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Our Homemade Cocktail Sauce recipe combines just five ingredients to make a sauce that’s perfect for shrimp and other seafood dishes.
Easy Homemade Cocktail Sauce
This recipe is so easy and delicious that you’ll never want to buy jarred cocktail sauce ever again. And chances are, you have most of the ingredients in your refrigerator already!
Our cocktail sauce is a simple and perfectly balanced combination of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest and prepared horseradish. The freshly combined flavors are so much better than any jarred sauce you can buy, and it’s just perfect for shrimp cocktail or any other seafood meals like our fried shrimp or beer-batter fish.
The other benefit to making your own cocktail sauce is that you can adjust the amount of horseradish in the recipe to your liking. Our recipe has the perfect amount of heat but you can make the sauce as zesty or as mild as you would like.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- It’s very easy to prepare and tastes better than any jarred variety.
- You can make as much or as little as you need for serving Shrimp Cocktail or other seafood dishes.
- You can adjust the spiciness of the sauce to suit your tastes. As written, this sauce is nicely balanced, but feel free to add more horseradish if you prefer an even zestier sauce.
Reader Review
“This is so delicious! I have been using your recipe for the past few years every time I make low country boil for my family…” -Amanda
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Ketchup – Store bought is fine or make your own.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Lemon – You’ll add both lemon juice and lemon zest to the sauce.
- Prepared Horseradish – Look for the jarred, grated horseradish that only contains horseradish, vinegar, and salt. We use either Gold’s or Boar’s Head brands – they are sold in the refrigerated deli or dairy case at the supermarket. Do not use the creamy prepared horseradish such as Bookbinder’s brand.
Special Tools You’ll Need
How do I make Cocktail Sauce?
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Chill for at least one hour before serving.
- Serve with cooked and peeled shrimp (aka Shrimp Cocktail.)
Very Important Safety Note
If you are serving Shrimp Cocktail and have sauce leftover that has been used for dipping the shrimp, do not save the leftover sauce…discard it.
Also, if the sauce has been sitting out for hours during your party, discard that as well.
To avoid waste, only put a portion of the cocktail sauce that you’ll need for your party or meal. You can always refill the dipping bowl with more sauce if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Cocktail Sauce ahead of time? Yes, this sauce should be chilled at least an hour before serving. You can make this sauce a day ahead of serving.
- How do I store leftovers? See Very Important Safety Note above – only store cocktail sauce that has not been put out for dipping shrimp or other seafood. Store unused sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
This Cocktail Sauce recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in February 2013. We’ve updated the photos and post, but the delicious recipe remains the same.
You Might Like These Other Sauce Recipes
Cocktail Sauce
Our Homemade Cocktail Sauce recipe combines just five ingredients to make a sauce that’s perfect for shrimp and other seafood dishes.
Prep: 10 minsTotal: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Chill for at least 1 hour.
- Serve with cooked peeled shrimp.
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Notes
* Do not use the creamy prepared horseradish in this recipe. You only want to use prepared horseradish that lists horseradish root, salt, and vinegar on the label.
