tartar sauce

American  

Or tartare sauce

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of tartar sauce

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

Example Sentences

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

Some customers ordering mayonnaise, tartar sauce or mushy peas were "disappointed" by having to pay £2 at Stein's Fish & Chips in Cornwall.

From BBC • Sep. 13, 2023

“Over the years, we’ve sold our cocktail sauce and our tartar sauce to Metropolitan Markets and, you know, local little mom-and-pop grocery stores around here,” Reese said.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2023

I dip my crab cakes in tartar sauce, and imagine Ashley yelling at me for doing so.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan