Shrimp cocktail is the appetizer where size is the whole argument. A pound of small shrimp poached and chilled is a salad topping; a pound of super colossal shrimp, 10 to 12 to the pound, is a platter people reach for before they sit. The shrimp are the expensive part and the cooking is almost nothing, so this shrimp cocktail recipe spends its attention where it pays: a seasoned poach that stops when the shrimp turn opaque, an ice bath that stops it for good, and a cocktail sauce with enough horseradish to make your eyes water.
We use our Super Colossal Shrimp, $32 for a 16 oz pack, peeled and deveined, tails on, raw and frozen, usually 10 to 12 to the pound. Peeled and deveined matters more here than in any other shrimp dish: no sauce hides a vein, nobody peels at the table, and the tail stays on as a handle. Shrimp freeze well; thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and they come out firm.
Homemade cocktail sauce is five pantry ingredients stirred together, and it beats the jar for one reason: you control the horseradish. Jarred sauces are sweet first and sharp second. This one is sharp first, with ketchup for body, lemon for lift and Worcestershire for depth, and it comes together while the shrimp chill.
Plan on an overnight thaw, about 15 minutes of work, 5 minutes of cooking and an hour of chilling. One pack serves four as a first course, three shrimp each, with sauce to spare.
Nutrition
Shrimp cocktail calories are low because almost nothing is added to the shrimp. USDA FoodData Central lists cooked shrimp at about 99 calories, 24 grams of protein and under half a gram of fat per 100 grams, with about 189 mg of cholesterol (FoodData Central), which is why shrimp show up on high-protein menus and why the cholesterol below outruns the fat. The sauce is where the sugar lives: ketchup is roughly a fifth sugar by weight per the same source, so a quarter cup of cocktail sauce carries around 10 grams. Estimates below are for three super colossal shrimp, about 3 oz cooked, with a quarter cup of sauce.
Use half the sauce per person and the sugar drops by half; the shrimp themselves carry almost none.
| Fats | % DV* |
| Total Fat 0.5g | 1% |
| Saturated Fat 0g | 0% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Monounsaturated Fat 0g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 160mg | 53% |
| Carbs, Protein & Micronutrients | % DV* |
| Total Carbohydrate 14g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.5g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 10g | |
| Protein 21g | 42% |
| Sodium 580mg | 25% |
| Potassium 385mg | 8% |
Ingredients
Two components, and the shrimp decide whether the dish is worth it. Colossal shrimp are the right size because each one is a bite and a half, firm enough to hold its curl and big enough to carry a spoon of sauce. Our super colossal shrimp are peeled and deveined, tail on, 10 to 12 to the pound; our shrimp sizing guide explains what jumbo, colossal and U-numbers mean on a bag. Shrimp cocktail sauce needs ketchup, prepared horseradish, lemon, Worcestershire and hot sauce, nothing else. Buy horseradish from the refrigerated case, not the shelf; it is sharper, and sharpness is the point. The poaching liquid takes a lemon, a bay leaf, peppercorns and salt.
- 16 oz (10 to 12) Super colossal shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail on, thawedFeatured
- 3 quarts Water
- 2 tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 Lemon, halved, plus wedges to serve
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 tsp Black peppercorns
- A few Parsley stems (optional)
- 3/4 cup Ketchup (cocktail sauce)
- 2 to 3 tbsp Prepared horseradish, drained (cocktail sauce)
- 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice (cocktail sauce)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (cocktail sauce)
- To taste Hot sauce and freshly ground black pepper (cocktail sauce)
- For serving Crushed ice and lemon wedges
Preparation
Thaw the shrimp overnight in the refrigerator in their sealed bag. A shrimp poached from frozen overcooks outside before the center is done, and the texture turns mealy. Once thawed, rinse them under cold water, check that the vein is gone, and pat them dry.
Fill a large bowl with ice water and set it by the stove; the ice bath is the step that keeps colossal shrimp from cooking through on their own heat. Stir the cocktail sauce together now so the flavors settle, and chill the platter or glasses. Before the water goes on:
- Thaw the sealed bag overnight in the refrigerator, never on the counter.
- Rinse the shrimp, check that the vein is gone and pat them dry.
- Fill a large bowl with ice and water and set it beside the stove.
- Stir the cocktail sauce together and refrigerate it.
- Chill the platter or serving glasses.
- Halve the lemon; measure the salt, bay leaf and peppercorns.
