Shrimp cocktails are something I love to serve when hosting. I always have ingredients for this in my pantry and freezer so I can throw it together on the whim. You can buy party shrimp cocktail trays at the grocery store, usually frozen, or you can put them together yourself for much cheaper. I always keep on hand the jumbo shrimp from Trader Joe’s. I posted about it here along with other gluten free Trader Joe’s frozen staples. There are a variety of frozen shrimp you can get at any grocery store, from tailless to with tails and different sizes. All you need to do is put them in a colander and run cold water over them until they thaw. I let them drain then put them in the fridge to cool until ready to serve.
There is nothing wrong with having prepared shrimp cocktail sauce ready to go. I am all for convenience so if that works for you then GO FOR IT! I’ve done that myself. But if want to seem a bit more impressive, throw together this simple cocktail sauce in minutes. You will have people go, “you made that?” It is way to tasty and the little bit of sour cream and mayo make it nice and creamy. Many of the cocktail sauce recipes use chili sauce, Heinz has some or you can use the Asian kind. I just went for some tabasco for this recipe. This recipe can be naturally gluten free, but you always want to check the ingredients on anything you buy (especially celiacs) because malt has been known to appear in Worcestershire sauce. I get the gluten free labeled kind whenever possible.
If you are looking for a fun way to stage the shrimp cocktail, try a cocktail glass! This picture below is a really old one I snapped on a phone but you get the point. After the picture was taken I hooked some shrimp along the rim of the cocktail glass. I put the glass in a bowl for party serving purposes but on its own and lined with shrimp is a great way to serve individually. This is a great appetizer for an oscar party, which is coming up!
Cocktail Sauce
Ingredients
Instructions
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Dice the garlic and add that with the rest of the ingredients (except the tabasco) to a bowl
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Whisk together and add tabasco to taste
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Refrigerate until ready to serve