Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe

this recipe

Why I love this homemade cocktail sauce

Holiday season is almost upon us. I mean there’s been Christmas stuff in the stores for weeks, and the other day I heard Christmas music at the mall. It’s not even Thanksgiving people! What is wrong with everyone?

After being away for the last five Novembers, I am really not used to this. It feels like someone re-wrote the calendar. I vote for celebrating one holiday at at time.

Luckily, with Thanksgiving comes holiday eating. Maybe not cookies, but there’s lots of festive things to eat. One of my favorites, is classic shrimp cocktail (preferably shrimp prepared with Old Bay), and cocktail sauce is one of the easiest condiments that you can make. It’s literally 2 – 3 ingredients.

I don’t know why anyone would even consider buying it. If you’re making shrimp, or even buying it, this holiday season, try making some homemade cocktail sauce. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s what you’ll need to make it

wire whisk

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mixing bowl

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measuring spoons

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How do you make homemade cocktail sauce?

To make this homemade cocktail sauce recipe, stir together ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice and splash of Worcestershire sauce. Make sure you use the freshest prepared horseradish you can find, or prepare it fresh at home if you’re feeling ambitious.

Whatever you do, don’t use horseradish “sauce” because that contains mayonnaise and other unnecessary ingredients.

You should be able to find prepared horseradish in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. If you prefer it spicier, feel free to add additional horseradish (bring it back with ketchup if you add too much.

Tips for making this cocktail sauce recipe:

If you want to make this recipe a little “cleaner” try buying a ketchup with no high fructose corn syrup. If you really want to control your sugar content, which is one of the benefits to making your own condiments, you could even try making your own ketchup.

Then, refrigerate until ready to serve. I like to make a big batch of cocktail sauce around the holidays and keep it in the fridge, just in case. It should last in the fridge for at least a week, but always use your best judgement before serving.

Customize your cocktail sauce. For our family, we always make two bowls of cocktail sauce. One spicy bowl with extra horseradish and one that’s on the milder side. I like mine loaded with horseradish, but, again, do what makes your tastebuds (or guests) happy.

• If you’re entertaining, you can easily make this cocktail sauce ahead of time.
• Use a fork to stir when making your cocktail sauce. It acts similar to a whisk, but is much easier to clean.
• If you add too much horseradish, just add a bit more ketchup to bring it back to your desired level of spiciness.

Other ideas for using cocktail sauce

• Use it as a lighter dip for your crudités platter
• Top a meatloaf with it
• Serve it with crab cakes or fish cakes
• Swap it for ketchup in cocktail meatball sauce
• Add it to a relish tray

More dairy free condiments:

• homemade aioli
• homemade tartar sauce
• dairy free ranch dressing
• spicy sushi sauce
• Thousand island dressing
• how to make pizza sauce
• ranch dip recipe

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Last Updated on February 7, 2022 by Melissa Belanger

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