Ina Garten-Inspired Shrimp Cocktail
Almost every recipe tells you to boil the shrimp. That is the step to change.
Water pulls flavour out of shrimp and you then throw the water away. Roasting does the opposite: nothing leaches, some moisture evaporates, and what is left is more concentrated than what you started with. The surface browns slightly, which boiling cannot do at all.
Eight to ten minutes at 200°C, and the difference is not subtle.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Shrimp Cocktail
Serves 6 · Side
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 25 min
Easyfew steps, few ingredients
~240 kcal per servingestimated
Ingredients
- 1 kg large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the sauce
- 250 ml tomato ketchup
- 3 tbsp prepared horseradish, fresh jar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp hot sauce
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- Toss the shrimp with oil, salt and pepper. Spread in one layer on a sheet pan — crowded shrimp steam.
- Roast , until pink and just firm. They carry on cooking off the heat, so pull them a shade early.8–10 minutes
- Cool on the pan, then chill.
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together and taste for heat.
- Serve cold, sauce alongside.
Do not buy them cooked
Pre-cooked shrimp have already been through the boil this recipe exists to avoid, and they get a second cooking when you dress them. Raw shell-on, thawed slowly in the fridge, is the whole game.
Horseradish fades — add it last
The heat in prepared horseradish comes from volatile compounds that dissipate with time and disappear entirely with warmth. A jar opened three months ago is mild sludge. Buy it fresh, keep it cold, and stir it into the sauce at the end rather than simmering anything.
Judging when they are done
A raw shrimp is straight, a cooked one curls into a C, an overcooked one curls into a tight O. Aim for the C. Rubberiness is not a shrimp problem, it is a ninety-seconds-too-long problem.
Storing
Roasted shrimp keep two days covered in the fridge. The sauce keeps a week and improves overnight. Do not freeze cooked shrimp — the texture goes cottony.
Questions people ask
Why roast instead of boil?
Boiling leaches flavour into water you discard. Roasting concentrates it and firms the texture.
Can I use frozen shrimp?
Yes, but thaw them overnight in the fridge, not under a hot tap, and pat them dry or they will steam.
How do I know when they are cooked?
They turn opaque pink and curl into a loose C shape. A tight O means overcooked.
Can I make it ahead?
Roast the shrimp the day before and keep them cold. The sauce is better made a day ahead.
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