Best Homemade Cocktail Sauce
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jun 25, 2025 
Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe – This 5-minute recipe for zippy, zesty seafood sauce requires only a handful of ingredients and is easily adjustable to your liking. You’ll never buy jarred cocktail sauce again!
Why We Love This Cocktail Sauce Recipe
I can honestly say it’s been at least 14 years since I purchased a cocktail sauce jar.
After all, why would I spend the extra cash to buy a lesser-quality product when the homemade version is so quick, cheap, and easy to make?
By simply combining a handful of simple ingredients you (most likely) already have in your fridge, you can make the most flavorful, tangy, absolute BEST Cocktail Sauce Recipe you have ever tried. I promise that you will definitely not miss the jarred stuff.
And of course, you can adjust it to taste and preferences! I love adding an extra dash of hot sauce to make a spicy dip for my shrimp cocktail, or including a bit more minced garlic for enjoying on a seafood pizza.
Ingredients You Need For Seafood Sauce
- Ketchup – Essential for the perfect tomato base of a great cocktail sauce, and offers a hint of sweetness.
- Fresh lemon juice – The acidity is needed to brighten all of the ingredients.
- Worcestershire sauce – Adds a smoky, earthy depth of flavor. Use a vegan version to make this entire recipe vegan-friendly.
- Prepared horseradish – This gives the cocktail sauce its signature spicy zippiness.
- Minced garlic – Helps to balance the spice of the horseradish.
- Hot sauce (optional) – If you want to make an even spicier sauce! The best option here is Tabasco sauce!
How to Make Cocktail Sauce
In about 5 minutes, you’ll have this incredibly zesty and versatile condiment ready to enjoy. It is so easy to make, I highly recommend that you always keep a batch on hand in the fridge. You never know when you’ll get a craving for spicy, tangy cocktail sauce!
Here are my simple steps:
- In a small bowl, mix the ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic.
- Mix in prepared horseradish, tasting and adding more if desired. Add a dash or two of hot sauce for an extra spicy kick, if you like.
- Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy.
That is seriously it! Feel free to add a pinch of salt if needed at the end!
Serving Suggestions
This easy cocktail sauce recipe can be paired with so many different things! It is a great condiment to pair with a variety of seafood dishes. However, it also pairs well with vegetables, French fries, or onion rings!
- With steamed, fried, or roasted shrimp (of course)
- Any seafood, including crabs, oysters, and crab cakes
- On burgers or a roast beef sandwich – like these mouthwatering Caribbean Shrimp Burgers
- With cream cheese and tortilla chips
- Mixed into tomato juice for an easy Bloody Mary base
- As a tangy veggie dip
- On a seafood pizza
See More Serving Ideas and Get the Complete (Printable) Homemade Cocktail Sauce Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Storage Tips: Store your homemade sauce in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 6 months. If you don’t use it all, you can freeze half for later!
- Be sure to use prepared horseradish, and not fresh horseradish! Prepared horseradish has salt and vinegar added to make it extra tasty!
- You can use wasabi in place of the horseradish if you already have wasabi on hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cocktail sauce is a cool or room-temperature sauce that enhances the flavor of seafood, most particularly shrimp. It is made of a tomato base and seasoned with horseradish and citrus.
Kept it in an airtight container, in a refrigerator, this sauce will stay fresh for up to 6 months. You can also freeze cocktail sauce for at least 6-12 months.
It depends on your definition of healthy. Cocktail sauce is relatively low in calories and fat. Yet depending on how much you eat, it can be high in sodium and carbohydrates. If paired with shrimp or other high-protein seafoods, the carbs are balanced out.
Sometimes the combination of ketchup with horseradish causes the cocktail sauce to become a gel-like texture. It is simply a reaction of the two ingredients together! Stir it up well and it should return to a normal consistency!
I 100% believe that making shrimp cocktail sauce at home creates the most flavorful and fresh-tasting sauce. There is no comparison. Store-bought cocktail sauce also contains more preservatives to keep it on room-temperature shelves for longer. Whereas the homemade version will keep in the fridge and taste fresh for a good amount of time.
Looking for More Delicious Dip Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- The Best Homemade Salsa
- Spicy Mustard Seafood Sauce
- Homemade Yum Yum Sauce (Shrimp Sauce)
- Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip
- Southern Comeback Sauce
- Best Greek Salad Dressing
- Queso Recipe
- Miso Hummus Recipe
- How to Make the Best Tzatziki Sauce
- Easy Guacamole Recipe
Cocktail Sauce Recipe (Seafood Sauce)
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3-4 dashes hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Mix the catsup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a small bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of horseradish. Taste and add more if desired. Then stir in a few dashes of hot sauce if you like your cocktail sauce with extra kick.
This site is a mine field of someone who loves to talk and talk and talk. You have to search to find the recipe. It feels like a Walt Disney happy face/feet gotta feel great site too. Will not return or recommend.
There is a”jump to recipe” button at the top of the page. Most food bloggers provide that option these days. It makes life so much easier!
Nice attitude David – you get a FREE recipe that has excellent reviews and you have to complain. Go buy a cookbook !!!!!
Delicious!!! Perfect blend for my calamari rings. Better than store bought. Used 1/4 tsp of garlic powder in place of fresh
I can’t believe how much it tastes exactly like my favorite store bought but fresher and better . It’s easy,fast , economical and aside from the horseradish has common household ingredients. Definitely will never buy anymore but make this recipe from now on. Thank you!
So good and so easy!
Excellent recipe.
For my family’s tastes, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire was too much and I had to almost double every other ingredient, but thank you for sharing your recipe-the flavors work great together for cocktail sauce.
Thank you ~ quick life saver. Seafood and realized I had no seafood sauce. It took minutes to put together and it tastes delicious!
Good good good good good! As someone who lives at the Jersey Shore, and has frequented some of the best seafood restaurants Ocean and Monmouth County have to offer, your recipe tops them all! Thank you for this.
Brought shrimp and this cocktail sauce to a party – The homeowner had made some as well but didn’t eat hers once she tasted this. Its delicious. Glad I didn’t lose the recipe.
making again now for Father’s Day. The best. No tweeking needed.
I made this today! So good! I didn’t have any horseradish so I used pickle relish! It was perfect! I have a jar in the fridge now for the next time I need it! Thank you!
This is a winner! I did not use any garlic and only added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Also, if you like it with a kick get The Keg horseradish if you can and use that. You only need 1 tablespoon and zero hot sauce! Goes fantastic as a dip with a grilled cheesel!
Perfect!