Impress guests with this shrimp cocktail recipe! It’s such a healthy appetizer and so easy to whip up. Just poach the shrimp, chill and serve.
Shrimp cocktail is a classic dish found at just about everrrryyyy holiday party. It’s a staple and honestly such a perfect holiday appetizer that looks fancy, but is so simple to make and healthy too. A serving of 4 shrimp has less than 100 calories and 11 grams of protein.
I’ve had shrimp cocktail too many times to count, but I hadn’t ever made it myself until recently! Today I want to focus on teaching you how to poach raw shrimp so it’s flavorful and the perfect compliment to cocktail sauce.
I know some people buy precooked shrimp for shrimp cocktail, but I’m here to convince you to make your own because the end result is exponentially better! Promise.
If you’ve ever been weirded out by the texture or flavor of precooked shrimp, I feel you! It’s officially time to buy raw shrimp and cook your own.
The star ingredients here are the shrimp and the cocktail sauce, but don’t skip the seasonings because they add such a great flavor to the poached shrimp.
If you want to make your own healthy cocktail sauce just combine
Make ice bath – Start by adding ice to a large bowl and add water to cover. This will be used to stop the shrimp from cooking.
Boil water – Add water, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorn and juice from one lemon to a large pot. Bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes on it’s own. Turn off heat and add the raw shrimp to pot.
Poach shrimp – Let the shrimp sit in hot water for 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from the pot with a slotted spoon or drain in a colander and transfer to the prepared ice bath. Let shrimp sit in ice bath for 5-10 minutes before draining. Discard seasonings. Pat shrimp dry with a paper towel and chill until ready to serve.
I personally like to arrange everything on a platter as shown in the pictures! Put the cocktail sauce in a small bowl and set that on the plate or platter first. Then arrange the cooked and chilled shrimp around it. Garnish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley for color.
Yes! You can poach the shrimp one day in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Watch my story showing how to make shrimp cocktail here.
If you make this shrimp cocktail, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other readers who are thinking about making the recipe.
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