Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Homemade Sauce

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: North American

Keyword: shrimp cocktail

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 9

chilling time: 30

Total Time: 59

Servings: servings (with some remaining)

Calories: 93kcal

Roasting your Shrimp Cocktail adds more flavor. Along with a homemade cocktail sauce, this will elevate your next gathering.

Add the ketchup, horseradish, sofrito, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper into a 2-quart mixing bowl.
Stir everything together until combined.
Cover the mixing bowl and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 week.

Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
Rinse the peeled and deveined shrimp 3 or 4 times in cold water. Drain the shrimp well after each rinse.
Pat the shrimp dry and put them into a mixing bowl.
Cover the shrimp with the in olive oil and seafood spice blend and toss them with your hand or a pair of tongs until completely coated.
Arrange the shrimp on the sheetpan in rows, ensuring they're not overlapping.
Place the pan of shrimp into the oven and roast them for 4 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and use tongs to flip the shrimp over.
Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 4-5 minutes or until the shrimp are a bright pink color and are slightly curled.

Remove the bowl of cocktail sauce from the fridge and give it another stir.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce into the bottom of appetizer glasses. Next, hang the shrimp on the rim of each glass.
If you'd rather serve it buffet style: spoon the sauce into a decorative serving bowl and set it in the center of a platter.
Arrange the roasted shrimp around the bowl- tails facing out.
Serve within 1 hour or return the shrimp cocktail to the fridge.

Choose regular or extra-hot prepared horseradish depending on how much spice you want your sauce to have.
To make spicy cocktail sauce, add a 1/4-teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or a couple of dashes of your favorite hot sauce.
Replace the lemon juice with lime juice.
You can replace the ketchup with prepared chili sauce or spicy ketchup.
If you don't have sofrito, add a 1/2-teaspoon of granulated garlic and granulated onion powder to the cocktail sauce to replace its flavor (optional).
You can serve the shrimp with fresh lemon wedges, Marie Rose sauce, chili sauce, or plain. To make Marie Rose sauce, blend in 1/2-cup of mayo with the rest of the ingredients.
Replace the olive oil with vegetable or canola oil.

To cut down on prep time, purchase your shrimp peeled, deveined with tail on.
If you use frozen shrimp, you must thaw them completely before seasoning and roasting them.
You should be able to fit 2 pounds of shrimp on one half-sheetpan. If your pan is smaller, you might have to split them up and roast them in batches.
Don't overcook the shrimp. You know the shrimp is properly cooked when the bodies are slightly curled. If the tail is touching the head area, the shrimp are overcooked and will be tough.
If there is a lot of liquid on the pan after roasting, blot the shrimp with paper towels to dry them.
Portion out the roasted shrimp cocktail in glasses on a sheetpan and store them in the fridge until you're ready to serve them. To serve: nestle the appetizer glasses in crushed ice set inside a shallow bowl. This keeps the shrimp at a safe temperature during an event. For less formal gatherings, leave the shrimp in the fridge and invite your guests to serve themselves.
This recipe makes enough for 12 servings, with a a few shrimp leftover. Portion out 3 shrimp per guest.

You can make the cocktail sauce a week in advance and store it in a jar or container in the fridge.
You can prep the shrimp a day ahead and store it in a paper towel-lined covered container in the fridge.
You can roast the shrimp a day ahead and store them in a covered container in the fridge. You definitely need to ensure you don't overcook them if you do this. Tough shrimp just feels tougher when they are really cold.
Store leftover roasted shrimp cocktail in the fridge, separate from the sauce, for up to 2 days. After which, you need to discard any uneaten shrimp.

You can freeze both the roasted shrimp and the cocktail sauce for up to two months. Place each in a covered, freezer-safe container and freeze until ready to use. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and serve as instructed.