This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.

It’s incredibly easy to make your own homemade cocktail sauce and it’s a million times better than anything you’ll pick up in the store! This homemade cocktail sauce complements my classic shrimp cocktail recipe perfectly, not to mention that you can also use it in my Shrimp Dip recipe as well!

5 cocktail shrimp around a serving glass with Cocktail Sauce garnish with a slice of lemon and parsley leaves

Why anyone would ever consider buying cocktail sauce is a mystery to me, it’s just so simple to make at home and tastes SO much better! If you usually hit the shopping aisle for your cocktail sauce, you’ll definitely change your mind once you try this homemade version. All you need are a few ingredients that you probably already have stocked in your kitchen!

How To Make The BEST Homemade Cocktail Sauce

This is a really quick recipe and it’ll be done before you know it!

Start by mixing all of the ingredients together, slowly adding the horseradish until you get it to your own preferred level of spice! If you like a super zesty taste then add more horseradish and if you prefer it a bit milder just add less. The best thing about making your own sauce is you can adjust the portions according to your own taste.
You can add more sugar after this if you like – it’ll balance out the flavours.
If you’re not ready to serve right away, just store in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator until needed.

Tips And Tricks For Making The BEST Homemade Cocktail Sauce

If you want to cut down on sugar content, try making your own ketchup to use. Alternatively, you can look out for ketchup that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup.
This sauce will keep for a week in the fridge so I often make a batch of it at once, but it all depends on how much you think you’ll use up.
If your sauce gets a little too spicy for your liking, you can add some extra ketchup to take a bit of tanginess out of the horseradish.
As well as serving it with shrimp cocktail, this sauce also works great as a light dip for a crudites platter!
It’s important to let the mixture sit a while before serving to let the flavours come together. Otherwise, it’s just going to taste like super spicy ketchup!

close up 5 cocktail shrimp around a serving glass with Cocktail Sauce garnish with a slice of lemon and parsley leaves

How to Make this Cocktail Sauce Low Carb

Use a low sugar ketchup like this one. It makes all the difference in the carb count!
If the low sugar ketchup isn’t sweet enough on its own, sprinkle in your preferred sugar-free sweetener.
Sometimes the no sugar ketchup is lower in sodium and you might need a bit of salt as well.

2 servings of Cocktail Sauce garnish with a slice of lemon and parsley leaves

More Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Buffalo Shrimp Kale Salad

How to Make Creamy Sweet Chili Sauce (Dipping Sauce, Fry Sauce)

Shrimp Caesar Salad

Hope you enjoy it!

Happy cooking!

Love,

Karlynn