Easy Marie Rose Sauce

A classic sauce recipe that totally transforms a homemade prawn cocktail. A simple mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice and Worcestershire Sauce with a Tabasco kick, this prawn cocktail sauce has a serious amount of flavour. Marie Rose sauce is the perfect accompaniment to seafood and takes just minutes to make.

A glass of prawn cocktail topped with chopped chives.

If you have had a prawn cocktail, then you can had this cocktail sauce before. Whilst you could just open a jar of seafood sauce, it's so easy to make yourself and it will taste 10 times better. Made with ingredients that you probably already have in your fridge, if you are making your own prawn cocktail, then go the extra mile and make your own Marie Rose sauce.

Prawn cocktail is a must at Christmas time, and during the festive season we tend to have a little bit more time to spend in the kitchen, so we have a few extra minutes to make a homemade prawn Marie Rose sauce. But seriously, very little effort goes in to making this.

If you are looking for some other sauce recipes, why not try our Mango Chutney, Whipped Feta, Southwest Sauce or 2 Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce.

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Why you will love it
Ingredients needed
How to make Marie Rose Sauce - Step by step
How to serve Marie Rose Sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
Extra tips
More sauce recipes
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Why you will love it

Perfect with a prawn cocktail - If you are making a prawn cocktail, then a Marie Rose sauce is a must and this homemade version will make it taste even better.
Minimal ingredients - Just 5 ingredients go in to making cocktail sauce this, and you probably already have all the ingredients in your fridge.
Quick - This Marie Rose sauce recipe is a simple as mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl and takes less than 2 minutes.
Adaptable - There isn't much to this recipe, so there isn't much to adapt, but you could give it a bit of an extra kick with more Tabasco.

Ingredients needed

Mayonnaise - This is what makes the seafood sauce nice and creamy. You could make your own, but for ease we used a store bought one. Use the best quality you can, as you really will be able to taste the difference. We used full fat, as it gives a creamy flavour.
Ketchup - Like the mayonnaise, you will want to use the best quality you can. Cheap ketchups can have a chemical flavour to them. Or make your own using our Healthy Tomato Ketchup recipe.
Worcestershire Sauce - This adds a lovely tangy flavour to the sauce for prawn cocktail.
Lemon - This helps to loosen it up a bit, as well as add some freshness.
Tabasco - This is an optional ingredient, however it does add a nice kick of heat.

A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.

How to make Marie Rose Sauce - Step by step

One: Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to a bowl.

Mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl.

Two: Mix until everything is combined.

Marie Rose sauce in a bowl with a spoon.

How to serve Marie Rose Sauce

This is a really versatile sauce. Although the classic way to serve it would be with our Ultimate Prawn Cocktail, there is so much more that you can do with it. It goes really well with seafood, so we love using it as a dip for crab sticks. We also love it with smoked salmon and it's our choice of sauce on a salmon and avocado sandwich.

However, there is so much more that you can do with it. It is a delicious sandwich sauce, and makes a change from just using mayo. It is served on a Rueben sandwich in the US, but we think it goes well with any meaty sandwich.

You could also thin this prawn cocktail sauce out a little with some extra lemon juice and it would make a really nice salad dressing. Why not try it on our Grilled Little Gem Salad?

We recently tried Marie Rose sauce on a burger and let me tell you, it was epic! Why not try our Hidden Vegetable Beef Burgers?

Two glasses containing prawn cocktails surrounded by lemons and chives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Marie Rose and Thousand Island?

They are basically the same thing, with the same ingredients, the only difference is the way that they are served. Thousand Island sauce is very popular in the U.S and is used as a salad dressing or on burgers and sandwiches. It sometimes has horseradish mixed into it or some chopped onion, which is the only difference in ingredients. A Marie Rose sauce is more traditional in the UK and is used as a seafood sauce, which is why you will find it on prawn cocktail.

How to store Marie Rose sauce

This sauce will store well in an air tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. You could make this in advance and then just stir it with the prawns just before serving a prawn cocktail.

Can I make a vegan version?

Yes, you can. Replace the mayonnaise with a vegan version and swap the Worcestershire sauce for Henderson's Relish or even soy sauce.

Extra tips

• Add a little extra kick of flavour with some paprika or cayenne pepper.
• Full fat mayonnaise will give a better, and creamier, flavour, however you could use reduce fat if you prefer.
• We wouldn't recommend freezing this because mayo doesn't freeze very well and it separates when it defrosts.
• For a more luxurious prawn cocktail, add a tablespoon for brandy to the cocktail sauce.
• We would recommend making this prawn cocktail sauce the day before and keeping it in the fridge to allow all the flavours to come together.

More sauce recipes

If you’ve tried this Marie Rose sauce recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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