American · Lunch · Dinner · Snack
Shrimp Cocktail
Plump shrimp gently poached in lemony, peppery water, chilled until crisp and served with a zesty horseradish cocktail sauce. A light, high-protein starter that always feels like a treat.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
Calories come from: Carbs 41% · Fat 9% · Protein 50%
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Ingredients
For 4 servings- 1 lb450 glarge shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined (tails on)
- 8 cups2,000 gwater, for poaching
- 1 medium100 glemon, halved
- 2 leavesbay leaves
- 1 tspblack peppercorns
- 1/2 tspsalt
- 4 cups500 gice cubes
- 2 cups500 gcold water, for ice bath
- 1/2 cup120 gtomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp30 gprepared horseradish
- 1 tbsp15 glemon juice
- 1 tsp5 gWorcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsphot sauce (optional)
- 2 stalks80 gcelery sticks, for serving (optional)
- 4 leaves40 glettuce leaves, for serving (optional)
Steps
- 1
Pour the 8 cups of water into a large pot.
- 2
Squeeze the lemon halves into the water and drop them in.
- 3
Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and salt, then bring to a boil.
- 4
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the ice cubes and the 2 cups of cold water.
- 5
Turn the heat down so the water barely simmers.
- 6
Add the shrimp and poach for 2–3 minutes, until pink, opaque and curled into a loose C (63 °C / 145 °F inside).
- 7
Lift the shrimp out with a slotted spoon straight into the ice bath and leave for 5 minutes.
- 8
Drain the shrimp well, pat dry and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
- 9
Stir together the ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, if using.
- 10
Taste the sauce and adjust the horseradish or lemon to your liking.
- 11
Line glasses or plates with lettuce leaves, if using, and add a small bowl of sauce.
- 12
Hang the chilled shrimp around the rim or arrange them alongside, with celery sticks, if using, and serve cold.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use a reduced-sugar or no-salt-added ketchup in the sauce and add a little extra horseradish and lemon to keep it punchy.
- For a gluten-free version, choose a ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish and hot sauce that are each labelled gluten-free.
- Buy frozen raw peeled shrimp and thaw them overnight in the fridge if fresh shrimp are hard to find.
- Swap the ketchup for chilli sauce (the bottled tomato-based kind) for a slightly sweeter, spicier cocktail sauce.
Storage
Refrigerate the poached shrimp and the sauce separately in covered containers within 2 hours, and eat within 3 days; keep them cold and serve chilled rather than reheating. Shrimp left sitting out at a party for more than 2 hours should be thrown away, and the cooked shrimp are best not frozen as they turn rubbery.
Make ahead
Poach and chill the shrimp up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge, and mix the cocktail sauce up to 2 days ahead so the flavours meld.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: CrustaceansFishGlutenCelerySulphites
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (931 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 124 kcal | 13 kcal |
| Protein | 16 g | 1.7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 13.3 g | 1.4 g |
| of which sugars | 7.8 g | 0.8 g |
| Fiber | 1.2 g | 0.1 g |
| Fat | 1.3 g | 0.1 g |
| of which saturated | 0.3 g | 0 g |
| Sodium | 1,278 mg | 137 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
