Homemade cocktail sauce goes with seafood like sour cream to baked potatoes. Once you start using it, it’s difficult to eat fried seafood without it.

I use cocktail sauce on fried shrimp, catfish, oysters, fried clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp cocktail and the grandkids love it on fish sticks. It goes well on other fried foods such as okra, hush puppies, and corn fritters.

However, I have not purchased cocktail sauce in over 20 years. Why you ask? The answer is that cocktail sauce can be made at home for less than ½ the cost of a store bought brand and it is very easy to make. On top of the lower cost it also tastes better than what you purchase at the grocery store.

To make homemade cocktail sauce you need the following items:

Now you may ask yourself how this can be any cheaper when you have to buy all these products as opposed to a single bottle of store bought sauce. It is because you are only using a little bit of these ingredients for each meal and store the rest for later. One bottle of prepared horseradish will last months in the refrigerator as well as ketchup and Tabasco sauce. This assures you that for the next few months you will be able to serve seafood with fresh cocktail sauce anytime you wish without buying the expensive stuff.
The following recipe is usually what I make for my wife & me. If you are making this to feed more than two people, just double, triple or quadruple the recipe. Even though the recipe below shows exact measurements, I never break out a measuring cup or spoon. I pour the ketchup in a bowl, stir in a couple of forks of horseradish, 2 or 3 dashes of Tabasco and sprinkle in some chili powder. I then taste it and add more horseradish or ketchup depending on how spicy I want it.
To make a serving for two:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

That’s it! Quite easy and very delicious. If you have any left over, you don’t need to throw it away. Put it in a small Tupperware bowl or glass jar and place in the refrigerator. It will stay good for weeks.
Enjoy!

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