15 Creative Alternatives to Tartar Sauce for Enhancing Your Fish Sandwich

Tartar sauce is indeed a highly popular condiment for fish dishes and sandwiches, but sometimes you want to stray from the basics. And in these moments, you may seek alternative ways to dress your fish sandwich. There are a lot of options — more than you may have initially thought — and you don’t have to feel out of your element, as many dressings incorporate ingredients you already use with fish anyway, like lemon, butter, mayonnaise, or herbs. There is plenty of wiggle room for a dressing once you factor in the different types of toppings, buns, and fish for the base of your meal. You’ll easily find a delicious way to give your seafood sandwich added pizzazz, no matter what ingredients you’re working with. 

We have a range of ways to dress your fish sandwich, whether you prefer something creamy, spicy, tangy, or sweet. There’s a little bit of everything depending on your mood and any accoutrements on your sandwich. We’ll talk about what flavors and textures it brings to your dish, if it works well with a particular fish, and any other information you may need. Hungry yet? Let’s dive in.

Dill yogurt sauce is a marvelous blend of creamy and fresh elements, but it’s more than its two namesake ingredients. There’s also a touch of brightness from the lemon juice and that pungent kick of garlic to give your sandwich a fragrant boost. The sauce can work when you want to incorporate a cooling component into an otherwise heavy dish, particularly with fried or breaded fish. It pairs well with flounder, halibut, cod, tilapia, and, of course, salmon. 

The dill yogurt sauce doubles as a seasoning sauce because it’s heavily flavored; you can also incorporate salt and pepper to round out the flavor. Place the sauce on the bun, kind of like you’d smear on mayonnaise, or you might want to add a thick dollop of it directly on the fish as you’re assembling your sandwich. Try the sauce slathered on your next fish burger to cut through the oil and breading.

The bright and sweet ingredients of mango salsa work beautifully with fish tacos, so you can easily incorporate the condiment into a fish sandwich. This dresses your sandwich in a way that appeals to multiple senses. It’s colorful, fragrant, sweet, but savory, and it brings added texture to your dish in a way that most liquid sauces can’t. Like fish tacos, you can use the chunky mango condiment in a beer-battered fish sandwich, but it also works well on broiled or blackened fish if you crave something lighter to go with the refreshing salsa components. 

There’s a rainbow of colors from ingredients like tomatoes, mango, scallions, red onion, and even various colored bell peppers to make even the blandest fish shine. Everything is diced but fresh, so there’s a crisp juiciness that’s unparalleled. We recommend a smaller dice as larger mango chunks may be hard to chew or fall out of your sandwich entirely. We love mango salsa with cod, but you can do any white fish, such as halibut or tilapia.

Avocado crema is yet another condiment that you might associate with fish tacos, and that makes it an easy choice to enjoy on a fish sandwich. It has a pale, but captivating green color thanks to avocado, and then the cream base; you can pick from sour cream, Mexican crema, or yogurt if you prefer something more protein-rich. It’s seasoned with spices, like cumin, chipotle powder, salt, and pepper, but it’s highly customizable — you can pair it with any seasoning on the fish itself. Everything gets blended together to create an aromatic addition to your meal. 

The avocado crema is thick, so it won’t immediately drip off your sandwich. It provides incredible creaminess and a touch of acidity, which can work nicely with any heaviness from the beer-battered fish or the bun. It’s a great way to dress up your fish sandwich without overpowering the flavor and texture since it’s smooth, not too potent, and doesn’t take away the focus. Keep with the taco inspiration and add ingredients like shredded red cabbage, sliced tomatoes, and fresh lime juice onto the sandwich.

Give a touch of heat to your fish sandwich by creating a batch of chipotle mayo. This is incredibly simple to put together because you only need a handful of ingredients, such as a couple of chipotle peppers from canned chipotle in adobo sauce, mayonnaise, and lime juice, among other elements. You could also whip up a vegan chipotle mayo by including ingredients like soy milk and cashews for a thicker, nuttier spread. Either one creates an incredibly flavorsome spicy mayonnaise that works especially well with grilled fish. 

We love the smoky profile of chipotle with the smokiness of a grilled fish fillet, but it also pairs with beer-battered or fried fish for a creamy dressing. You can customize the heat when you make it at home — more chipotle or some sriracha – making it a pleasant addition if you have a plain piece of fish or frozen fish patty that needs a serious flavor boost. Serve your sandwich with cilantro, lettuce, and sliced tomato.

