Walk down the spice aisle and you'll find 30 tartar sauce options.
Twenty of them taste like someone describing tartar sauce over a bad phone connection.
“It’s white and has cucumbers” was apparently considered sufficient product development.
Some versions are sweeter than icing.
Others form oil slicks within days of opening.
The worst offenders cost more than the fish they are intended to breed.
1. Kraft Tartar Sauce
Kraft tartar sauce has been a grocery store staple since the 1960s.
It contains high fructose corn syrup as the third ingredient.
The consistency is more reminiscent of mayonnaise with cucumber relish stirred in.
Many shoppers over 50 remember the time when tartar sauce tasted fresher and spicier.
The artificial flavor drowns out any natural dill or lemon notes.
At $3.99 for 12 ounces, you're paying for a jar that tastes more like sweet salad dressing than traditional tartar sauce.
2. McCormick Original Tartar Sauce
McCormick entered the tartar sauce market in the 1980s with high hopes.
The sauce sits on shelves for months without separating, raising questions about preservatives.
Tasters describe it as “plasticy” with an artificial taste.
The cucumber pieces are sparse and rubbery.
For a seasoning company known for high quality seasonings, this sauce is a disappointment.
The dill flavor tastes like it comes from a chemistry lab rather than an herb garden.
3. Inexpensive tartar sauce
Walmart's house brand is trying to save you money when you buy tartar sauce.
You get what you pay for with this watery mixture.
The sauce slides right off the fish fillet without sticking.
Its pale color does not resemble traditional tartar sauce.
The flavor profile is essentially mayonnaise with a touch of pickle juice.
If you're over 50, you've tried enough tartar sauce to know this isn't the case.
4. Ken's Steak House Tartar Sauce
Ken's focuses on steak sauce but ventures into seafood here.
The result tastes like they've forgotten that tartar sauce isn't supposed to be sweet.
Sugar appears as the fourth ingredient on the label.
That's why your fish tastes like it was glazed with icing.
The relish bits are strangely uniform and taste artificial.
Many long-time seafood lovers avoid this brand after a disappointing experience.
5. Hellmann's tartar sauce
Hellmann's makes excellent mayonnaise, but has problems with tartar sauce.
This version was released in 2005 and has not been improved since.
The sauce is so thick that it requires a knife to spread it.
If you get it on your fish, your dinner will be cold.
The lemon flavor tastes artificial and overpowering.
The best way to make it yourself is to mix Hellmann's mayonnaise with real cucumbers and fresh lemon juice.
6. Trader Joe's Tartar Sauce
Trader Joe's usually delivers quality products at good prices. Your tartar sauce completely breaks this pattern.
After opening, the sauce dissolves in the jar and forms an oil slick on the surface. Stirring again does not contribute to the mild taste.
For $2.99, you'd expect something better than this watery disappointment. The cucumber flavor is barely noticeable and the capers mentioned on the label are microscopic.
7. Sysco Classic Tartar Sauce
Sysco supplies this professional tartar sauce to restaurants across America.
This is why so many chain restaurants serve disappointing seafood.
The sauce comes in giant containers that sit in restaurant refrigerators for weeks.
The preservatives prevent it from spoiling but destroy any fresh taste.
One bite reveals why your restaurant fish and chips never taste as good as homemade. The sauce has a metallic aftertaste that overpowers the delicate fish flavors.
8. Heinz tartar sauce
Heinz dominates the ketchup market, but has problems with tartar sauce. This product appeared on sale in the 1990s.
The sauce contains too much vinegar and causes an unpleasant tugging sensation in the mouth. The cucumber pieces are mushy and don't have a satisfying bite.
At $4.49 for a 12 ounce bottle, it is overpriced for such poor quality. The plastic squeeze bottle may be convenient, but the contents taste like a cucumber-flavored disappointment.
9. Safeway Select Tartar Sauce
Safeway's own brand attempts to compete with well-known brands. The attempt fails with this overly sweet preparation.
Modified corn starch is listed as the main ingredient in the sauce. That explains the gelatinous texture that coats your mouth.
The color is unnaturally white, suggesting heavy editing. Baby boomers who remember real tartar sauce from seafood restaurants will immediately recognize this impostor.
