The Worst Store-Bought Tartar Sauce Brand Barely Reminds Us Of Tartar Sauce At All

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A delicious tartar sauce is a must-have condiment for many different dishes — most notably fish and chips, but it can also be paired with plenty of other seafood or used as a general dipping sauce. If you're a fan of the condiment, you've probably thought about investing in a premade bottle from the grocery store just to ensure you always have it on hand. But before you do, check out Daily Meal's ultimate ranking of store-bought tartar sauce. Through our strict ranking process, we discovered one variety that you definitely want to avoid: Primal Kitchen's Tartar Sauce, which we placed dead last out of 12.

To make this ranking, we considered crucial elements such as flavor, texture, value for money, and overall quality. Additionally, we tried each tartar sauce on its own, as well as with a variety of fried seafood and French fries. All that being said, Primal Kitchen's take just didn't live up to the standards of a great tartar sauce. In fact, thanks to its strangely thin, watery consistency (even after giving the bottle a good shake), it wasn't even recognizable as a tartar sauce. To make matters worse, this also prevented it from functioning as a dipping sauce — which is the whole purpose of tartar sauce — since it wouldn't stick.

As for the taste, it was much too salty, with just a hint of black pepper, but nowhere near enough to balance it out. To top it all off, it's one of the most expensive options in the entire ranking. And, considering you can make homemade tartar sauce with just three ingredients, Primal Kitchen's version just isn't worth it.

On Amazon, the reviews of Primal Kitchen's tartar sauce are mixed — specifically, it has a 3.7 out of 5 stars rating, based on 435 reviews, at the time of writing. Despite mostly positive reviews, there are certainly enough complaints to make the average shopper think twice before buying this relatively pricey product. One reviewer, who would likely agree with our ranking, called it "runny" and wrote, "It does not look like tartar sauce. This does not taste like tartar sauce." Another even declared it "vile."

Some reviews landed somewhere in the middle, with users generally liking the flavor but not the consistency (the annoyingly runny nature of Primal Kitchen's tartar sauce seemed to be agreed upon by most reviewers). And of course, there were customers who loved it — one even claimed that they put it on everything — but the negative reviews, along with our ranking, are worth paying attention to, especially given the high price point. If you're still curious, try this tartar sauce for yourself.

But just bear in mind that Vince's, our top choice overall, boasted the strongest, freshest taste, a perfect level of acidity, and a delectably thick, creamy consistency which, compared to Primal Kitchen, is downright decadent.