How do you make your favorite cocktail sauce? Just ketchup and horseradish? Maybe even just ketchup and hot sauce? Chances are if you are here, you’re also looking to take it up a notch. Good news is that it is one of our easy recipes.
You might also be one of those people that never really thought about, just got the grocery store version. The best cocktail sauce is about to come your way!
Cocktail Sauce Recipe
Classic Cocktail Sauce is more than just ketchup and horseradish. For many, the perfect blend has a few more ingredients to form a balanced sauce worthy of complementing the best seafood.
Also read on for why this can be transformed into a cocktail sauce without horseradish!
But the cocktail sauce you get at (some) restaurants tastes different. It has a little more ump. Pizzazz. Your homemade Cocktail Sauce can also be this good with your own special customizations or start with our award winning recipe.
Where Does It Come From?
Cocktail sauce was invented by famed British chef and TV personality, Fanny Cradock, and originally made to serve with a prawn cocktail. The name, therefore, was the “sauce of the cocktail”.
And what we know today as the famous Shrimp Cocktail, deemed the ultimate of fancy appetizers and hor dourves. I think I might go back to referring to it as a Prawn Cocktail. It sounds so much more sophisticated.
What Makes This One Different?
My recipe includes the basic building blocks for any cocktail sauce, although some cooks prefer to use a chili sauce in lieu of or in addition to ketchup. We use a few more items to amplify the overall flavor. Then we suggest letting it sit. Yep- let that bowl of goodness marry into beautiful flavors.
After you get your basic sauce perfected, then you can start getting crazy with other concoctions, like my Balsamic Cocktail Sauce that I serve with Balsamic Steamed Shrimp.
So What
Ingredients for Cocktail Sauce
The list is small, but mighty.
- Ketchup- Commercial ketchup is often sweetened. You can also make your own or buy an unsweetened version. I honestly like the sweet and spicy flavor combo, so I use good old Heinz. Some folks also want to use tomato paste, but it is often too thick and too tomato-y.
- Prepared Horseradish- Horseradish is actually root, similar to wasabi, but is fibrous and tends to dry our very fast. To prevent, this, it is placed in a brine, usually vinegar based, to preserve it. You’ll find that different brands also have different pungencies and brine recipes, so test them out or taste test the one you are using and add more or less depending on how spicy you like it. My husband would use more horseradish than ketchup if it was up to him! If you can find fresh horseradish, more power to you, but it is challenging to work with.
- Fresh Lemon Juice– Fresh citrus is always packs more natural flavor. Bottled is slightly muted. If you are craving that fresh lemony flavor, also opt to add a few grates of lemon zest to the mix.
- Worcestershire Sauce– The most mispronounced ingredient in the English language is also the one that gives this sauce a bold and heady flavor.
- Hot sauce- I use Franks for a spicy kick, but take it up a notch with Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce or omit it for a milder version.
- Fine Sea Salt- If you follow us, you know we like to coarse salt, but for this recipe it won’t have time to dissolve and integrate, leaving you with salty crunchies. Fine sea salt works best, opposed to an iodized table salt which can leave a metallic aftertaste.
- Black Pepper– Make sure it is a fine grind so you don’t get peppery crunchies. Freshly ground will be the best for peppery flavors. White pepper can also be used, but will be a tad milder.
Mix all of the ingredient together in a small bowl, cover and allow to chill and marry for at least an hour. Stir again and serve!
You can make it your own cocktail sauce with other variations. We’d love to hear some in the comments section.
Cocktail Sauce without Horseradish
Yes, it can be done, but you will also be missing one of the key elements. If you still want a spicy sauce, double or even triple the hot sauce.
If you just want a seafood sauce that offers a nice complement to shrimp, keep it the same just without horseradish.
What To Use Cocktail Sauce On
Since its invention,cocktail sauce has since been added as a staple to many seafood dishes beyond just shrimp cocktail- some even call it shrimp cocktail sauce. Really it can be used on any of your favorite seafood.
Fried fish, fish sticks, oysters and clams, fried and steamed shrimp, sometimes even crab cakes steamed and fried crabs.
I even like mine with hush puppies, but don’t tell anyone, that is sooo taboo. I’m not a huge fan of Tartar Sauce, although I’ve been told I make a good one, so anything that usually pairs with tartar gets cocktail sauce!Â
You can even use it to build Bloody Mary’s! Pair it with some vodka, tomato juice and a lemon wedge and you’ve got a slamming cocktail.
If ketchup is the ultimate condiment, then this sauce is its close cousin. Maybe even a sibling.Â
Storage & Make Ahead
This sauce is actually better when you make it ahead of time. The trouble is that it gets a little gummy. Allow it to come to come to temperature for 15-20 minutes and give it a good stir before serving.
