Shrimp cocktail is poached shrimp served cold with a sharp tomato and horseradish sauce. It is one of the oldest restaurant appetizers there is and one of the easiest to get wrong, because the shrimp are almost always overcooked. Done right, the shrimp are just barely set, sweet and snappy, and the sauce is built from scratch so it tastes of horseradish and lemon rather than sugar. This is the version I have served for thirty years.
It is entirely make-ahead. The shrimp poach and chill in twenty minutes, the sauce takes five, and both hold for a day. Serve it cold, on ice if you can, early in the meal.
Why It Works: Poaching Off the Heat
Shrimp go from raw to perfect to rubbery in about a minute, and the mistake most people make is boiling them until they are opaque all the way through, which is a minute too far. The fix is to bring a seasoned pot of water to a boil, kill the heat, add the shrimp, and let the residual heat cook them through in three to four minutes with no flame under the pot. Then straight into ice water to stop them cold. They finish the way they should: opaque and firm but still tender, curled into a loose C rather than a tight O.
The USDA calls shrimp safely cooked when the flesh is pearly and opaque throughout, which the residual-heat method reaches comfortably. A tight, rubbery curl means they went past that point.
Classic Shrimp Cocktail
Serves 4 as an appetizer. Prep 15 minutes, cook 5 minutes, chilling 30 minutes, total about 50 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 count), peeled and deveined, tails on
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons salt, for the poaching water
For the cocktail sauce:
- 3/4 cup ketchup or a good tomato passata reduced slightly
- 3 to 4 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
- Pinch of celery salt
Method
- Fill a large pot with about 3 quarts water. Add the salt, lemon halves, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a hard boil, then boil 2 minutes to build flavor.
- Turn the heat off completely. Add the shrimp, stir once, and cover. Let them stand off the heat 3 to 4 minutes, until they are opaque and curled into a loose C.
- Drain and plunge the shrimp into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes. Drain again and pat dry. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Stir all the cocktail sauce ingredients together. Taste and adjust the horseradish and lemon. It should be sharp enough to clear your sinuses a little. Refrigerate.
- Serve the shrimp hooked over the rim of a chilled glass or piled on crushed ice, with the sauce in the middle and lemon wedges alongside.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
Estimated by calculation for one of four servings, not lab verified.
| Calories | Protein | Carbohydrate | Fat | Fiber | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 180 | 28 g | 13 g | 2 g | 1 g | 900 mg |
Tips and Variations
- Poach in the shell if you have time to peel afterward. The shells add flavor and a little protection against overcooking. Save them for a quick shellfish stock.
- Frozen shrimp are fine and often better than thawed shrimp at the counter. Thaw them in cold water, not the microwave.
- Marie Rose sauce is the British version: equal parts mayonnaise and ketchup with a little Worcestershire and lemon, softer and creamier than the horseradish one.
- Make it a platter: add lemon, a ramekin of the sauce, and a second ramekin of Marie Rose, over a bed of ice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size shrimp should I buy?
Large, 16 to 20 per pound, or jumbo, 21 to 25. Smaller shrimp overcook even faster and get lost in the sauce. The count number on the bag is shrimp per pound, so a lower number means bigger shrimp.
How do I know the shrimp are done?
They turn from gray and translucent to pink and opaque, and they curl into a loose C shape. A tight O or a hard, rubbery texture means they are overcooked. Pull one out at three minutes and cut it to check.
Can I make the whole thing the day before?
Yes. Poached, chilled shrimp keep one day covered in the refrigerator, and the sauce keeps three days. Assemble on ice just before serving.
Why is store-bought cocktail sauce so sweet?
It is mostly ketchup with very little horseradish. Making your own lets you push the horseradish, lemon, and Worcestershire up and the sugar down, which is what the shrimp actually want.
Do I have to devein shrimp?
The dark line along the back is the digestive tract. It is harmless but gritty and not pretty, so for a dish where the shrimp is the whole point, yes, devein it. A paring knife or a deveiner does it in seconds.
Tools for the Job
A big pot, an ice bath, and a sharp small knife for peeling and deveining.
- 13-Inch Damascus Chef Knife
- 5-Ply Stainless Stock Pot, 7 Quart
- Handmade Stoneware Serving Platter
- Pots, Pans and Cookware
More Appetizers
See all appetizers, or start with these.
Who Is Writing This
I am Chef Alan. I have spent 35 years in professional kitchens, I have formal culinary training in New Hampshire, and I have been honored as a 6-time 4-Diamond chef. More about me here. If a step did not make sense, get in touch and I will fix it.
Thank you for cooking this one with us. From all of us at Wine Drop Cookery.
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service says shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops are safely cooked when the flesh is pearly and opaque throughout, per the FSIS safe minimum internal temperature chart. The residual-heat poach reaches that without pushing the shrimp to rubber.