How To Use Up Leftover Cocktail Sauce When Your Shrimp Is Gone

We've all been there; you throw a party or do something a little special for dinner, and then you're left with an annoying amount of leftovers and no clue what to do with them. This next tip covers what to do when you find yourself with leftover cocktail sauce but no shrimp in sight. In general, dips and sauces are hard to store for long periods, so it's good to have a re-use game plan when you have a little bit spare.

A classic cocktail sauce takes minutes to make (and one hour to chill) and gives you a sweet, tangy acidic sauce with a little bit of a heat kick to it. Typical cocktail sauces include Worcestershire, ketchup, lemon, horseradish, and Tabasco, along with salt and pepper, but you can make it with just horseradish, lemon, and ketchup if you're in a pinch. While cocktail sauce is typically used for dipping shrimp, there are a lot of great things you can repurpose it for when you have that pesky amount left over. Our cocktail sauce recipe developer, Miriam Hahn, recommends using it as a dip with onion rings or fried mushrooms, or drizzling some on a tofu scramble or omelet. Just note that cocktail sauce doesn't last too long — a couple of weeks maximum when properly stored and refrigerated, so make sure to eat it sooner rather than later. 

When dealing with must-eat leftover cocktail sauce and zero shrimp, the first ideas that come to mind are seafood based. After all, cocktail sauce was initially created to pair with oysters. The sweet and spicy condiment is great for dipping fried calamari or fish sticks and makes a wonderful topper on crabcakes. But if you want to venture out for more creative uses, we have you covered.

For one, cocktail sauce makes for an excellent addition to a bloody Mary cocktail. Rumor has it that the name cocktail sauce came from a California prospector who poured his oysters, along with some sauces, into his empty whisky drink and slurped it all up as if it were an actual cocktail. We also recommend you try adding cocktail sauce to your veggie roasts or on a burger — the combination of horseradish, ketchup, and Worcestershire creates the perfect balance for a juicy, fatty disc of meat.