If you’re looking to impress your guests with a delectable seafood sauce recipe, then this one is just what you need!
It includes all sorts of tasty ingredients that will enhance whatever type of fish or shellfish you decide to put into the sauce.
While there isn’t a set formula for how much salt should go into a seafood sauce recipe, we recommend using about 1/2 teaspoon per pound of seafood (this varies depending on whether the seafood has been frozen).
What Ingredients Do You Need To Make A Seafood Sauce Recipe?
The following list contains everything you need to create an amazing seafood sauce recipe:
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 teaspoons prepared horseradish
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cups water
- 7-10 drops Tabasco sauce
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley
- Lemon wedges
Ingredients to avoid when making a seafood sauce recipe
There are some things you shouldn’t add to a seafood sauce recipe if you want to keep it healthy.
For example, don’t use ketchup because it adds too many calories.
Instead, try adding in something like tomato paste, which can be found in most grocery stores.
You also shouldn’t add sugar to anything, so stay away from honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc., as they aren’t good choices either.
And lastly, no butter.
You won’t find that in our recipe.
How Long Does It Take To Make The Seafood Sauce Recipe?
The preparation time for a seafood sauce recipe depends entirely on how many steps are involved.
This particular recipe takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish once everything is prepared.
You might find yourself adding some extra time if you have to wait for ingredients like shrimp paste or anchovies to marinate as they soak up flavor over time.
You may also want to allow an hour or two to cook the mussels before starting on the rest of the sauce.
The mussels release their liquid during cooking which helps create the base of the sauce.
Step-by-step instructions for making the seafood sauce recipe
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
- Add garlic cloves and sauté until fragrant.
- Remove garlic and discard.
- Saute onions in remaining olive oil until soft and translucent.
- Add shrimp paste and stir well to combine.
- Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Pour in coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, calamansi juice, sugar, white pepper, and crushed red chili flakes.
- Stir to combine.
- Bring mixture to boil and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add chopped parsley, scallions, and chives to a bowl.
- Set aside.
- When the simmering period is complete, remove pan from stovetop and let cool slightly.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Discard excess fat from pan.
- Add mussel shells to a separate bowl and cover with cold water.
- Let sit for at least 5 minutes.
- Drain through a colander and rinse under running water.
- Discard any open mussels that haven’t opened after being rinsed.
- Place drained mussels back in the same pan and pour in mussel broth.
- Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium-low.
- Cover and steam for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that mussels don’t stick together.
- Once mussels are done steaming, drain again, discarding any mussels that didn’t open while steaming.
- Return mussels to the pan along with the shrimp.
- Pour in seafood sauce and bring to a gentle boil.
- Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer gently for another 15 minutes.
- Season with additional fish sauce and white pepper, if needed.
- Serve warm with rice noodles and fresh herbs garnished on top.
What Types Of Seafood Can Be Used In The Sauce Recipe?
With such a wide range of options, you have plenty of choices when deciding which type of seafood to use in this recipe.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Fish fillets
- Shrimp
- Crab legs
- Scallops
- Oysters
- Mussels
- Squid
- Octopus tentacles
You may want to consider other options as well if they sound appealing.
For example, oyster mushrooms could also work really well here if you’d like to try something different.
What Are Some Tips For Making The Seafood Sauce Recipe Taste Better?
When it comes to tasting the finished product, the first thing most people notice when they take their first bite is how salty the sauce is.
The next thing they might think about is if the flavor profile is balanced enough, since not every person likes everything in a particular food category.
There are plenty of ways to fix these problems, but here are a few of our recommendations.
- Use fresh herbs instead of dried ones.
- Fresh herbs have more vibrant colors, which make them look more appealing than dried ones do.
- They also give off an intense aroma during cooking, so your sauce will smell amazing.
- Don’t add too many spices at once.
- If you use too many spices at one time, they may counteract each other while your sauce cooks, giving you a bland and unappealing result.
- Instead, start by adding one spice at a time until you reach the desired level of complexity.
- Add extra garlic, onion, and mushrooms.
- Garlic, onions, and mushrooms are generally considered “sauce-friendly” because they don’t overpower the other ingredients.
- Adding these three items will help balance out the strong flavors in the seafood sauce, resulting in something that everyone will enjoy.
- Keep the seafood as fresh as possible.
- When it comes to seafood, the fresher, the better.
