| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 38 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 23 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 38 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 23 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 10 cups cold water
- 2 medium carrots, quartered
- 2 stalks celery, quartered
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 1 head garlic, halved
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound medium or large shrimp, in the shell, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- Cocktail Sauce, recipe follows
- Lemon wedges
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced
- 4 teaspoons prepared horseradish, or to taste, drained
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Hot sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Put the water, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, lemon, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer, set a cover on top slightly ajar, and cook for 10 to 30 minutes.
- Drop the shrimp into the liquid and turn off the heat. Cook the shrimp, stirring occasionally, until they curl and turn pink, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes for medium shrimp, 3 minutes for large ones. Drain and cool to room temperature. Peel the shrimp and remove the vein along the curve of the shrimp, if desired. Refrigerate if not serving right away. If refrigerated, bring the shrimp to room temperature 20 minutes before serving.
- To serve put the cocktail sauce in a medium bowl and surround with the shrimp, or loop the shrimp over the edge of an individual cocktail glass and top with the sauce. Garnish with the lemon and serve.
- Optional Tip: To de-vein the shrimp before cooking, hold a shrimp between the thumb and forefinger with the rounded side of the shrimp upward. Place the pointed end of a wooden skewer at the junction of the second and third segments of the shrimp shell, about 1/8-inch down from the top. Gently push the skewer through the shell and then lift up to remove the vein.
- Combine the ketchup, lemon zest and juice, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Add hot sauce, if desired. Mix well, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 152 |
| Total Fat | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 122 mg |
| Sodium | 1436 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 152 |
| Total Fat | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 122 mg |
| Sodium | 1436 mg |
Reviews
In regards to the celery stalks: is it the entire stalk, or a rib, one piece?
Delicious!!! The broth along with the cocktail sauce was delicious!!! Will definitely make again.
I couldn’t see where your directions say to put the salt that is listed with the shrimp. I assume it goes into the boil?
Good recipe. We always had Shrimp Cocktail for the holidays and get together.
PLEASE, clean your shrimp before serving – the ones in the picture look nice but have not been cleaned!
Discovered this boil for the perfect Shrimp Cocktail over a year ago and its all I have done since whenever I make shrimp – its a game changer! Also – I found if I don’t have all the ingredients on hand for the boil it still turns out great – for example I didn’t have any carrots or parsley this past time and I only used half the garlic because I was saving garlic for another recipe. Did the boil with everything else though – the shrimp still came out with so much flavor and were SOOOOO good.
I only made the cocktail sauce portion of this recipe. It was excellent! I think it was the addition of the lemon zest that made it far better than what I’ve made in the past!
Really really good! The cocktail sauce stole the show, and impressed the whole family at lunch! As a plus, it was fairly easy to make. Shrimp also turned out delicious in that court-bouillon!
Should we thaw the frozen shrimp before we cook?
I use peeled shrimp, remove vein before cooking, use old bay cocktail sauce & serve young kids with ketchup rather than cocktail sauce! 5 Stars