The Worst Store-Bought Tartar Sauce Is Unexpectedly From A Trusted Brand

When someone serves you classic British fish and chips, they better not forget the tartar sauce. This timeless, tangy sauce might just be the reason why we're so obsessed with fried seafood — the vibrancy of pickles and dill found in tartar sauce brings the necessary freshness to (otherwise quite heavy) fried food. A bottle of good tartar sauce should never be out of stock in your home pantry, but we all know store-bought sauces can be hit or miss. It's important to know which ones are worth the pantry space and which ones are better off staying on the grocery store shelf forever. Tasting Table tested 10 store-bought tartar sauces and found the worst one is, surprisingly, McCormick Tartar Sauce.

The spice giant's worst offense with this sauce is its lack of characteristic flavor. Only a shadow of the true tartar sauce, it mostly just tastes like mayonnaise. Unfortunately, the company seems to be holding back on the ingredients that usually make tartar sauce so delicious and flavorfully richer than mayo — the notes of lemon juice and pickles are significantly missing in the taste, overshadowed by too much sweetness that doesn't make sense in this type of condiment. One customer pointedly said they expected a lot more from a spice company, and they'd rather just dip their fish sticks in plain mayonnaise.

McCormick Tartar Sauce also doesn't have a good balance between flavor and texture. If the flavor is too thin, the texture is the opposite: Too thick to be fully enjoyable. Once again this points toward the fact that a little more lemon juice would be a good way to update the recipe and simultaneously resolve the issues with both taste and consistency. Speaking of the recipe, several customers have expressed disappointment with the apparent change in ingredients. Loyal customers noted on Amazon reviews that the recipe used to be soybean-free, which is no longer the case, making it a deal breaker for shoppers who are avoiding soy.

Another issue customers are running into is receiving the sauce past its expiration date when they order it online through Amazon and Walmart. While the fault for this may lie directly with the mentioned distributors, it's certainly not helping to raise the profile of McCormick's Tartar Sauce. If you're craving a rich, fresh, flavorful, and appropriately tangy tartar sauce to go with your fried fish, you'll be much better off looking at alternative brands. Or, you can take the homemade route by following our simple tartar sauce recipe.