Save Money! Make it on Your Own

A good price for decent cocktail shrimp is upwards of $12 to $15 per pound. And 1 pound of shrimp doesn’t go way far when you are entertaining a lot of people. Well, I have a secret for you — it doesn’t HAVE to be that expensive. You can make your own shrimp cocktail for literally HALF of the cost AND it tastes way better because you are making it fresh. You don’t get weird smelling, bouncy 3-day-old shrimp that has been sitting in the store’s refrigerated deli counter. Trust me, you are going to be impressed with how good this tastes and how cheap and easy it is to make! No one will have to know you spent as much on the shrimp as others may have spent on chips and dip.

Fresh, Raw Shrimp is Best

Before we get started, here’s a little tip for you: the “fresh” shrimp that you see in your store’s meat department isn’t really fresh. OK, maybe if you live in Alaska or Maine or wherever and it was fresh caught that morning. But for the rest of us, I can guarantee you the shrimp you are seeing behind the glass was frozen and has just been thawed out. It wasn’t fresh caught that day, or the day before, or probably even in the last week. If you want to eat shrimp that actually tastes fresh, cut out a step and ask for it frozen. If you want it to taste even better, ask for the “wild caught” shrimp unpeeled, raw, and preferably de-veined unless you don’t mind having to devein the shrimp yourself. I have found shrimp like this on sale for $5 a pound. You can take it home and keep it frozen until you want to use it (if you get it thawed from behind the counter and freeze it, you will be freezing it for a second time and it won’t taste as good).

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

Want to save even more cash? Make your own homemade cocktail sauce, too (with stuff I bet you have in your fridge right now)! I have provided the recipe below and it is wonderful. You will never buy the bottled stuff again.

How to Present Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp cocktail is a naturally pretty appetizer for a party. It is also easy to garnish. Usually just some parsley and fresh lemon wedges will do the trick. Here are a few more presentation ideas, depending on what you are going for:

Party style (on a platter) – This is how we present the cocktail shrimp in the recipe below. If you think the shrimp might be sitting out at room temperature for a while, it is a good idea to present the shrimp on a bed of ice cubes either on a platter or a shallow serving bowl. Make sure to either have a bowl of lemon wedges on the side or placed on the platter with the shrimp. Also remember, it’s better to have too many lemon wedges than not enough. Individual servings – For this presentation, you are aiming for single-servings with everything in one little cup or glass. I like to put a spoonful of cocktail sauce in the bottom of the cup or glass, then hang the shrimp over the rim. Depending on your serving vessel, you can decide how many shrimp to include. If you are using a shot glass, you will probably only be able to fit one shrimp. If you are using a cocktail glass, you can likely fit 3-4 shrimp over the rim. Garnish each with a lemon wedge and parsley. Ceviche style – For this style, I usually like to use the smaller shrimp but you can use medium sized shrimp and pull the tails off and cut them in half or thirds. Place the shrimp in a large bowl with chopped, fresh tomatoes, red onion, avocado, jalapeño, chipped cilantro, a dash of hot sauce, a little kosher salt and black pepper, and toss with lime juice. You can even add chopped cucumber or celery. Serve in a large serving dish or portion into individual serving cups. I like to serve this style with tortilla chips, but that is totally optional. 

More Shrimp Appetizers for a Party

Looking for more tasty shrimp recipes to serve at a party? Here are some more tasty shrimp appetizers to try:

Shrimp Taco Bites with Cilantro Cream Sauce

Shrimp Spring Roll Recipe

Cream Cheese Shrimp Dip

Shrimp Tempura Rolls

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