Sauces to Serve With Crab Cakes: Tartar, Remoulade, Mayo-Based and Cream Options

Crab cakes are usually served with a sauce on the side or spooned over the top. Published recipes and cook discussions point to a few families: mayonnaise-based sauces like tartar, remoulade, lemon caper and aioli; a tomato-based cocktail sauce; and a warm cream sauce. This guide compares them using only the ingredient and quantity details that could be confirmed. Where a step, quantity, cue or storage rule could not be confirmed, the guide says so instead of filling the gap.

What a crab cake sauce should do, and when to use each type

Each sauce below was presented as an accompaniment for crab cakes. The available material does not explain why a particular sauce works with crab, such as balancing richness or adding acidity, so that reasoning is not verified here. What can be compared is the base of each sauce, which affects how you plan the meal:

• Cold, mayonnaise-based sauces (lemon caper, Creole tartar, tartar, remoulade, chipotle aioli): the listed ingredients involve no cooking.
• Tomato-based cocktail sauce (ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish): also built from no-cook ingredients.
• Cream sauce (Cajun cream with white wine, lemon juice and heavy cream): the method, including whether or how long it is heated, could not be verified.
• Lemon butter sauce: people search for it, but no recipe, ingredient list or method was available, so it is not covered.

Side-by-side comparison

Sauce | Base | Ingredients confirmed | Quantities confirmed | Not verified

Lemon caper sauce | Mayonnaise | Mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard if available, a little hot sauce, capers, fresh lemon zest | None | Full ingredient list, amounts, method, storage

Creole tartar sauce | Mayonnaise | Mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, Creole seasoning, chili powder | 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish, several dashes Creole seasoning to taste, a small dash of chili powder | Remaining ingredients, method, storage

Homemade tartar sauce | Not stated | Not stated | None | Recipe details

Remoulade | Not stated | Not stated | None | Recipe details

Chipotle aioli | Not stated | Not stated | None | Recipe details

Cilantro and lime dip | Not stated | Cilantro and lime, inferred from the name only | None | Recipe details

Cocktail sauce | Ketchup | Ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish | None | Amounts, method, storage

Cajun cream sauce | Heavy cream and white wine | White wine, lemon juice (preferably fresh), heavy cream, Cajun seasoning | 1/4 cup white wine, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning | Remaining ingredients, method, heat and timing, storage

Simple mayonnaise-based sauces

Lemon caper sauce

One lemon caper recipe for crab cakes starts with mayonnaise and adds Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard if you have it, a little hot sauce, capers and fresh lemon zest. The ingredient list continues past those items, but the rest could not be confirmed. Amounts and mixing instructions were not available.

Creole tartar sauce

This is the most fully quantified mayonnaise sauce available here. It uses 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish, several dashes of Creole seasoning to taste, and a small dash of chili powder. At least one more ingredient follows, but it could not be confirmed. Because the Creole seasoning is added to taste, this sauce has a built-in checkpoint: taste it and adjust the seasoning before serving.

Tartar sauce, remoulade, chipotle aioli and cilantro lime dip

One seafood retailer lists homemade tartar sauce, remoulade, chipotle aioli, and a cilantro and lime dip among its top crab cake sauces. The fifth pick on that list could not be confirmed. Ingredients, amounts and methods for these four sauces were not available, so they are not given here.

Quick mayo mixes suggested by home cooks

In a cooks' forum discussion about crab cake sauces, contributors listed these ingredient combinations without measurements:

• Mayonnaise, Japanese chili sauce, dry mustard and Old Bay seasoning.
• Mayonnaise, chili sauce and pickle relish. This combination appears to continue with more ingredients that could not be confirmed.

Since no amounts were given, these are flavor directions rather than recipes. Season gradually and taste as you go.

Cocktail sauce

The same discussion suggested cocktail sauce made from ketchup, lemon juice and horseradish. This is the one option here without mayonnaise or cream. Proportions were not given.

Creamy option: Cajun cream sauce

A Cajun cream sauce published for crab cakes uses 1/4 cup white wine, 2 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh), 2 tablespoons heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. The list continues with at least one more ingredient, but it could not be confirmed. The method was also unavailable, including whether the wine is reduced, the order of additions, the heat level, the timing, and how thick the finished sauce should be. Do not treat these quantities as a complete recipe.

Order of actions

None of the available material included step-by-step preparation for any of these sauces. The sequence below uses only what is supported.

• 1. Choose a sauce family: a cold mayonnaise sauce, cocktail sauce, or Cajun cream sauce.
• 2. Gather the confirmed ingredients from the comparison table.
• 3. If you choose a sauce with known quantities (Creole tartar or Cajun cream), measure the confirmed amounts.
• 4. For seasonings marked "to taste" or "a little" (Creole seasoning, hot sauce), add a small amount, taste, and add more only if needed.
• 5. For the Cajun cream sauce, stop here unless you have the complete recipe. The cooking method could not be verified.

Substitutions supported by the recipes

• Whole grain mustard in the lemon caper sauce is optional; that recipe adds it only if available.
• Fresh lemon juice is preferred in the Cajun cream sauce. The wording suggests other lemon juice is acceptable, but no difference in result is described.
• No other substitutions could be confirmed, including dairy-free, lighter or egg-free alternatives to mayonnaise or cream.

Judging the result, and safety

The only supported way to judge any of these sauces is by taste, applied where a recipe says to season to taste. No visual or texture cues for a finished sauce could be verified, such as target thickness, color, or how the cream sauce should coat a spoon. Safety and storage guidance was also unavailable: there is no confirmed information on refrigeration, how long a mayonnaise-, cream- or wine-based sauce keeps, or how far ahead it can be made. For storage, check a complete recipe or an authoritative food safety source.

Healthy and low-carb sauces

A recipe video presents a crab cake sauce that also works as a salad dressing and labels it low-carb and keto. Its ingredients, method and nutrition details were not available, and the dietary label has not been validated. No other sauce here comes with a confirmed nutrition or dietary claim, so none is recommended as a healthy choice.

Gaps to fill before cooking

• Complete ingredient lists for the lemon caper, Creole tartar and Cajun cream sauces.
• Any recipe details for tartar sauce, remoulade, chipotle aioli, cilantro lime dip and lemon butter sauce.
• Preparation methods for every sauce, especially the heating method for the Cajun cream sauce.
• Visual and texture cues for a finished sauce.
• Storage and food safety guidance.
• Nutrition and dietary information for any sauce.