My favorite easy Shrimp Cocktail sauce recipe only requires three ingredients and a few seconds to make. You’ll never reach for store-bought cocktail sauce again!.
How to Make the Perfect Cocktail Sauce for Shrimp
A shrimp cocktail just isn’t complete without a flavorful, zesty cocktail sauce. This beloved condiment adds excitement and ties the whole appetizer together. But store-bought cocktail sauce often lacks character and fresh flavor. The good news is, it’s incredibly easy to make your own from scratch.
As a home cook and seafood lover I’ve honed my cocktail sauce recipe over the years to create the perfect balance of tangy spicy and sweet. With just three simple ingredients, you can whip up a sauce that’s miles better than anything from a jar. In this article, I’ll share my go-to recipe along with tips for customizing it to suit your tastes. Let’s dive in!
Cocktail Sauce Ingredients
The traditional cocktail sauce formula combines ketchup for sweet tomato flavor, horseradish for nose-clearing heat, and lemon juice for bright acidity. Here are the core ingredients:
Ketchup – You can use store-bought or homemade ketchup. I prefer homemade because it has more tomato flavor, but both work well. Heinz is my favorite brand of bottled ketchup to use.
Horseradish – Only use prepared horseradish, not fresh. The prepared kind has vinegar added to prevent bacterial growth. Look for it in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, near the mustard and condiments.
Lemon Juice – Bottled is fine, or fresh squeezed. Lemon brightens all the other flavors.
That’s really all you need for basic cocktail sauce. But you can also customize it…
Optional mix-ins:
- Hot sauce – Tabasco, Sriracha, etc for extra heat
- Worcestershire sauce – For depth of flavor
- Dijon mustard – Adds tang
- Old Bay seasoning – For warmth and seafood seasoning
- Minced garlic – Extra flavor layer
- Fresh herbs – Like dill, chives or parsley
The possibilities are endless. Play around and make it your own!
How to Make Homemade Cocktail Sauce:
- Add ketchup to a bowl. I use 1 cup ketchup to start, which makes about 1 1/4 cups sauce total.
- Add prepared horseradish. 1-2 teaspoons provides a nice heat level without going overboard.
- Squeeze in fresh lemon juice. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste.
- Whisk everything together until fully blended.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. I like to add a dash or two of hot sauce for extra kick.
- For best flavor, refrigerate for 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to meld.
- Serve chilled alongside peeled, cooked shrimp. Provide small bowls for dipping.
Pro Tip: Make the sauce up to 5 days in advance so the horseradish flavor can fully develop. The spice mellows a bit over time.
How to Cook Shrimp for Shrimp Cocktail:
- For best results, use large or jumbo shrimp (16-20 or 21-25 count per pound). Peel, rinse and devein them.
- The easiest method is to boil the shrimp right in the cocktail sauce. No extra pots!
- Bring sauce to a gentle simmer in a skillet. Add shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes until pink and opaque.
- For a more refined presentation, cook the shrimp separately in salted water just until done. Chill in ice water, then peel.
- Arrange peeled shrimp around the edge of a platter or bowl. Provide small dipping bowls of the chilled cocktail sauce.
Serving Suggestions:
- Ice cold shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce makes an elegant appetizer for parties or holidays. It feels fancy but requires minimal effort.
- Stuff the shrimp into mini phyllo cups for easy passed apps. Top each cup with a dollop of the sauce.
- Serve the shrimp atop a bed of shredded lettuce for a shrimp cocktail salad.
- For a casual summer meal, boil corn on the cob and spread out newspaper on the table for peeled shrimp straight from the pot. Provide ramekins of the dipping sauce.
Why I love this recipe:
- Easy and classy: I always make shrimp cocktail when I need a quick and fancy holiday appetizer. To make your own cocktail sauce, all you need is ketchup, horseradish, and lemon juice.
- Delicious—shrimp costs a lot, so the sauce should be just as good. This homemade cocktail sauce goes great with shrimp and tastes better than any one you can buy in a store.
How to Make Shrimp Cocktail:
Combine: Add ketchup, lemon juice, and prepared horseradish to a bowl then mix well to combine. Taste and make changes based on your tastes (add more horseradish if you want more “punch” and more ketchup if you want it milder).
Serve: Refrigerate shrimp cocktail sauce for at least an hour then serve cold, with cooked shrimp. Arrange on a platter and watch it disappear!.
Classic Red Cocktail Sauce | Shrimp Cocktail | Cocktail Sauce | Cocktail Sauce Recipe
How to make cocktail sauce for shrimp?
How to make cocktail sauce for shrimp with this easy recipe. Homemade and copycat to the Heinz seafood cocktail sauce. Ketchup, horseradish and lemon for dipping. Whisk all the ingredients together until well mixed. Serve with cooked shrimp. Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.
What is shrimp cocktail sauce made of?
The beauty of shrimp cocktail sauce lies in its balance of ingredients: Ketchup: Ketchup provides a sweet, tangy tomato flavor and acts as the base for shrimp cocktail sauce. Prepared horseradish: Made from grated horseradish (a spicy root vegetable from the mustard family) this ingredient gives shrimp cocktail sauce its trademark zippiness.
What is a shrimp cocktail?
All prices were accurate at the time of publishing. A briny bite of cold, tender shrimp wrapped in tart, spicy cocktail sauce is what shrimp cocktail dreams are made of. Well, that and a dry Martini. This classic cocktail-hour appetizer is nothing more than cold cooked shrimp served with a spicy, tangy, tomato-based sauce for dipping.
How to make homemade cocktail sauce?
All you need is ketchup, horseradish and lemon juice to make homemade cocktail sauce. Delicious – Shrimp is expensive and deserves a sauce of equal quality. The flavor of this homemade cocktail sauce compliments the shrimp perfectly and is better than any of those pre-made options.