Prawn Cocktail Canapes

Name: Prawn Cocktail Canapes
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 150 g Cooked king prawns; 140 g Marie Rose Sauce; 8 Lettuce leaves (little gem); 0.25 Cucumber (diced); 6 Cherry tomato (diced); 5 g Chives (chopped)

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The perfect no-cook party food, these Prawn Cocktail Canapés are a MUST at your Christmas party buffet. Ready in less than 10 minutes with just a few ingredients, it's a classic prawn cocktail loaded into a lettuce leaf for a bite sized prawn canapé.

Lettuce leaves filled with prawn cocktail mixture on a round wooden board.

Prawn cocktail is such a retro British classic. Usually served up as a starter on Christmas day in a fancy bowl or glass, we have given a party food twist to it.

These prawn cocktail boats look far more impressive than they actually are, as they are SO easy to put together. They are easy to adapt too and it's the perfect canape with prawns.

If you are looking for more prawn recipes, try our delicious Kung Po Prawns, tasty Garlic and Herb Prawns, spicy Prawn Jalfrezi or the best Prawn Sandwich.

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Ingredients and Substitutions
Variations
How to Make Prawn Cocktail Canapés - Step by Step
Serving Suggestions
Storage
Extra Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Party Food Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed to make this recipe each with a text overlay label.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Prawns - We used cooked fresh king prawns. If you are using frozen prawns, you will need to defrost them thoroughly first and if using raw prawns then they will need to be cooked first.
Marie Rose Sauce - We used our Easy Marie Rose Sauce, however you can use a good quality store bought version if you prefer.
Cucumber and tomato - This bulks out the prawn cocktail canapés and adds some texture. Make sure they are finely diced.
Lettuce - This is what everything is held in and makes little boats. We used little gem, but you could make bigger versions with romaine or iceberg.
Chives - This finishes it all off.

Variations

These prawn cocktail canapés are so simple, which is what we love about them, so there isn't too much to change. However, you can add in a few other salad ingredients.

We added diced cucumber and tomato to bulk them out a bit (prawns aren't cheap, right?!), but you could add diced bell pepper, spring onions or grated carrot too.

For some extra creaminess, you could add a slice of avocado to each lettuce boat. Prawn and avocado are a classic combination.

To finish off these canapés with prawns, you can add a sprinkle of smoked paprika to each one.

If you want to make a more traditional version of this, try our Ultimate Prawn Cocktail Recipe.

How to Make Prawn Cocktail Canapés - Step by Step

Cooked prawns and Marie Rose sauce in a green bowl.

Step 1: Mix together the prawns and Marie Rose sauce until all the prawns are coated.

Eight little gem lettuce leaves on a wooden board.

Step 2: Separate eight lettuce leaves and put them onto a serving board.

Chopped tomatoes and chopped cucumber added to the lettuce leaves.

Step 3: Divide the tomato and cucumber between the lettuce leaves.

The prawn mixture added to the leaves and topped with chopped chives.

Step 4: Divide the coated prawns between all the leaves and top with chopped chives.

Serving Suggestions

These are bite-sized (or maybe 2 or 3 bites) prawn canapés, so you don't need to serve them with anything else rather than a cocktail. Why not try our Christmas Punch to keep it festive or our Sea Breeze Cocktail?

These are a must on any party food buffet. Really impressive, easy to make a big batch of them, and always a crowd pleaser. Prawn cocktail party food is always a favourite.

For some more party food, why not try our Air Fryer Sausage Rolls, Baked Jalapeno Poppers, Cranberry and Brie Bites or Salmon Pate?

Prawns coated in Marie Rose sauce in a lettuce leaf with chopped chives on top.

Storage

Store: These are best eaten straight away. The can stay on the buffet table for the duration of the party, but the lettuce will start to go floppy after a while. For making them in advance, see below.

Freeze: We wouldn't recommend freezing these.

Extra Tips

For a bit of a fruity twist to these prawn cocktail cups, you can add diced mango. Make sure it is really fresh and ripe though.
You can swap fresh chives for dill if you prefer.
The size of little gems vary, so buy some extra just incase the leaves are small.
For some extra flavour, you can chop up some sun-dried tomatoes to mix with the fresh tomatoes.

Prawn cocktail canapes on a wooden bnoard with some lemon wedges.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use frozen prawns?

Yes, you can use frozen prawns in this recipe, just don't forget to defrost them first! Don't worry if you forget to defrost them in time though. Empty the frozen prawns into a large bowl and cover with cold water and drain. Repeat this step a couple of times, then cover with cold water again and leave for 15 minutes until defrosted.

Can I make this in advance?

You can chop everything up and mix the prawns with the sauce in advance and then assemble it just before serving.

More Party Food Recipes

If you’ve tried this prawn canapé recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

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