A great shrimp cocktail sauce makes shrimp cocktail. Pure and simple. And it’s so easy to make your own at home. Fresh. Brimming with flavour. Delicious.

There really is nothing to making shrimp cocktail sauce. Mix up a few ingredients. Let stand for few minutes. Good to go.

So I really don’t understand why people buy it. The jarred stuff is a little dull. Lifeless. It’s been sitting on a shelf for months. Shrimp is not cheap. Why would you waste it using mediocre shrimp cocktail sauce.

Three key ingredients for great shrimp cocktail sauce

Shrimp cocktail sauce is mostly ketchup. And that’s actually not a bad thing. It works well in here. Something about its sweet tang just tastes right.

It’s what you do with the ketchup that matters. The other ingredients. And there’s no magic here. Three simple additions to ketchup make it great cocktail sauce. cost people have ketchup n the refrigerator.

Horseradish – when it’s fresh, jarred horseradish has bite. Sinus clearing bite. A little goes a long way. But it makes the sauce. That’s the taste you are looking for here. But it starts to fade the day you open the jar. So buy a fresh bottle. It matters.

Pure chili powder – Pure chili powder is not the stuff they sell at supermarkets labeled “chili powder” or “chili mix”. It’s the ground version of a real dried chili. Look for New Mexican red or ancho. It brings a bit of complexity to the sauce.

Fresh lemon juice – Don’t use stuff from a bottle. Fresh lemons are pretty easy to come by. There’s really no excuse for using that pre-fab stuff. It’s not the same. You want the fresh, bright acidity only the real thing delivers.

That’s it. A little salt and pepper and it’s done. Easy. And so much better. Try this – you’ll never use bottled cocktail sauce again. Serve it with foolproof shrimp cocktail . You’ll be glad you did.

Three critical ingredients come together to make a really good cocktail sauce. Horseradish, pure chile powder and fresh lemon juice. Don't use supermarket chili powder - it's a mix of random ingredients. - 1

classic cocktail sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup good tomato ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish - get a new bottle. That old bottle in the back of the fridge will kill this recipe…
  • 1 tsp pure chili powder - e.g New Mexican Red or Ancho
  • 1/3 tsp salt
  • 1/3 tsp pepper
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or more to taste

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

Three critical ingredients come together to make a really good cocktail sauce. Horseradish, pure chile powder and fresh lemon juice. Don't use supermarket chili powder - it's a mix of random ingredients. - 2

classic cocktail sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup good tomato ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish - get a new bottle. That old bottle in the back of the fridge will kill this recipe…
  • 1 tsp pure chili powder - e.g New Mexican Red or Ancho
  • 1/3 tsp salt
  • 1/3 tsp pepper
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or more to taste

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

Chicken chaat salad. If you are looking for an Indian inspired and absolutely delicious composed salad this is it. Big Indian flavours in a traditional main course salad.

I’m pretty sure I will catch some flak for the title of this post. Chaat means savoury snack in India. Street food. It also almost always includes chaat masala. Anything masala means a spice mix of sorts.

This isn’t really a savoury snack and it doesn’t include chaat masala. If I included a masala you’d have to go out of your way to find it. Hunt around for an Indian food shop, get there and buy it. Bet it wouldn’t happen. You’d just never try this recipe. That would be too bad.

The chicken in this appetizer is all Indian. Serve it on an Indian flat bread – that’s chicken chaat. The salad part – well that’s done somewhere I’m sure. Maybe.

An Indian inspired composed salad that also makes a great main course. - 3

This makes a nice western style starter to any Indian meal. You can increase the portion size, add some chickpeas to the salad and drizzle it with a yoghurt dressing. That makes a great light main course.

Chicken chaat salad. Indian inspired composed salad that also makes a great main course. - 4

chicken chaat salad

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless, cut into bite sized pieces.
  • 1/2 onion coarsely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp garlic ginger paste - recipe link below
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/3 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 handful cilantro chopped
  • 1 splash chicken stock

Instructions

  • Combine all spices and salt in a small dish.
  • Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
  • Add oil, then fry the onion gently until translucent.
  • Reduce heat to medium low and add the garlic ginger paste. Fry until sizzling subsides.
  • Add the spices and stir constantly for about 1 minute. You do not want your spices to burn so pay attention.
  • Raise heat to medium high. Add chicken and fry, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes.
  • Add a bit of chicken stock and cook the chicken until just done and the stock has almost entirely boiled away. This takes about 5 minutes.
  • Add lemon juice and cilantro and continue cooking for one minute more.
  • Serve over greens or with Indian flat bread.

Notes

Nutrition