American

Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Broccoli With Cocktail-Sauce Sauce

by:
November 18, 2020
5
10 Ratings
Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Broccoli With Cocktail-Sauce Sauce
Photo by Rocky Luten. Food stylist: Anna Billingskog. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with an opened bottle of cocktail sauce—or you’re simply looking for a new, delicious path from oven to table—this sheet-pan dinner is for you. Inspired by my love of shrimp cocktail, this speedy meal combines roasted shrimp, broccoli, and caramelized lemon together on a sheet pan. But the best part, the reason I’ve been making this dinner on repeat? The crazy good, crazy simple sauce (thickened right on the sheet pan!) made from butter, garlic, lemon zest, chicken stock, and (you guessed it!) cocktail sauce. Serve with crusty bread, or pile on top of pasta or rice, to sop up every last bit of the sauce.

A few notes and tips: Reach for your favorite prepared cocktail sauce when making this dinner, or feel free to mix up your own. If the spicy bite of horseradish in prepared cocktail sauce isn’t to your (or your dining companions’) taste, the butter and stock in the pan sauce nicely mellow it out. (My own two kids, for example, don’t like cocktail sauce, but they happily gobble up this dinner!) What’s great is how easy it is to adjust the flavors. Want a kickier, spicier sauce? Add more cocktail sauce. Want a tamer one? Start with a lesser amount of cocktail sauce, and add more, a little at a time, to taste. —EmilyC

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 large or 3 small crowns of broccoli (1 1/2 to 2 pounds in total)
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 pound uncooked shrimp (peeled and deveined); purchased fresh or thawed from frozen
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup chicken or seafood stock
  • 6 tablespoons cocktail sauce, or to taste (see author note)
Directions
  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicon baking mat, or lightly oil it.
  2. Zest the lemon directly into a small saucepan; set aside for making the sauce in Step 5. Cut the lemon in half.
  3. Cut broccoli into bite-sized florets and add to the sheet pan. Toss the broccoli with 2 tablespoons olive oil and half the salt and pepper, and distribute in a single, even layer. Add the lemon halves, cut-side down, to the sheet pan. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the broccoli is starting to brown around the edges.
  4. While the broccoli is roasting, toss the shrimp in 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining salt and pepper; set aside.
  5. To make the sauce: In the small saucepan over medium heat, melt together butter, lemon zest, and garlic. Let the garlic cook, without browning, for a minute or two, then whisk in the broth and cocktail sauce. Taste, adding a little more cocktail sauce for extra kick, if desired, and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Keep the sauce warm over the lowest heat setting until ready to use.
  6. Remove sheet pan from the oven, and nestle the shrimp amongst the broccoli florets. Roast for 3 to 5 minutes, or until shrimp is mostly cooked through and turning pink (the time will depend on the size of the shrimp).
  7. Remove sheet pan again, and add the sauce, pouring directly onto the pan. Carefully tilt the pan back and forth a few times to evenly distribute the sauce. It may not entirely cover the pan—that’s okay!
  8. Return the pan to the oven for 2 more minutes, or just until sauce is starting to bubble again. Serve warm—either on its own or with crusty bread, rice, or pasta for sopping up the sauce.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Leah Heck
    Leah Heck
  • EmilyC
    EmilyC
  • Mike Elliot
    Mike Elliot
  • Linda D
    Linda D
EmilyC

Recipe by: EmilyC

I'm a home cook. I love salads. Two things you'll always find in my refrigerator are lemons and butter, and in my pantry good quality chocolate and the makings for chocolate chip cookies.

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7 Reviews

Mike E.
Mike E. June 21, 2022
So this was....Amazing! I was about to give up on sheet pan shrimp recipes, which usually turn out lacking something, but I should have remembered that EmilyC has never steered me wrong before. This came together in a flash and the shrimp scampi-meets-shrimp cocktail vibe was inspired. The shrimp came out perfectly roasted and that sauce also gave the broccoli a big flavor boost. I added a few dashes of hot sauce just to kick things up a bit more, but otherwise stuck to the script. We had it over plain rice but we can definitely envision a crusty slice of garlic bread in its immediate future, to sop up that crazy-good sauce.
 
Leah H.
Leah H. December 21, 2021
This was such a hit and so easy! I started the recipe thinking I had cocktail sauce in the fridge, but when I pulled it out, it was actually La Costena salsa. 🤦🏻‍♀️ It turned out great anyway - had a tomato base for the sauce and still gave it a kick.

Keeping this one in my permanent rotation!
 
Linda D.
Linda D. April 3, 2021
Since I am the shrimp lover, I thought my husband would be satisfied with the broccoli served with pasta, but lo and behold, he went for more shrimp after he tasted one! A double surprise since he's not keen on lemon either! Another winner here, Emily. Thank you!
 
EmilyC
EmilyC April 5, 2021
Thanks Linda! So glad you and your husband enjoyed this!
 
Palliser
Palliser January 26, 2021
I made this tonight and absolutely loved it, as did my mom who wasn’t sure about cocktail sauce. I added one extra clove of garlic, but that wasn’t necessary. The sauce is so yummy and it came together very quickly on a week night. We dipped toasted bread into the sauce. Yum!!!
 
EmilyC
EmilyC January 27, 2021
Wonderful -- happy to hear that you and your mom enjoyed this! Thanks for your note, Palliser.
 
Palliser
Palliser January 26, 2021
I made this tonight and absolutely loved it, as did my mom who wasn’t sure about cocktail sauce. I added one extra clove of garlic, but that wasn’t necessary. The sauce is so yummy and it came together very quickly on a week night. We dipped toasted bread into the sauce. Yum!