How to Cook
Here is how to make shrimp cocktail that tastes like the restaurant version, not the deli tray. How to cook shrimp for shrimp cocktail is a poaching question, not a boiling one; the water should be at a bare simmer when the shrimp go in, or off the heat. The cocktail sauce recipe is the easy half. This shrimp cocktail recipe is four steps, and two of them are about stopping.
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Poach the Shrimp in Seasoned Water
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot with the salt, the lemon halves squeezed and dropped in, the bay leaf, peppercorns and parsley stems, and boil it for 5 minutes so the water tastes seasoned. If a shrimp is still icy at the center, finish thawing it in cold water first, per our guide on how to safely thaw seafood, a half-frozen shrimp poaches unevenly. Turn the heat off, add the shrimp all at once and stir them under. Super colossal shrimp need about 3 to 4 minutes off the heat: they turn pink and opaque, the flesh firms, and each one curls into a loose C. The FDA's doneness cue for shrimp is flesh that is pearly and opaque (FDA, Selecting and Serving Seafood Safely); a shrimp curled into a tight O has gone past it. Pull one at 3 minutes and halve it to check the center.
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Shock in an Ice Bath
Lift the shrimp out with a slotted spoon straight into the ice water, leaving the aromatics behind, for 5 minutes, until cold through. Shrimp this size hold heat and keep cooking for a minute or two on a plate; the ice bath stops them where you want them and sets the snap. Drain them, pat them dry and refrigerate them covered for at least an hour. Shrimp cocktail is served cold, and cold means refrigerator cold, not room temperature over ice.
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Stir Together the Cocktail Sauce Recipe
Stir the ketchup, 2 tablespoons of horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire, a few dashes of hot sauce and plenty of black pepper together. Taste it with a chilled shrimp, not a spoon; it should be sharp enough to clear your sinuses and sweet enough to want a second shrimp. Add the third tablespoon of horseradish if it needs it. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so the horseradish settles into the ketchup. Makes about 1 cup, more than four people will use; it keeps.
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Chill & Arrange on Ice
Fill a platter or wide bowl with crushed ice and set the cocktail sauce in the middle. Hang the shrimp by their tails around the rim of a coupe or martini glass, three to a glass, or fan them on the ice around the sauce, tails out. Tuck lemon wedges between them. Serve at once; the ice buys about 30 minutes on a buffet before the shrimp warm, and the FDA's 2 hour limit for food out of refrigeration is the outer bound (FDA). Replace the ice; never let the shrimp sit in meltwater.
How to Serve
A shrimp cocktail platter is the easiest centerpiece on a holiday or party table because it is finished before guests arrive and gains nothing from fussing. Build it on a deep tray of crushed ice with the sauce in the center and lemon wedges scattered through. Three to four super colossal shrimp per person is a first course; two is a passed bite.
To turn the platter into a full chilled seafood course, add our wild snow crab leg meat, fully cooked and shell-free, thawed and served cold with the same cocktail sauce and a dish of drawn butter; a 16 oz pack of leg meat and a pound of shrimp feed eight as a starter. Oysters on the half shell and a bowl of mignonette round it out. Keep everything else cold and simple: a dry sparkling wine, a cold lager or a very dry martini, which is where the glass came from.
A second sauce beside the cocktail sauce is the one upgrade worth making:
- Lemon and dill creme fraiche, for anyone who finds horseradish too sharp.
- Remoulade, mayonnaise with capers, cornichons, Dijon and a dash of hot sauce.
- Plain melted butter with lemon, if the snow crab is on the platter.
Storing Shrimp Cocktail Safely
How long does shrimp cocktail last in the fridge: 3 to 4 days for the cooked shrimp, the window the FDA's refrigerator and freezer storage chart gives cooked fish and canned seafood after opening (FDA storage chart), kept covered at 40F or below. The chart of FDA safe food handling temperatures also sets the 2 hour limit for cooked food at room temperature, or 1 hour above 90F, which is the rule for a shrimp platter at a party. Shrimp that sat out past that go in the trash, not back in the refrigerator.
Store shrimp and sauce separately. Shrimp left in cocktail sauce soften and pick up the vinegar; the sauce on its own keeps for several days. Do not freeze cooked shrimp cocktail; the shrimp were frozen once already, and cooked shrimp frozen again come out soft and watery. Thawed raw shrimp should be cooked within a day or two.
