Fried Oysters With Tartar Sauce

By Gabrielle Hamilton

Updated October 24, 2021

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food stylist: Sue Li. Prop stylist: Nicole Louie.
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Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(294)
Comments
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Getting fried oysters from your summer seafood shack is fun, but making them yourself yields something crispy, light and, most significantly, tender. Shuck carefully, bread delicately and fry to golden perfection, then serve with this bright, lively tartar sauce, which gets its spark from cornichons, capers and lemon juice. Eat while hot — whether you’re wearing flip flops or polished oxfords, that’s up to you.

Featured in: Fried Oysters Are Delicious. They’re Even Better at Home.

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Ingredients

Yield:24 oysters and 1 pint sauce

FOR THE OYSTERS

  • ½ cup all-purpose flour

  • Kosher salt and finely ground black pepper

  • 24 shucked plump meaty oysters

  • 2 large eggs, well beaten

  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs

  • Vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco (about 1 ½ pounds)

FOR THE TARTAR SAUCE

  • 1 garlic clove

  • Kosher salt

  • 2 small shallots

  • 8 cornichons plus 2 tablespoons vinegar from the cornichon jar

  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons capers and their brine

  • 1 shy cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann’s or Real Foods

  • ⅓ cup sour cream

  • Juice of ½ lemon (about 1 ½ tablespoons)

  • 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

7 grams carbs; 46 milligrams cholesterol; 402 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 38 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 262 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 12 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the oysters: Season flour with salt and pepper. Dredge each oyster in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg, then coat evenly in the panko.

  2. Step 2

    Set breaded oysters on a baking cooling rack, leaving a little room between the oysters so they can dry and set. Refrigerate until ready to fry and serve.

  3. Step 3

    Make the sauce: Finely mince garlic with a pinch of salt until sticky and pasty. Mince shallots, cornichons and capers as finely as possible. Add all to a small bowl. Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, caper brine and cornichon vinegar, and stir well. Add chopped parsley, stir well and season to taste with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

  4. Step 4

    Fry the oysters: Melt enough shortening in a deep medium skillet (we love cast iron) over medium for 1 ½ inches of liquified fat once hot. Increase heat to medium-high. It’s ready to fry in when a few crumbs of panko or the tip of a wooden chopstick sizzles actively in the fat.

  5. Step 5

    Add the oysters cold from the refrigerator, working in batches of 6 to 8 or as you have room. Fry, making sure to turn them to get both sides, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, depending on size. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider, and let rest on a clean rack while you fry the rest. Season each batch with a little salt while still piping hot, as soon as you pull them from the fat. Serve with tartar sauce.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
294 user ratings
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Comments

Caroline

One of the things I love about this recipe is that there is no advice about how many servings it makes. I think two servings would be about right, but maybe it would work out to just one if I was feeling greedy.

Sajeja

Just added a pinch of cayenne to the batter. My oh my.

AnneC

Here's a far simpler tartar sauce recipe that I learned from my father-in-law in Plymouth, MA. A true shellfish snob, he would only eat the clams, quahogs, and oysters that he dug himself. He never ordered them in a restaurant. Tartar Sauce: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sweet pickle relish, juice from 1/2 lemon.

Hanna Andersen

Just made these with Chincoteague Salts and they were amazing. Absolutely delicious, no notes.

Nadia

Careful with the amounts of liquid from capers, cornichons and lemon as it makes the sauce a little runny. I puréed it all with an immersion blender as I wanted a thicker, evenly consistent sauce and it was a complete hit. This is a keeper.

swe1955

I am now a crisco club member .Best oysters ever.

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