Aside from tartar sauce, malt vinegar might be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re imagining dressings for fish; it’s a staple for a reason — its tanginess and mild sweetness bring a bold note to fried or grilled fish in just a quick splash. It’s more of a liquid than a sauce (like many other dressings on this list), and it’s a pungent way to upgrade any fish sandwich. There’s no wrong way to incorporate malt vinegar because it acts similarly to adding a squeeze of lemon to your fish. It’s sharp and bright, just where it needs to be, but it’s multi-dimensional with its light, sweet notes. 

The key with this ingredient is that it is quite runny and strong. It isn’t thick, and you don’t need a lot to pack on the flavor. It can work as a dressing for the fish or any toppings that you include, such as a slaw, lettuce, or chopped onion slices. For added creaminess, you could mix it with mayonnaise and garlic sauce. It works with any fish, whether you choose freshly fried tilefish or frozen fish fillets.

Sometimes, simplicity can be an effective way to dress up your food. You don’t have to craft a condiment from scratch if you have hot sauce stored in your fridge or cabinet. Although the ingredients vary slightly, you can expect a pop of heat from any chiles in your hot sauce and then a touch of acidity from the vinegar. You will find these ingredients in many fish dishes and are even mentioned a couple of times in this article, because they work nicely to balance the fish. 

You can use hot sauce on virtually any fish, whether it’s fried, baked, or breaded. As you’re loading up your sandwich, drizzle the hot sauce directly onto the fish so you can ensure that it will be dispersed throughout each bite; we’ve found it tends to get soaked into the bread if you squirt it on the bread itself. If you want more flavor, you can opt for a flavored hot sauce, such as chipotle, chili garlic, or chili lime. Alternatively, add a splash of the hot sauce to another condiment to dress up your fish sandwich, such as ranch dressing or salsa.

Old Bay mayo makes an excellent sauce for fried fish. The seasoning has that nostalgic quality that you may associate with your local seafood shack or granny’s cooking, and it’s one of the simpler ways to dress up your fish sandwich. You simply need your mayonnaise and the Old Bay Seasoning, which is made from celery salt and spices such as red pepper, black pepper, and paprika; the two elements pair for a flavorful addition that’s a divine dressing for fried fish.

This is because the spices in the seasoning are very common on various fish dishes, so incorporating them with mayonnaise offers a creamy mouthfeel with a spiced aftertaste. Leave it at that combination, but you could also add freshly chopped dill for color and an earthy uplift, or you might want some lemon juice or zest for a tangy brightness. Lean further into spicy territory by incorporating a couple of splashes of hot sauce. After your fried fish is cooked, assemble your sandwich, add the dressing directly on top of the fish, then spread it out. 

Don’t pigeonhole hollandaise sauce as an eggs Benedict-only dressing. We encourage you to think outside of the box and try it with your next fish sandwich — think of it as similar to mayo or aioli, which are highly popular options for fish-based meals. In this case, there’s the emulsification of butter and egg yolks (rather than oil and yolks), plus the other ingredients. It’s decadent and heavy, but it feels new yet familiar on a fish sandwich; rather than adding a pat of butter to the fish during the cooking process, the buttery sauce gives a smooth and rich profile once it’s plated. 

Hollandaise fits with many types of fish, whether it’s poached salmon or fried fish patties. And there’s more to it than buttery richness. There’s also added dimension from lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and a light spicy kick from cayenne pepper. After you try it, you may associate hollandaise sauce with a date night dinner rather than a weekend brunch.

Tahini is often associated with hummus, but you can easily eat it in a different manner. Create your very own tahini sauce to complement your fish sandwich, which provides a luscious mouthfeel and a nutty, earthy, slightly bitter profile that can work well with various flavors. Don’t worry — it’s not so prominently nutty like peanut butter is. There are many ways to create a tahini sauce using the namesake ingredient, along with other additions such as garlic, lemon juice, parsley, yogurt, or even water to thin out the mixture. 

In general, a tahini sauce will be a pretty runny way to dress up your fish, so it can work as a drizzle over the fillet or any other toppings. It pairs well with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, or sliced pickles if you want to give your sandwich more flavor, color, and vegetables. You could do a brioche bun or pita, or use haddock, cod, or an alternative firm type of fish — whatever makes sense for you. Whatever you use, with the addition of a tahini sauce, you’ll have a deeply flavorful fish sandwich that’s unlike anything that you’d get at your local fish shack.

Your fish sandwich doesn’t have to be bland and beige. Add a jovial pop of color and bright flavor with the addition of chimichurri. This is a fragrant and flavorful way to give your fish an herbal pop. You’ll often see fish topped with parsley, but we’re taking it up several notches with this Argentinian addition, which usually includes a combination of fresh parsley (lots of it), oregano, garlic, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. 

