This easy Cocktail Sauce recipe is a zesty and tangy dipping sauce that’s perfect for prawn cocktails, po’ boys, and crab cakes.
Shrimp’s best friend = Cocktail Sauce.
This seafood sauce is the perfect blend of ketchup, horseradish, and a handful of other simple condiments. Mix them all together and you’re done! You’ll quickly fall for the layers of tanginess and spice in every bite.
This quick 5-minute dipping sauce is the best condiment to pair with boiled shrimp, air fryer shrimp, prawn cocktails, po’ boy sandwiches, fried fish, and more.
Table of Contents
What is cocktail sauce?
Classic Cocktail Sauce is the perfect complement to seafood dishes. Made with a simple blend of pantry staples like ketchup, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce.
Ingredients needed
Here’s what you’ll need for this seafood sauce:
- Ketchup – This is the base of the sauce. Use your favorite brand. I prefer Heinz.
- Horseradish – It needs to be prepared horseradish, not horseradish sauce. If you’d like to make cocktail without horseradish, try swapping in some dijon mustard. Or, you could try adding in some wasabi for an even spicier sauce.
- Hot sauce – Use a Louisiana-style hot sauce, like tabasco sauce, Crystals, or any hot sauce you like. This is optional and can be left out for a less spicy sauce.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Lemon juice – Adds that yummy tang!
- Black pepper
How to make cocktail sauce
Grab a small bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a whisk, and the cocktail sauce ingredients. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine.
Finish off your sauce by tasting it. You may want to add additional lemon juice, hot sauce, etc. to taste.
That’s it! The hardest part is deciding where to use it first.
Tip: I recommend leaving the homemade shrimp cocktail sauce in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours after you mix it together. This time gives the ingredients a chance to wake up and mingle, resulting in a well-rounded, full-bodied flavor.
FAQs
Cocktail sauce was invented by TV personality and British chef, Fanny Cradock around 1967. She originally created the sauce to serve with a prawn cocktail. Hence the name “cocktail” sauce.
Yes. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.
Ways to use cocktail sauce
This dipping sauce is traditionally served with prawn cocktail, and fried dishes popular throughout Louisiana and the south, like po’ boy sandwiches and crab cakes.
Get creative and use it as a dip or sauce with any dish that could use a tangy or savory bite. These are a few of my favorite ways to use it:
- Use it as the perfect fried finger food dip. It’s great with zucchini fries, french fries, fried green beans, mozzarella sticks, and fish sticks.
- It enhances every bite of fried shrimp, oysters, clams, and lobster rolls.
More seafood sauce recipes
More homemade dipping sauces
Did you make this cocktail sauce?
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If you loved this recipe – be sure to try my crab cake sauce recipe too!
Full Recipe
Cocktail Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (plus more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce (such as Tabasco, plus more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
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