It will stay fresh in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Can you freeze cocktail sauce? You can freeze cocktail sauce, but it I’ve very rarely heard of it being done. If you do, freeze it in small batches in sandwich bags or even an ice cube tray so you can just defrost a little bit for dipping when needed.Â
More classic sauce recipes:
- Beurre Blanc Sauce
- Bacon Jalapeno Fry Sauce
- Coconut Curry Sauce
- Balsamic Reduction
- Blender Mayonnaise
- Shrimp Cocktail Recipe
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Best Cocktail Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1-2 tablespoons prepared horseradish or more if you like it spicy
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Dash of finely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
- Stir well. Sauce can be served immediately or chill for 1 hour for best results.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
It’s my new go to cocktail sauce. I like your tartar sauce too.
Woohoo! Thanks for coming back to let us know!
can this be duplicated and water bathed for long term storage??
Like jarring it? I’m honestly not sure. I don’t jar things and I know there are some restrictions. Let me check with a friend of mine that cans.
I noticed in the nutritional info, that there are 55gr of sugar per serving in this recipe …where does it come from?
Likely the ketchup- we use a generalized calculator, we don’t do it for each individual recipe. You can use a low cal or sugar free ketchup to reduce the sugar.
This cocktail sauce is very easy to prepare and tastes better than any other I’ve ever tried!
Thanks so much for coming back to let us know!
This is actually really delicious! Followed the recipe exactly except for using a little bit more salt at the end. We like salty things in our family though! Easy to prep and great bitey flavor! Go-to cocktail sauce recipe now! Yum!
Thank you, Kelsey!
Best Cocktail sauce we have ever had! Super easy to make. Will not be buying Cocktail sauce at the grocery store any time soon. Thank you!
This recipe is so fast, easy, and delicious. I really couldn’t ask for more from this recipe.
Awesome! Thank you!
Excellent sauce, perfect for any seafood dish!
Love this recipe! Way better than anything you can buy in the store! I didn’t have horseradish so I used wasabi powder and it was fantastic!
Nice! Loving that swap and thanks so much for coming by to let us know.
Easy, and delicious! My new go-to!
It was some of the best cocktail sauce I have eaten
Thank you! We happen to agree, LOL.
This cocktail sauce is the best. I will not use any other. It is easy to make and quick. Fantastic!!!
Thank you, Marilyn!
This is the best recipe for cocktail sauce I’ve found. It tastes just like store-bought, only better and fresher. It mixes up in minutes too. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for your time to tell us, Tammy! It means a lot 🙂
Love the souse. Will never buy cocktail sauce I the store again. I don’t like real hot and spicy like some I get in the store this I love it that I can tweak it for my taste. Once made how long can you store it in the refrigerator? Great recipe. TY
Hi Sue, glad you love it as much as we do! You can store it for about a week.
Outstanding sauce. I will never buy cocktail sauce again. The flavors were so great!
Thank you!!!
Wonderful!
Thank you!
This is exactly how I’ve made mine for years!! Sometimes I mix it up a lil and and use hienz chili sauce. Great recipe!!
Delicious
Thank you 🙂
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!!! And delicious! I already had all the ingredients on hand, so this recipe saved me what would have been a totally unnecessary trip to the grocery store! Thanks, and have a safe and happy New Year!
Awesome! That is what we love to hear. I also happen to think it tastes better than the store bought stuff 🙂
What kind of hot sauce do you use in the cocktail sauce?
Usually just Texas Pete.
I use chili sauce better than ketchup
Chili sauce and BBQ sauce are often subs, all three taste great!
Perfect recipe, I bought sugar free ketchup at Walmart to reduce carbs and sugar. I am a diabetic and this is just right.
Yay! So glad you love it!
Adds that extra extra to my normal ketsup/horseradish…..
Thank you!
I made this sauce for our Easter dinner shrimp appetizer and it was a huge hit. I made it towards my family’s tastes by adding enough horse radish to open our sinuses for a week. The only change I made was to swap out plain salt for celery salt. One of the best sauces we’ve ever had. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by to let us know, Gillian!
Wow wow wow! I cannot believe how good this is, I wish we had hot sauce but even without it I am impressed.
So glad to hear that and thank you for taking time out to let us know!
I thought this tasted geat even though I over did both the hot sauce and freshly ground pepper. Doubt we will ever buy prepared coctail sauce again.
LOL- you sound like my husband. He likes it HOT! I make him a seperate bowl. LOL. Glad you loved it!
This was so easy to make and customize to our taste!! So good!!!
Fabulous! That is what I like hear. Thanks for stopping by to let us know, Melanie!
Quick and easy to make and tastes delicious!
Thank you, Marie!
Love it and more importantly the husband was loving it.
That is what I like to hear! Glad you loved it!
This is my favorite cocktail sauce
Thank you, Jeff!
If you like it really spicy Instead oF regular horserasish sauce get the extra hot horSeradish gratef course and add a few tabl
Exactly how I make it. I also keep tobacco sauce on the side for more adventurous.
Yes to extra HOT SAUCE! We like our noses to bead with sweat in this house!
Excellent it’s what I’ve bin looking for thanks
Oh Man!!! That sauce was awesome! I do not like jarred cocktail sauce, so I needed to find one that was good, fast, and easy to make. This one was it. I like mine a bit spicier than just a little hot sauce and 2 tablespoons of horseradish, but it was great! Thanks!
Glad you loved it, Tina! Hubby likes his really hot too, we make his extra spicy!