- You want the meat to stay moist and juicy throughout the entire process.
- This way, when you serve your customers, they won’t even realize that the fish was previously frozen.
- Make sure to cook your seafood thoroughly before adding it to the sauce.
- Cooking the seafood well ensures that its juices remain inside of it.
- This allows the sauce to absorb them without losing any of its own flavorful qualities.
1. Use fresh tomatoes
The best tomato varieties to choose from include Roma, plum, cherry, and grape.
These produce high yields of fruit, meaning they’ll keep producing for months after being harvested.
They also contain fewer seeds, which means less waste if you opt to discard them.
You should always wash your fresh vegetables before cutting them up, especially if you plan on boiling them later.
Washing removes dirt, bacteria, and pesticides from the veggies.
And remember to remove the stems from the fresh basil leaves, otherwise they could ruin your sauce’s color.
2. Add olive oil
Olive oil contains antioxidants called polyphenols, which boost the overall nutritional value of the final product.
This makes it a great addition to any seafood sauce recipe, since it provides beneficial health benefits while simultaneously improving the taste of the meal.
This ingredient also helps prevent oxidation, which happens when fats break down over time.
Oxidation causes rancid flavors and smells that aren’t pleasant at all.
Since olive oil doesn’t degrade easily, it keeps the rest of your sauce from getting stale.
3. Make sure to rinse your seafood
It’s important to know that not all seafood species are created equal.
Some are full of toxins that can cause serious illnesses like cancer, while others are free of harmful chemicals.
To ensure that you’re eating healthy seafood, rinse it under running water before consuming it.
4. Cook your seafood separately
Cooking seafood together takes away some of its natural flavors.
It also adds unnecessary fat to your sauce, which is something you definitely don’t want to consume.
So, rather than combining both the lobster and shrimp, you should cook them individually in separate pots.
5. Don’t overcook your seafood
Since seafood gets tender relatively quickly, you shouldn’t let it get done before you’ve added it to your sauce.
Otherwise, you risk having it fall apart and become mushy rather than succulent.
6. Try adding additional aromatics
Some of the most popular additions to a seafood sauce recipe include lemon zest, white wine, red wine vinegar, and thyme.
All four of those things have distinct flavors that complement each other nicely, creating a harmonious blend of tastes.
7. Consider freezing your seafood in advance
Freezing raw seafood prior to saucing it will preserve its freshness, allowing you to keep enjoying your meals longer.
Just be aware that frozen foods tend to lose moisture faster than nonfrozen ones do.
That said, it’s still a good idea to freeze your seafood before serving it to your guests.
8. Choose a thick glass container
Thick glass containers are ideal for holding sauces because they allow heat to penetrate deep into the liquid.
This prevents the contents from becoming overheated, which can damage delicate proteins and destroy valuable nutrients.
Plus, thick glasses reduce evaporation rates, keeping your sauce cool and prolonging its shelf life.
How Can You Adjust The Recipe For Different Dietary Needs?
The seafood sauce recipe below contains plenty of healthy fats which makes it an excellent choice if you have health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.
If you want to make sure people who are watching their sodium intake won’t be left out, consider adding extra celery stalks instead of regular ones in order to add more fiber.
You could also use fresh parsley leaves instead of dried herbs.
It’s important not to overcook the seafood when cooking it in the seafood sauce recipe.
The longer it cooks, the less flavor it gets from the other ingredients.
For this reason, we suggest starting off by putting the oil in a pan over medium heat and letting it warm up before putting the seafood in.
Once the seafood is added, continue heating until it becomes opaque, but don’t let it get too brown.
Then lower the temperature so it stays at around 140 degrees F while simmering for 30 minutes.
After that time, cook it for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When you’ve finished cooking everything, allow the seafood to cool down completely before transferring it to a bowl or serving platter.
To do this, place it inside a large mixing bowl filled with ice water.
This will stop the cooking process and keep the seafood nice and chilled.
Once you’ve taken care of that, take a look at the list of ingredients included in the seafood sauce recipe below.
Each of them has its own unique role to play in helping the final product turn out great.
Some of these include tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, capers, anchovies, basil, chives, lemon juice, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.
As you might imagine, each ingredient has its own specific purpose.
Some help bring out specific tastes, while others contribute additional nutrients to the overall mix.
Since everyone likes something slightly different, feel free to experiment with the seafood sauce recipe to find out exactly what works best for you.
