My Prawn Cocktail Salad with Marie Rose Sauce is the perfect way to make a classic dish into something much more than just a retro starter. This fully loaded salad makes an amazing centrepiece packed with tasty shell on or off king prawns and the homemade seafood sauce is the perfect dressing to bring everything together.
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What to do with a large bag of cooked, shell-on crevettes? Make a fun take on a prawn cocktail of course! I do peel the prawns when making this salad although I leave the tails on to look extra fancy. And one whole prawn on top leaves you in no doubt what you’re eating! But you can absolutely make this salad with any cooked prawns, even the packets of ready peeled smaller prawns if you prefer.
As for the salad itself, I had to stick with a classic crunchy leaf and little gem with it’s cup shaped leaves pile up on the plate as a brilliant base. You can use them to scoop the rest of the salad up if you’re a hands on kind of eater! Red peppers add crunch, shallots add a piquancy and cherry tomatoes a sweetness. And cucumber is perfect mates with the lettuce and prawns.
More Prawn Cocktail Recipes
How to Serve Prawn Cocktail Salad
I do tend to serve this salad on a large platter to be dug into “family style” to coin a common American term. Something to look fabulous on the table that everyone can dig into. But there is absolutely nothing stopping you from serving this up on individual plates.
There are no warm elements to this dish but as I prefer to dress the salad leaves rather than simply pouring the dressing over the top, it doesn’t hold up so well to be assembled too far in advance. Saying this, I do prefer for all of the elements, including the prawns to be served at room temperature rather than fridge cold. This stops the cold from muting the flavours of the dish.
If you’re serving just the salad as a lunch or light meal, I’d recommend serving some kind of bread element to make it more substantial. Some sourdough toast would be perfect and it would be even more delicious if it was smothered in garlic butter before being cooked.
Prawn Cocktail Salad Ingredients
Prawns/Shrimp/Crevettes
Crevettes which are what I’ve used are simply large king prawns that are sold with the shell-on and fully cooked. I bought a big bag frozen which is the most common way to find them in the UK. A good fishmonger will likely sell them freshly cooked.
But you can use any kind of prawn for this dish, even the smaller ones that you might use in a regular prawn cocktail. You just either need to make sure they’re cooked or cook them yourself. They can simply be boiled in salted water for a few minutes.
I do like to use the shell-on option and peel them myself. If you are so inclined, you can use the shells and heads to make a fish stock for another dish.
Prawn Cocktail Sauce
Of course I would recommend making a marie rose from scratch – my recipe is very easy to put together. You can also read more about variations etc in that post.
But if you prefer to buy a ready-made version, you can of course do that. Or for a halfway option, you can always doctor a bought sauce – a good squeeze of lemon juice can often go a very long way.
Prawn Cocktail Sauce – Classic Marie Rose Recipe
Lettuce
Little gen felt like the perfect option here. The small leaves can be added to the salad whole. There is a lot of crunch and the leaves hold up really well as a bottom layer of the salad. If you prefer to shred the lettuce rather than use the whole leaves, you can. Red gem lettuce adds a fun colour element.
If you don’t want to use little gem, romaine/cos is the next best option. Cut it into half lengthways then into chunky slices. Iceberg lettuce is also an option with a similar crunch.
Vegetables
I’ve used red bell peppers, cucumbers, very finely sliced shallots and cherry tomatoes. Each brings their own piece of balance to the salad. The key is to slice everything thin and small. If you have other preferred salad ingredients then feel free to add these. Thinly sliced radishes and avocado would be my first additions.
Be Flexible
As long as you have some kind of lettuce, prawns and marie rose sauce – you really can just use this recipe as inspiration to put together any kind of salad you like. You could switch crunchy lettuce for a baby spinach, rocket or other mixed salad leaves. Add other seafood like calamari rings, mussels or even lovely large flakes of cooked salmon.
You could alternatively keep everything else per the recipe but use a totally different dressing. A punchy Caesar dressing would be amazing or you could opt for a simpler vinaigrette.