It’s a blend of the peppery, bitter notes of parsley, a pop of tanginess from the vinegar, and that rich mouth feel from olive oil. It makes the perfect addition to a fish sandwich when you don’t want something as heavy as mayo or a hollandaise sauce; there’s still the richness from the olive oil, but it doesn’t hit as hard because the herbs and vinegar cut through to bring brightness. There’s also the slight texture addition of the finely chopped herbs. The appearance, taste, and texture create a fantastic dressing for your sandwich, like with grilled swordfish on a roll. For something ultra-simple, try it paired with canned sardines on a baguette.

Alabama white sauce is one of the best sauces for fried fish that aren’t tartar sauce because it still plays on the creaminess that you associate with the latter, but it has added elements like Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to give it a hint of heat and dimension. Tartar sauce often has lumps from herbs and pickles, whereas the Alabama white sauce is noticeably thinner. 

It makes a fantastic option to drizzle over your fish as you are assembling the sandwich, giving a final burst of flavor. You can also customize the heat level with added hot sauce to give it a spicier kick with a slight tinge of color — in that case, perhaps it isn’t as white of a sauce. Don’t have hot sauce? You could replace it and use cayenne pepper and horseradish instead. Since Alabama white sauce is associated with barbecue, it can work particularly nicely with a grilled or fried fish.

Remoulade sounds fancy (in comparison to common sauces like ranch), and it kind of is, because it has a French background with a flavorful range of ingredients. It can be the energizing element that your fish sandwich needs because it has a myriad of add-ins to create an impressive dressing. Recipes vary, of course, but we have a Cajun spin that includes a combination of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, and other inclusions, such as Cajun seasoning. 

This is an incredibly deep and flavorful sauce, ideal when you want something different than your average fish seasoning. Need an idea on how to incorporate it? Try it with a Cajun-inspired catfish sandwich. You could pile remoulade on the fish as you assemble the sandwich, but we recommend adding it directly to your bun (especially a brioche bun) to work with those French-inspired flavors. Every single layer of the meal is packed with flavor from the buttery bun to the spicy coleslaw to the savory, seasoned remoulade.

Normally, you might enjoy cocktail sauce with shrimp cocktail, but we encourage you to think outside the box and use it for your next fish sandwich. Cocktail sauce has a dynamic flavor with elements like the sweetness of ketchup, the zestiness of horseradish, the heat of hot sauce, the well-rounded umami flavor of Worcestershire sauce, and the tanginess of lemon. You could also add garlic, onion powder, or even brown sugar, or purchase a store-bought version — you don’t have to create it from scratch. 

The red sauce is strong enough to work with the richness of a fried or breaded fish, or a fish patty, and makes a great alternative to other classics like ketchup or mustard. Cocktail sauce could be a good option when you want something familiar and associated with seafood, but it can still pack a flavorful punch that hits a range of notes — spicy, sweet, tangy, savory. It’s mainly used as a dip, but in this case, its thick consistency holds up well in the sandwich; spread it on an even layer on your fish or bread as you assemble your creation.

When you’re looking for a highly beloved and versatile sauce, look no further than ranch. It’s served in plenty of diners and restaurants because it’s a comforting classic that many customers like to pair with their food. It goes with an incredible range of dishes from meats to grilled veggies, so it’s no stretch of the imagination that it also works with seafood. You probably already have a container of ranch in your fridge, making it convenient as well as flavorful. Of course, you can make it from scratch, and this way you have more flexibility on the flavor profiles — try giving it a super dill-forward taste or adding a tart kick with pickles and brine. 

Ranch is creamy and herby, and we find it works particularly well with fried and battered fish, such as tilapia or cod cakes. Assemble your sandwich with lettuce, sliced tomato, and even quick-pickled vegetables like radish or onion. Ranch is a delicious pairing for a fish burger when you want something that resembles a hamburger, but comes from a different protein source.

Give your fish sandwich a touch of North African flavors by adding harissa. Recipes and store-bought versions will vary, but ingredients can include dried red chiles, roasted red peppers, tomato paste, garlic, cloves, and loads of spices. It is fragrant and flavorful, ensuring that even the blandest of fish gets coated in the flavor. There might be caraway seeds, paprika, cumin, cayenne, or other spices. To round out, there’s a bit of vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, which also adds that rich mouthfeel, which can be incredibly welcome on a poached or grilled fish. 

Make an impressive meal with a seared ahi fish sandwich, or firm fish like swordfish or striped bass, covered in harissa. The bold condiment tends to be thick and chunky, making its presence known in terms of flavor, texture, and color. It holds up well in a sandwich without dripping off like some other liquid dressings. But you could give it a creamier consistency by mixing it with aioli or mayonnaise. Harissa is a fantastic way to dress up a fish sandwich, since it has such a myriad of ingredients and spices within it.