diced
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish do not use dill relish
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Stir to thoroughly combine.
- It is best if you make and store this sauce in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving.
Becky Gilliam
Try grating your onion instead of dicing (there is less ‘crunch’) and add dill relish (omit the sugar and sweet relish) for a different flavor which is still just as good…
Sandy B
I really appreciate this recipe – my “idea” of making tartar sauce is usually mixing mayo with some pickle relish and maybe a little mustard (if I remember that part)… thank you, Stephanie, I have saved so many of your recipes and they never let me down!