New Fave Tartar Sauce

Published on January 17, 2021 in All Recipes, Salads & Sides

Your New Fave Tartar Sauce features the bright notes of fresh squeezed lemon juice and herbs with just a hint of sweetness.

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No More Bland, Heavy Tartar Sauces – This is your New Fave Tartar Sauce

When my daughter was little, I had a few rules when it came to food:

You must always take at least one real bite, maybe two, before declaring you don’t like something. You’ll miss out on your new favorite if you never try anything new.
Always taste a dish as the Chef intended it before adding salt or hot sauce. It’s okay to have your personal preferences. We all do. But always be respectful of another person’s food art.
You eat what’s on the menu. Now, I never placed before her anything that I wouldn’t want to eat as a child (or as an adult) myself. But I wasn’t going to make multiple dinners every night either. One dinner, one clean-up cycle and then the kitchen is “closed” for the night. Honestly, as a working mom, this rule was more for my sanity than anything else.

Such was the case with tartar sauce. Once she tried it, there was no going back to store bought. I always made my own because I always found store bought to be too heavy. I like the bright notes that lemon juice and fresh herbs bring to a tartar sauce.

To this day, she prefers homemade to store bought as well. And because it’s such a fast recipe to whip up, it’s an easy one to tackle with your kids while you wait for the shrimp cakes (or fish sticks) to cook. And you won’t miss the extra space in your refrigerator condiment bin either.

So what can I serve this tartar sauce with? Why not try Shrimp Cakes?

Honestly, you can service this sauce with just about any fish dish. However, one of my favorite dishes to serve with this New Fave Tartar Sauce is atop a serving of Yummy 30 Minute Mostly Bakes Shrimp Cakes. These shrimp cakes are a cross between a crab cake and a burger. They’re bold, bright and big on flavor – with fresh herbs and lemon. These slider-sized shrimp cakes make a great sandwich when topped with what will soon be your New Fave Tartar Sauce. Or serve alongside your favorite salad. Either way, they’re sure to satisfy.

What to look for when selecting seafood

If you’re ready to try this recipe for New Fave Tartar Sauce but still struggle with where to find good information on seafood, I have a resource to share with you. Since we’ve been talking about shrimp cakes, I’ll use shrimp as an example. With all the different numbers and sizes of shrimp out there, it’s not always clear what is the right amount for consumption or to include in a recipe.

A cutting board features the ingredients used in this Ridiculously Easy Shrimp Scampi in 20 Minutes.

For example, say you need a pound of shrimp, but is a pound always a pound? Not necessarily. When buying frozen shrimp, you’ll see a fraction located on the front of the bag and sometimes you’ll also see a corresponding size. With fresh shrimp, this number is found on the tag or sign next to the shrimp. The smaller the shrimp, the greater the number per pound. The larger the shrimp, the fewer. For example, the 36/40 tells us one pound of medium-large shrimp will consist of 36-40 shrimp. For large shrimp, that number will be approximately 31 – 35 shrimp per pound, and so on.

The final number and weight depends on a few key considerations. The Louisiana Direct Seafood Handbook is a great guide that breaks down the number of shrimp per pound and how that number can vary depending on whether or not the shrimp are shelled. A pound of shell-on shrimp will weigh less once cleaned and shelled, so you will want to buy a few extra to make up the difference. The handbook is also a great resources for knowing which shrimp size is best for the food you are preparing. So, whether you are grilling or boiling, making kabobs or a salad, you’re sure to choose the right shrimp for the job.

Perfect Pairings

If you’re looking for something new to pair with this sauce, consider my recipe for shrimp cakes. They’re a nice, economical alternative to crab cakes, and they are fast, delicious and easy to make.

A cross between a crab cake and a burger, Mostly Bakes Shrimp Cakes are bold, bright and big on flavor – with fresh herbs and lemon. These slider-sized cakes make a great sandwich when topped with your New Fave Tartar Sauce.

Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting MOstly Bakes! I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post. If you’re looking for other tasty shrimp recipes, be sure to check out this one for Cajun Shrimp in 30 Minutes. It’s one you’ll want to keep in rotation.

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Blessings, and happy cooking and baking!