Are There Any Variations On The Seafood Sauce Recipe?
There are many ways you can tweak the traditional seafood sauce recipe in order to make it more specific to suit your needs.
For example, if you prefer not to use anchovies as an ingredient, you may want to substitute them with another type of fish such as tuna instead.
Additionally, you could opt to add some additional herbs and spices to the base recipe in order to give it a bit more flavor.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to making a great seafood sauce for your next meal!
To learn more about how to get started on your own seafood sauce recipe, continue reading below.
How Do You Store The Seafood Sauce Recipe Once It Is Finished?
The seafood sauce can be stored in the refrigerator up to two weeks after preparation.
You may also freeze it if desired.
While freezing does not affect the flavor of the seafood sauce, it allows you to enjoy it without having to spend time making it again.
You can make more than one batch at a time to save yourself the hassle of preparing it over and over again.
For best results, try to prepare the seafood sauce within 24 hours before serving.
This ensures freshness and reduces bacterial growth.
What Are Some Creative Ways To Use The Seafood Sauce Recipe?
Seafood sauces can be used in many different recipes, from soups and stews, to pasta dishes and casseroles, and even as an ingredient in desserts like cakes and cookies.
Here are a few ideas for how you could use this versatile recipe:
- Add fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, and more to make a flavorful marinade for chicken breasts before grilling them over charcoal fire.
- Use the same technique to flavor shrimp and lobster tails prior to baking them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes each side.
- Make homemade ravioli by cutting out shapes of dough and filling them with seafood sauce, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and egg yolk.
- Try making a creamy crab dip by mixing together half a cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, and two teaspoons Old Bay seasoning.
- Add chopped celery, green onion, and dill pickles to taste.
- Combine seafood sauce with heavy cream, milk, and butter to create a rich sauce for salmon steaks.
- Serve shrimp cocktail sauced with lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and other seasonings.
What Are The Most Important Things To Consider When Making A Seafood Sauce Recipe
The first thing to remember when creating a seafood sauce recipe is that it must be seasoned properly.
This means that the flavorings used in the recipe have to complement each other well.
The main goal here is to create an overall balance between saltiness and sweetness so that the whole dish tastes good together.
We found that adding a little bit of sugar to our recipe helped bring out certain flavors more than others.
For example, if you plan on serving the seafood as part of a meal, it might make sense to add a bit of brown sugar because it would help balance the savory notes from the fish against a sweeter taste from the vegetables.
If you don’t want to take away from the flavor of the seafood itself, though, you could try substituting honey for the brown sugar.
You can also experiment by trying different types of seasoning like garlic powder, onion flakes, chili peppers, etc., but keep in mind that these ingredients won’t always work well together.
Another factor to consider is the amount of spice that goes into the sauce.
While everyone likes their food spicy, you may find that your guests prefer less heat than you do.
So, before you begin cooking up a batch of seafood sauce, think about which level of spiciness you want to achieve.
Afterward, adjust accordingly.
When choosing the right herbs to include in your seafood sauce recipe, it helps to keep in mind the flavor profile that you’d like to achieve.
A lot of times, people tend to overdo it with herb-heavy sauces and end up overpowering everything else they cook with them.
So, instead of putting five or six different herbs in your sauce, stick to two or three at most.
Once again, this depends on the type of seafood you choose to put in the sauce, but generally speaking, fresh herbs like parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, mint, rosemary, thyme, and oregano will give your sauce a nice flavor boost while still keeping things balanced.
Finally, keep in mind that while your sauce is cooking, it needs to stay covered.
That way, you prevent evaporation and ensure that the liquid remains flavorful throughout its entire duration.
To cover your sauce, simply place either a lid or aluminum foil directly onto top of the pan once you start heating it.
Alternatively, you can pour water into the bottom of the pot until it reaches halfway up the sides of the saucepan.
Then, turn off the burner, remove the lid, and let the sauce simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes.
When the time comes to serve, uncover the sauce and allow it to cool down slightly before transferring it to individual serving containers.
And finally, enjoy!
Equipment
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons horseradish prepared
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 4 dashes hot sauce optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the catsup, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic.
- Add 1 tablespoon horseradish. Taste and adjust as needed. Then, if you like your cocktail sauce with a kick, add a few dashes of hot sauce.
Video
Nutrition
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.