Homemade Shrimp Cocktail

This is the first time I've made a homemade cocktail sauce and was pleasantly surprised. It was so easy to make and this meal comes together in minutes, especially if you buy shrimp that is already peeled and deveined. My sister and I spent what felt like hours peeling and deveining shrimp, but even with the extra effort, this recipe was worth it. You can serve this as an appetizer or as a main course.

This sauce can be easily tweaked to your liking. Deb from Smitten Kitchen adds extra lemon juice to her sauce. If you want more spice to it, increase the amount of horseradish or cayenne pepper. We grilled shrimp when we made this recipe, but you could also sauté your shrimp if grilling is out of the question. The cooking instructions are exactly the same as with grilling, except that instead of threading the shrimp on skewers, you just cook them individually in a pan over medium-high heat. Serve the shrimp when it is just cooked and enjoy.


Recipe from America's Test Kitchen via Smitten Kitchen
Makes enough sauce for 3 pounds of shrimp

For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together.

To grill the shrimp:
Peel and devein your shrimp. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with olive oil (don't skimp), salt, and pepper. Thread shrimp onto skewers to make grilling easier. Grill shrimp for a minute of 2 or each side, until the shrimp turns pink. Do not overcook the shrimp! Squeeze some lemon juice over your shrimp before serving, if desired. Pin It Now!