tartar sauce

American  

Or tartare sauce

noun

tartar sauces plural

1. a mayonnaise dressing for fish and seafood, usually with chopped pickles, onions, olives, capers, and green herbs added.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tartar sauces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tartar sauce

First recorded in 1895–1900, tartar sauce is from French sauce tartare

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tartar sauce

She advises breading and frying before dipping into a tartar sauce or marinara.

From Salon ● May 21, 2025

Especially when seasonings and sauces are familiar—gravy in the first case, tartar sauce in the second—people tend not to miss the meat, she notes in her cookbook.

From National Geographic ● Oct. 19, 2023

"When we paid the bill we discovered that the tiny pot of mushy peas was £2 extra, as was the tartar sauce as was the curry sauce. Unfortunately I don't think we will be returning!"

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2023

The pleasingly crispy batter encasing juicy white meat was blessedly ungreasy, while the tartar sauce was just the right balance of citrus tang and creamy texture.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023

Five hours later, we’re eating seafood at a little shack on a North Carolina beach, looking out to sea, licking tartar sauce from our fingers.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King