Gordon Ramsay’s prawn cocktail is large prawns poached in court bouillon, layered in glasses with shredded iceberg, diced avocado and a Marie Rose sauce spiked with brandy, Tabasco and Worcestershire, ready in about 20 minutes including the poaching.
The recipe is from Great British Pub Food, where Ramsay calls it “a very popular starter in the seventies” that “has become fashionable again,” and insists “you must, of course, use very fresh prawns.” In the video he adds diced avocado with lemon juice which the book does not include, but it lifts the whole thing because the creamy avocado sits between the crisp lettuce and rich sauce. You can watch him build it in his Prawn Cocktail video.
What separates his version from the supermarket ones is the court bouillon, because instead of boiling prawns in plain salted water he poaches them for 2-3 minutes in a flavoured stock so they absorb aromatics before the sauce even touches them. That and the brandy in the Marie Rose, which he says “sounds slightly weird but it tastes absolutely delicious.”
Gordon Ramsay Prawn Cocktail
Course: StarterCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes5
minutes290
kcal20
minutesClassic prawn cocktail from Great British Pub Food. Prawns poached in court bouillon, layered in glasses with iceberg, avocado and a brandy-spiked Marie Rose sauce. A retro British starter done properly. Source: Great British Pub Food (HarperCollins, 2009).
Ingredients
500g (1 lb 2 oz) large raw prawns, shell on
1.5 litres court bouillon (see FAQ below)
½ head of iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
1 ripe avocado, halved, stoned and diced
Juice of ½ lemon (for the avocado)
Few pinches of cayenne pepper
For the cocktail sauce:
100ml mayonnaise
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp brandy or cognac
1 tsp lemon juice
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco
Sea salt and white pepper
Directions
- Prepare the prawns: Peel the prawns, leaving the tail shells on. Make a slit along the back of each one and remove the dark vein with the tip of a knife.
- Poach the prawns: Pour the court bouillon into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the prawns and poach gently for 2-3 minutes until opaque and firm, then drain and refresh in a bowl of iced water before draining again in a colander.
- Make the cocktail sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, brandy, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco together in a bowl, then season with salt and white pepper to taste.
- Prepare the avocado: Halve, stone and score the avocado, scoop out and dice, then drizzle with lemon juice to stop it browning.
- Assemble: Spoon some cocktail sauce into the bottom of four serving glasses, scatter shredded lettuce over the sauce, add the diced avocado, then arrange the prawns on top. Finish with a small dollop of sauce, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a lemon wedge on the rim.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay poach the prawns in court bouillon instead of water?
Plain boiling water gives you bland prawns that rely entirely on the sauce for flavour, which is a waste when court bouillon takes 15 minutes and transforms them completely. It is a quick stock made with onion, carrot, celery, white wine, peppercorns, bay leaves and lemon, and the prawns absorb those aromatics during the 2-3 minute poach so they taste of something before the Marie Rose even touches them.
Ramsay says the stock “can be kept in the fridge for up to a week and used to poach other seafood,” so one batch covers multiple dinners if you are entertaining over a weekend.
Why add brandy to the Marie Rose?
He says “it sounds slightly weird but it tastes absolutely delicious,” and he is right because the brandy adds warmth and a slight sweetness that lifts the sauce beyond ketchup and mayo. Only a tablespoon goes in, so you do not taste alcohol, just a depth that you cannot quite place. Starting with homemade mayonnaise whisked from egg yolks, mustard and white wine vinegar makes the biggest difference though, because shop-bought mayo is thicker and sweeter which throws the balance off.
In Gordon Ramsay’s Secrets he uses Cognac in his upscale langoustine version alongside Worcestershire and Tabasco, which means this combination is consistent across his books rather than a one-off. Our Marie Rose sauce recipe from Bread Street Kitchen has the full cocktail sauce method if you want to make a bigger batch.
What is the Granny Smith apple trick?
In Gordon Ramsay’s Secrets he makes an upscale “langoustine cocktail” and calls it “my ultimate prawn cocktail,” where the twist is diced crisp Granny Smith apple mixed into the Cos lettuce salad with shallot and shredded basil.
The tartness of the apple cuts through the richness of the sauce in a way that lettuce alone cannot, and he finishes it with a pinch of mild curry powder on top, which sounds odd but works because the spice picks up the warmth of the brandy in the sauce.
Can you make it without mayonnaise?
Yes, and Ramsay himself does exactly that in Ultimate Fit Food with a Mexican prawn cocktail where the sauce is ketchup, orange juice, lime, Worcestershire and coriander instead of anything creamy, served with diced tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado on top.
He says it is “quite different and much more refreshing” than the classic, which makes sense because the citrus and chilli hit differently from the rich brandy mayo. If you want the retro British version the mayo is the point, but for a lighter summer starter the Mexican one is genuinely better.
Does prawn cocktail keep well?
Assembled, no. The lettuce goes soggy and the avocado browns within an hour, so this is a starter meant to be built right before your guests sit down rather than prepped in the morning and left in the fridge.
That said, you can make the sauce up to two days ahead and keep it covered, and poach and chill the prawns up to a day ahead. The assembly itself takes three minutes, so do it last and everything stays crisp.
What makes a good court bouillon for poaching prawns?
Roughly chop an onion, carrot and celery stick, then simmer in 1.5 litres of water with 150ml white wine, a few black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and a squeeze of lemon for 15 minutes before straining. You can also drop the prawn shells into the stock while it simmers for extra seafood flavour, which is a trick Ramsay uses across several books.
If you are short on time and want prawns without the poaching, the prawn salad from Ultimate Home Cooking uses pre-cooked king prawns with a spicy yoghurt and fish sauce dressing that works cold straight from the fridge.
