Vegan Tartar Sauce

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Vegan Tartar Sauce is an amazing creamy and tangy dip that's great for vegan fish recipes. With vegan mayonnaise (homemade oil-free option available), fresh or dried dill, and either chopped dill pickles or dill pickle relish, this vegan sauce comes together in just 5 minutes. With such simple ingredients, you can't find a cheaper and easier vegan tartar sauce recipe!

Hey Internet, we just finished an amazing Vegan Fish Cakes recipe. Seriously, we freaked on how good it was. Liz jumped for joy because we had been working on a good vegan fish replacement for quite some time now and we finally hit the mark. Go check it out if you have time!

But we soon realized that we needed an equally great sauce to pair with this vegan fish recipe. Fish cakes are typically served with a tartar sauce which is either spooned over the cakes or used to dunk into, depending if you are sophisticated enough to use a fork to eat them. It is a mayonnaise-based sauce with fresh or dried dill that uses either dill pickles or relish give it that classic flavor of the sea.

So we set ourselves to make our own vegan tartar sauce using vegan mayonnaise as the main ingredient for the sauce. We used store-bought vegan mayo for this recipe, however you can easily use our own vegan mayo that's made with tofu for this recipe as well. And not to toot our own horn too much, but our homemade tartar sauce turned out great.

We really love vegan seafood. So far we've made Vegan Scallops, a Vegan Lobster Roll, Vegan Tuna Melts, Vegan Ceviche, Vegan Salmon, Watermelon Tuna, Vegan Fish Tacos, and Vegan Tuna Noodle Casserole! We'll definitely be working on more vegan seafood recipes in the future, too.

But back to this plant based tartar sauce. I'm tired of talking about it, so let's relish this recipe!

Why You'll Love This Vegan Tartar Sauce

• Easy to Make: For starters, this recipe only takes 5 minutes to make. On top of that, all you need is a small bowl, some measuring cups and spoons, a small whisk (a fork will do too), and maybe a cutting board and knife if you went with dill pickles or fresh dill. No food processor, no immersion blender, or any other fancy gadgets for this creamy vegan condiment!
• Cheaper Than Store-Bought: They're charging 8 to 12 bucks for a small container of the vegan versions. Why go with expensive egg and dairy-free tartar sauce when you could have a fresh, homemade vegan tartar sauce that uses ingredients that you might already have at your home? Plus of course the best thing about making your own is that you can customize the flavors.
• Flavor-Packed: For something that uses pretty common ingredients, they all combine for a big burst of flavor that is bright and creamy.

Ingredients

Pick up these simple ingredients the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutritional information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

• 1 Cup Vegan Mayonnaise: Vegan Mayo is used in a lot of vegan sauce recipes. It's prefect to make a creamy condiment. When we use store-bought vegan mayo, we use either canola oil or avocado oil based ones. But in a pinch, we'll make our tofu mayo as well! That's a good way to make this into a healthy vegan tartar sauce too or make it oil-free if you prefer.
• 1 Cup Chopped Dill Pickles OR Pickle Relish: We really enjoyed using a dill relish for this recipe because dill is delicious. It's more traditional to use sweet pickle relish, but both versions are great. Pickles and relish add a much need acid to the sauce, which the brightness lends itself well to seafood dishes.
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Dill OR 3 Tablespoons Fresh Dill: To get that traditional tartar sauce flavor, it's a pretty big dill to have some dill in your homemade sauce.
• 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
• 1 Scant Tablespoon Organic Cane Sugar: A little sweetness goes a long way to make a delicious vegan tartar sauce!
• Black Pepper, Optional

Substitutions

• Vegan Mayonnaise: If you're having trouble finding store bought vegan mayo, making a homemade mayo will help you. We have our vegan tofu mayo that we like to use, but there are lots of other vegan mayo bases, like cashew and sunflower seeds.
• Sugar: Maple syrup can be used in a pinch as well as agave. It might help you avoid some sugars, but it will greatly change the color of the sauce if that's a problem to you.
• Dill Pickles/Relish: Fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar can be great ways to add a little acidity to your dish.

How To Make Vegan Tartar Sauce

• Add the Ingredients to a Bowl: Place your ingredients in a bowl. Make slight adjustments to get the consistence you want.
• Mix: With a whisk, combine all ingredients until uniform.

Storage Instructions

And your sauce to a jar or airtight container. Store in a refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Expert Tips

• Thicken Your Sauce: If you are using relish, consider pressing or straining out the liquid in it. Relish can have a lot of fluids in it and can change how the sauce's consistency. Adjust this to get your desired thickness. Another quick way to thicken a sauce it to add a pinch of nutritional yeast!
• Beyond the Sea: Tartar sauce recipes are not just for vegan fish! Try it on some veggie burgers, as a salad dressing, or even dunk french fries in it!
• Add More Flavor: Consider adding a dash of dijon mustard or a bit of garlic powder or onion powder to take your own tartar sauce to the next level.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Sauces

We have an amazing article with over 50 vegan sauce recipes that you can check out!

• Vegan Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
• Maple Mustard Tahini Sauce
• Vegan Hollandaise Sauce
• Vegan Vodka Sauce
• The Best Vegan BBQ Sauce

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