Learn how to make this homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe with a few simple ingredients. Say goodbye to store bought condiments with this easy to follow 5 star Cocktail Sauce recipe. This family favorite is perfect for dipping shrimp, and meatballs for any occasion but especially on game day!
Why This Recipe is the Best
This homemade cocktail sauce is everything you want in a seafood dip—bold, tangy, and perfectly spiced. It blows the store-bought versions out of the water and comes together in just minutes with pantry staples.
Whether you’re serving it with crab legs, prawns, oysters, or a big platter of boiled or grilled shrimp, it instantly elevates the dish. We love bringing it out for special occasions like Easter, Christmas, or game day spreads like the Super Bowl. It’s the kind of sauce that makes any seafood meal feel like a gourmet experience without any fuss.
Homemade sauces just hit different. Here are some of our favorite homemade sauce recipes you have to try! Try our Buffalo Sauce, Wingstop Ranch Recipe, and Tartar Sauce.
Jump to:
Key Ingredients
The main ingredient in this recipe is ketchup but the flavors are enhanced and balanced with the added Worcestershire sauce, and horseradish. It gives that iconic zesty taste you love! Because this sauce uses gluten-free ingredients, it is gluten-free!
- Worcestershire sauce - While testing this recipe, I found that it was delicious, but lacked something. As soon as I added Worcestershire sauce, it became perfect. It adds the perfect subtle umami flavor and rounds out all of the ingredients, tying everything together.
- Ketchup- This is the main ingredient that gives the sauce its red color and that familiar texture.
- Lemon juice- Bottled lemon juice works great for this recipe. You can always use freshly squeezed lemon juice for an extra zesty taste.
- Horseradish- With horseradish, you get that distinctive zesty taste. You can always make it without horseradish sauce, but in our opinion, it won't be as authentic.
- Hot sauce- We like adding hot sauce for a small kick of spice. It's optional, but it tastes amazing.
How to make a Cocktail Sauce Recipe
We love how easy this recipe is. Follow these step by step process photos for the best results.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the ketchup and lemon juice.
- Add the horseradish sauce, minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to the ketchup mixture.
- Whisk the ingredients together. A smooth mixture should form with a fun red color.
Hint: Double the recipe if you need more sauce for a bigger group. This recipe makes about ½ cup of sauce.
How to Serve
One of our favorite ways to serve this sauce is in a shrimp or crab dip—layer cream cheese in a small dish. Then, top the cream cheese (we like using Philadelphia Cream Cheese) with mini shrimp or crab meat and cocktail sauce. Serve with crackers or pita chips.
Top tip
Make it ahead of time so you can chill it in the refrigerator. It's best when served cold!
Recipe
Cocktail Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ -1 Tablespoon horseradish
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2-8 dahes hot sauce optional, to taste
Instructions
- Combined ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, minced garlic and hot sauce (optional) in a bowl with a fork or small whisk. Add more horseradish or hot sauce until it reaches the desired spiciness.
Notes
- This recipe makes about ½ cup of sauce. You can easily double, triple or even 10x this recipe for a crowd.
- If you are sensitive to spice, feel free to start with ½ teaspoon horseradish and work your way up. The amount of spiciness desired in foods can vary greatly!
- One of my favorite appetizers for the holidays or a party is to layer cream cheese, then top with cooked crab meat or baby shrimp, then covering in cocktail sauce. I serve it with crackers and it's always a hit at any gathering!
- I like to make it a little ahead of time and put it back in the refrigerator so that it's nice and cold when I serve it.
Nutrition
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Substitutions and Variations
- Spicy- While this sauce already has a little heat, make this spicier by adding more horseradish and a few dashes of hot sauce.
- With chili sauce: Add an extra flavor profile by adding 1-2 teaspoons chili sauce, to taste. Or you can replace the ketchup with chili sauce as the base of the sauce.
- Sugar-free: Make this a sugar-free option by using sugar-free ketchup.
- Without Horseradish: If you aren't a fan of Horseradish, just leave it out. It will still taste good!
- Mayonnaise: Most cocktail sauces don't include mayonnaise. You can make this a creamy version by adding a tablespoon of mayonnaise, or use mayonnaise instead of horseradish sauce for a less intense flavor.
Cocktail sauce vs Marinara
While these two sauces may share a similar red color, their tastes are very different! Cocktail sauce has a zesty kick of horseradish and a tangy tomato base. Marinara uses a tomato base with garlic and herbs.
Storage
Store prepared sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. This recipe doesn't freeze well, so it's best to use it in that time frame. I like to make a small amount at a time, so I make sure to use what I make and avoid leftovers.
FAQ
Cocktail sauce is a condiment commonly served with seafood dishes, particularly shrimp cocktails. It has a base of ketchup or chili sauce, mixed with horseradish, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce, to create a spicy and tangy flavor.
Cocktail sauce usually has a base of ketchup or chili sauce. This recipe uses ketchup with a combination of horseradish, lemon juice, garlic, optional hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.
Our favorite things to dip in a cocktail sauce are seafood dishes like shrimp, prawns, oysters, and crab. We also love fried seafood and French fries.
Though similar, these two sauces are not the same. Cocktail Sauce is tangy. Shrimp sauce uses ketchup and mayonnaise, making it milder and creamier.
Andrea says
I usually don't buy cocktail sauce because I use it once and then it sits in my refrigerator. With this homemade cocktail sauce recipe, it made the perfect amount and it was so good!!!