Spare Spoons Kitchen
Sous Vide Shrimp
with Cocktail Sauce
The problem with cooked shrimp is the narrow window between underdone and rubbery — and sous vide eliminates it entirely. Twenty-five minutes at 135°F and every shrimp is tender, snappy, and cooked exactly the same. Serve them warm as a main or chill them for the best shrimp cocktail you've ever made at home. The cocktail sauce is three minutes and a bowl.
Ingredients
Easier, if you like
- Store-bought cocktail sauce is fine — Heinz or Kelchner's are widely available. The from-scratch version is still worth the 3 minutes.
- Frozen shrimp, no thaw needed — just add 15 minutes to the cook time. It's one of sous vide's genuine conveniences.
Method
Cook's notes
No searing needed for shrimp — unlike chicken or pork, there's no crust to add. The optional exception: open the bag after cooking, heat a pat of butter in a skillet over high, and toss the shrimp for 30 seconds to add a little golden color and butter flavor. Cool 2 minutes on the rack first.
Single layer matters. Shrimp stacked on top of each other won't heat evenly — spread them as flat as the bag allows, or use two bags.
Cocktail sauce keeps: make a double batch and refrigerate it — it's better the next day once the flavors have had time to bloom.
The hot sauce choice matters: Tabasco adds vinegar heat; Crystal is milder and saltier; Cholula adds a little garlic depth. The cocktail sauce is already slightly acidic from the lemon, so choose your hot sauce based on what kind of heat you want.
More sous vide: chicken breast (145°F, 1 hr), pork tenderloin (140°F, 1½ hrs), salmon (125°F, 40 min).
Gluten-free and dairy-free as written
Gluten-free: it already is — check that your Worcestershire is GF (Lea & Perrins is).
Dairy-free: it already is.