Make Allergy Friendly Prawn Cocktail Salad
This recipe is free from dairy and nuts. My marie rose sauce recipe can contain eggs and gluten via the mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce respectively. More details and substitution options are given in the recipe post.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Get Ahead
You can make the sauce several days ahead if you’re making from scratch. You can prepare all of the individual salad ingredients and prawns the day before. Store them separately in the fridge in air tight containers or bags.
It is best to assemble the salad shortly before you intent to serve it. The salad can become soggy and limp if you prepare much more in advance.
Leftover Prawn Salad
Any leftover prawns can be taken off and stored in the fridge for a day or two. You can eat them cold anytime or add them to another dish. You can always rinse off any sauce and dry them to use them in a different flavoured dish.
The salad itself isn’t honestly that great for leftovers. As it’s dressed, everything has a tendency to go a bit soggy. If you don’t mind that, it’ll be edible the next day but not really after that. If you’ve eaten all the prawns, you can always add another protein – some crispy streaky bacon would be a great start.
Marie Rose Prawn Tips
It is worth spending a few extra minutes making sure that you clean and peel the prawns properly. There is nothing more off putting than crunching on a rogue leg.
If you prefer to toss every item with the dressing and have a fully mixed salad, simply add everything to a large bowl and then tip onto the platter or plates. Or serve directly in the bowl.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Prawn Recipes
The Recipe
Prawn Cocktail Salad with Marie Rose Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 350 g Cooked Shell-On Prawns/Crevettes
- 150 g Prawn Cocktail/Marie Rose Sauce
Salad Base
- 50 g Red Bell Pepper
- 100 g Cherry Tomatoes
- 75 g Shallot - or red onion
- 50 g Cucumber
- 2 Little Gem Lettuce - roughly 150g/5oz each or Romaine
To Garnish
- Fresh Chives
- Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
Prepare The Prawns
- Thoroughly dry around 350g Cooked Shell-On Prawns/Crevettes using paper towels or tea towel.
- Twist and pull the head off of each prawn and peel off the majority of the shell. If you are careful, you should be able to leave the tail party still attached for presentation purposes. But you can peel them in full if you prefer.
- Continue until all the prawns have been peeled although you can set one or more aside as garnish if you wish – I saved one.
- If you feel it necessary, you can give the peeled prawns a quick rinse in cold water and thoroughly dry them again.
Prepare The Salad Ingredients
- Slice around 50g Bell Pepper leaving the seeds and white membrane behind.
- Finely slice the pepper and set aside.
- Prepare around 100g Cherry Tomatoes by halving or quartering them as you prefer and depending on their size.
- Top, tail, halve, peel and finely slice around 75g Shallot. Set aside.
- Cut around 50g Cucumber into rounds and then thick slices. Or however you prefer.
- Prepare 2 Little Gem Lettuce by removing any damaged or wilted or discoloured outer leaves.
- Cut off the bottom of each lettuce
- Start removing the leaves and set aside until the core becomes very visible. Cut off the bottom again and keep going until all the leaves are separated.
Assemble The Salad
- Put the salad leaves into a bowl and drizzle over around half of 150g Prawn Cocktail/Marie Rose Sauce..
- Toss the leaves in the sauce until they're all thoroughly coated. You can add a little more of the sauce if needed.
- Spread the dressed lettuce over the base of your serving plate.
- Scatter over the sliced red pepper and cherry tomatoes.
- Carry on by adding the sliced shallots and cucumber slices.
- Place the peeled prawns over the whole plate.
- Drizzle over as much of the remaining sauce as you wish. I like to leave a little sauce to serve with the salad for dipping but this is optional,
- Garnish with some finely chopped fresh chives and a shake of cayenne pepper.
- Serve with any reserved whole unpeeled prawns on top and any remaining sauce in a small pot.
Lesley says
I love a proper retro prawn cocktail and this easy salad recipe didn’t disappoint. The Marie Rose sauce was perfect!
Dave says
I’m a big fan of retro prawn cocktail but never thought of making it into a salad! I made this as a light lunch for friends and it went down very well indeed.