The Best Cocktail Sauce Ever Recipe
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The Best Cocktail Sauce Recipe is made with a handful of ingredients, ready in 5 minutes, and is delicious served with fish and seafood! Quick, easy, and delicious recipe!
Homemade Cocktail Sauce is delicious served with boiled shrimp, scallops, shrimp tacos, and everyone’s favorite shrimp boil.
I’m pretty picky about my Cocktail Sauce. The bottled stuff doesn’t make the cut with me. That’s the reason I developed my own years ago. And it’s absolutely the best I’ve ever tasted – and the reason I call it the Best Cocktail Sauce Ever.
This sauce comes together very simply in just a few minutes with only a handful of ingredients! My family loves this cocktail sauce! I think you will love it as well!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Quick and easy. This cocktail sauce recipe uses simple ingredients and is ready in 5 minutes! You control the amount of zestiness and heat without any ingredients you can’t pronounce!
Flavorful. This homemade cocktail sauce is flavorful and delicious served with fish and seafood.
Meal Prep Friendly. You can make this cocktail sauce and store it in the refrigerator to make dinner even easier. See the make-ahead information in my Storage Tips below.
How to Make Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe
When you are making a special dinner that includes seafood or an appetizer like Boiled Shrimp, this homemade cocktail sauce is essential! It’s so easy to whip together right before serving the meal or to make ahead and keep in the fridge. Its fresh, zesty taste makes seafood so much more delicious!
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
- Ketchup – the basis of this recipe is ketchup. Use your favorite brand that is mild-tasting with minimal ingredients.
- Worcestershire Sauce – for the savory, or umami, flavor. You can use coconut aminos if you are sensitive to soy.
- Lemon Juice – adds a touch of acid to the cocktail sauce to enhance the flavor. It also adds a zip of freshness to the sauce.
- Horseradish – grated horseradish adds a bit of zestiness and a touch of spiciness to the cocktail sauce. Adjust the amount of horseradish to your preference. I’ve written this recipe as a “base recipe” that you can increase the amount of horseradish to your tastes. I also recommend serving additional horseradish on the side so those who prefer more can add it.
- Stone House Seasoning – (optional) My house blend of salt, pepper, and garlic enhances the flavor of the cocktail sauce but I recommend trying the sauce first and then add if you feel like it needs it. It really depends on the brand of ketchup used if you need this additional seasoning.
- Hot Sauce – (optional) Can also be served on the side for those who prefer it.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add the ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce (or coconut aminos), and horseradish to a bowl. Mix together until they are well combined. Taste and add more horseradish or hot sauce as desired. Add the Stone House Seasoning if you believe it is needed as well.
- Serve or refrigerate if making ahead.
Storage Tips
To store leftovers. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. If the ingredients have settled, you may need to stir the cocktail sauce before serving.
To make ahead. Prepare the cocktail sauce according to the directions. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months or cover the serving bowl with wrap if planning to serve within a day or two. If the ingredients have settled, you may need to stir the cocktail sauce before serving.
To freeze. Store in an airtight, freezer-safe container for 6 to 12 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. You may need to stir the cocktail sauce to make sure well combined once thawed.
More Favorite Sauces
- horsey sauce – (Horseradish Sauce)
- comeback sauce
- homemade BBQ sauce
- enchilada sauce
- hollandaise sauce
- caramel sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
Homemade cocktail sauce kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator lasts up to 6 months and in an airtight, freezer-safe container can be kept for 6 to 12 months in the freezer.
My homemade cocktail sauce recipe uses ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce (or coconut aminos). You can also add more horseradish to taste if you like more zest and add hot sauce if you like it spicy. Depending on the brand of ketchup, you may enjoy adding salt, pepper and garlic in my Stone House Seasoning.
Cocktail sauce is delicious served with seafood. Try it with shrimp, scallops, oysters, and more!
Here’s my recipe for Homemade Cocktail Sauce. I hope you enjoy it!
Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons horseradish, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Stone House Seasoning, Optional, to taste
- hot sauce, Optional, to taste
Instructions
- Add the ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce (or coconut aminos), and horseradish to a bowl. Mix together until they are well combined. Taste and add more horseradish or hot sauce as desired. Add the Stone House Seasoning if you believe it is needed as well.
- Keep refrigerated.
Notes
Storage Tips:
To store leftovers. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. If the ingredients have settled, you may need to stir the cocktail sauce before serving. To make ahead. Prepare the cocktail sauce according to the directions. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months or cover the serving bowl with wrap if planning to serve within a day or two. If the ingredients have settled, you may need to stir the cocktail sauce before serving. To freeze. Store in an airtight, freezer-safe container for 6 to 12 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. You may need to stir the cocktail sauce to make sure well combined once thawed.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Best cocktail sauce! Husband won’t use anything else now. I tweaked it a little using what I had on hand. I used Beer’n Brat horseradish Mustard instead of horseradish and it tastes delicious. Thank you for the great and easy recipe!
Thanks for the tip with the horseradish mustard, Carla. I love that this is now a favorite for your husband.
Great recipe. Had some nice leftover Dungeness crab, added some very nice chopped up U15 shrimp, a couple of dots of tabasco and a pinch of sugar and a few tablespoons of heavy cream. We found it totally elegant, different, tasty and super easy. Robyn’s recipe is super.
Thanks, Bill. This sounds amazing with the Dungeness crab and shrimp.
Love this! Something interesting, as an Thanks for the recipe! American living in Canada here. Ketchup here is a lot sweeter up here. I cut the sweetness by adding a bit of soy sauce and I also add some tobasco sauce as well! Fresh is the way to go!
Thanks for the tips for using the ketchup in Canada, Jen. So glad you liked the cocktail sauce.
Absolutely amazing. Thanks so much!
So glad you liked this cocktail sauce, Jennifer. Thanks!
A very simple cocktail sauce which you can adjust to your own taste.
Kim H, Thanks. I love that you can make this as spicy or mild as you want.
Awesome easy recipe. Store bought has no flavor,unless you like high HFCS and little horseradish to none. Thank you!!!
Thanks Robyn, simple basic recipie that is a great base. We rarely make it the same depending on the seafood we are consuming. When we are having an oyster feast we do the basic and also a spicy version for raw. We also do a version with bacon, cider vinegar, onion, celery, kale, and butter that’s served warm with steamed (scalded) oysters. It’s used as a dipping sauce as it’s a bit more liquid than the regular cocktail sauce. I have also used a green tomato base instead of ketchup in the fall when making the basic version. thanks
Thanks, John, for letting me know the variations you make with this cocktail sauce recipe.
Can wasabi be replace with horseradish?
I haven’t tried it, Lydia, but you can substitute horseradish with wasabi.
This recipe is easy and delicious! A real time saver, I made it twice already. I added extra Horseradish just for extra kick, and because I love Horseradish.
I love to add more horseradish to mine sometimes, too. The great thing about this recipe is that everyone can make it as spicy as they want.