Ina Garten Rémoulade Sauce

Ina Garten rémoulade sauce turns mayonnaise, small-diced pickles and coarse-grained mustard into a creamy, tangy sauce in 5 minutes. Try this easy party appetizer sauce for crab cake night, game day or a summer cookout, since it's a simple recipe with no cooking at all.

Dice the pickles very small, because tiny pieces spread through every spoonful instead of sinking to the bottom of the bowl. Leave them chunky and the sauce turns watery and uneven.

Ina Garten says the classic version pairs rémoulade with celeriac salad, but she loves it best with crab cakes. She describes it as tartar sauce with much more flavor, which comes from the mustard and the champagne vinegar working together.

Source: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999)

Ina Garten Rémoulade Sauce

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Course: AppetizerCuisine: American, FrenchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

110

kcal

A small bowl of mayonnaise whisked with chopped pickles and coarse mustard gives a thick, creamy sauce with tiny crunchy bits. Chilling it for a bit lets the vinegar and mustard settle into the mayo.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup good mayonnaise
  

• 2 tablespoons small-diced pickles or cornichons
  

• 1 teaspoon coarse-grained mustard
  

• 1 tablespoon champagne or white wine vinegar
  

• pinch kosher salt
  

• pinch freshly ground black pepper
  

Directions

• Prep the pickles: Dice 2 tablespoons of pickles or cornichons into very small pieces. Smaller bits mix evenly, so every bite gets some tang.
• Mix the sauce: Combine 1/2 cup good mayonnaise, the diced pickles, 1 teaspoon coarse-grained mustard, 1 tablespoon champagne or white wine vinegar, a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth, then taste and add a little more salt or pepper if you like.
• Chill and serve: Cover the bowl and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Serve it cold or at room temperature, depending on what it's going with.

Tools for this recipe

• Pyrex 3-piece glass mixing bowl set, OXO 11-inch balloon whisk, Victorinox Fibrox 8-inch chef's knife, Hellmann's real mayonnaise, 30 oz. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

FAQs

What can I serve with rémoulade sauce?

Crab cakes are the classic match, and Ina Garten's favorite. It also works as a dip for chilled shrimp or a sauce spooned over grilled fish.

How is rémoulade different from tartar sauce?

Both start with mayonnaise and pickles, but rémoulade has more flavor because of the coarse-grained mustard and vinegar. The result is tangier and a little sharper than a plain tartar sauce.

Can I make rémoulade sauce ahead of time?

Yes, since the recipe is meant to be covered and refrigerated until serving. Making it a bit ahead gives the flavors time to blend. It's also fine at room temperature, so you can set it out just before guests arrive.

Can I use a food processor instead of whisking?

Yes, Ina Garten's headnote says you can pulse everything in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse just until the pickles are finely chopped and everything is mixed, because you don't want it puréed.

What's the most common mistake with this sauce?

Using cheap mayonnaise is the big one, since mayo is most of the sauce and its flavor shows. Overprocessing is the other, because puréeing the pickles turns it smooth and loses the little crunchy bits.