10. Kroger tartar sauce
Midwest Product Reviews
Kroger's house brand tartar sauce is available in milk cases nationwide. The sauce tastes like someone mixed mayo with sweet pickle juice and called it ready.
There is hardly any dill or onion flavor present. The consistency is so runny that it drips off the fork before reaching your mouth.
At $2.79, you might think it's a steal. But here's the thing: you end up throwing away half the glass and still buying something better.
11. French tartar sauce
The French built their reputation on mustard, not tartar sauce. This product shows that they should have stuck to what they knew.
The sauce has a strange yellowish hue that looks unappetizing. The mustard undertones don't belong anywhere near seafood.
Most grocery stores stopped carrying it after poor sales in the 2010s. The few bottles still available taste stale and oxidized even before their best-before date has passed.
12. Stop & Shop tartar sauce
Stop & Shop's own brand follows the unfortunate trend of watery tartar sauce. The glass shakes like milk when you pick it up.
In the list of ingredients, water is the second entry after mayonnaise. That's why this sauce doesn't stick to your fish stick.
The cucumber relish will settle at the bottom of the jar. Even after stirring, the sauce remains thin and tasteless.
13. Publix tartar sauce
Publix stores throughout the Southeast sell this disappointing sauce. The texture feels grainy, like sand mixed with mayonnaise.
Something in the formula creates tiny clumps everywhere. These bumps are not pickled pieces, but rather mysterious ingredients that make an unpleasant crunch.
The aftertaste is metallic and lasts for minutes. For $3.29, you beat buying real ingredients and making your own in five minutes.
14. Wegmans tartar sauce
Wegmans typically produces high-quality private label brands. Their tartar sauce is a rare miss in their lineup.
The sauce tastes predominantly of celery seeds. This strange array of flavors dominates everything else on your plate.
The consistency is too thick for spreading but too thin for dipping. It occupies an awkward middle ground that works for free.
15. Giant Eagle Tartar Sauce
Giant Eagle's house brand tartar sauce disappoints loyal customers. The sauce separates within a few days of opening the jar.
An oily layer forms on top and cannot be mixed properly. The bottom half becomes thick and pasty while the top half remains liquid.
The minimal dill flavor suggests that dried herbs from three years ago were used. People over 50 remember retail brands trying even harder.
16. Food Lion Tartar Sauce
Food Lion serves customers throughout the South with this inferior sauce. The first taste reveals excessive amounts of sugar.
Your fish will end up tasting like candy-coated seafood. The sweet coating masks all the natural flavors of your meal.
The design of the glass makes it difficult to scoop out the final third. You're wasting money by throwing away sauce that you can't reach.
17. Harris Teeter Tartar Sauce
Harris Teeter's own brand tries to save shoppers money. The savings are not worth the loss of taste.
The sauce has an artificial lemon flavor that tastes like furniture polish. One spoonful overwhelms your entire plate.
The texture is more foamy than creamy. Air bubbles present everywhere indicate that over-whisking is being done during manufacturing to increase volume while using fewer ingredients.
18. Meijer tartar sauce
Meijer stores in the Midwest carry this unforgettable sauce. The flavor profile is so mild that it might as well be regular mayonnaise.
There are hardly any cucumbers, dill or lemon to be seen. The sauce adds nothing to your meal except extra calories.
The expiration dates are often only a few weeks away when you buy them. This indicates slow sales and old inventory.
19. Specially selected tartar sauce from Aldi
Aldi's premium line generally offers good value for money. This tartar sauce proves that every product line has flaws.
The sauce contains pieces of something unidentifiable. There are no cucumbers, capers or onions – just mysterious pieces.
After swallowing there is a strange soapy aftertaste. The taste indicates contamination by cleaning agents during manufacturing.
20. Save-A-Lot tartar sauce
Save-A-Lot is aimed at price-conscious shoppers. This tartar sauce makes too many compromises.
The jar contains more water than the actual sauce ingredients. When you pour it, it feels like pouring cucumber-flavored milk over the fish.
The color is grayish white instead of creamy white. For this reason, experienced shoppers are passing up on it despite the $1.99 price tag.
