It’s not the 70’s or the 80’s, but that doesn’t mean this Classic Cream Cheese Shrimp Dip shouldn’t make a surprise appetizer appearance at your parties this year. Tangy, luscious, this updated seafood dip is a zesty shrimp cocktail with a side of cream cheese!
If you love seafood dips, you should also give my Million Dollar Shrimp & Crab Dip AND My Best Smoked Tuna Dip a try!
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Sometimes it’s worth bringing back a classic. I mean, they are classics for a reason. The main reason being they’re just darn good. And that holds true for this retro seafood dip. Is it a shrimp cocktail? Yes, it is. Is it an addictive cream cheese dip? Absolutely. Is always gone every time you serve it? You better believe it.
I found this one deep in my Mamaw’s Shreveport Junior League spiral bound cookbook. And since I’m always down for a good dip recipe, I thought I’d give it a whirl. The first time I made it, I didn’t include the topping. I used a small bag of salad shrimp, jarred cocktail sauce and served it with potato chips. It took about 5 minutes to make and was gone even faster. I knew we had a winner!
How We Elevated It
To give this dip a little bit of an update, we decided to nix the pre-prepared ingredients. We knew that we could really increase flavor and freshness with a few simple tweaks that would only add about 5-8 minutes to the prep time. The results were more than worth it! We ended up with a retro dip with loads of punchy flavor and all the vibes of prepared seafood dish.
What To Know Before Getting Started
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- large cooked shrimp– peeled, deveined, no tail (we made our own to increase flavor)- see below
- cream cheese
- mayonnaise
- sour cream
- homemade cocktail sauce (easy ingredients, you control the spiciness)
- hot sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- my all purpose Creole seasoning or Old Bay seasoning (using your own seasoning blend eliminates MSG and allows you to control the sodium.)
NOTES: The shrimp recipe we used + the homemade cocktail sauce and the Creole seasoning are linked below and in the recipe card.
How to Make This Retro Shrimp Dip
Cook the shrimp. You can use precooked shrimp for this recipe. But to increase the flavor of the dip you need well-seasoned, tasty shrimp, so it’s best to make your own.
It only takes 2-4 minutes to boil shrimp, so making your own doesn’t add any real time. I use my quick Louisiana peel & eat recipe to boil them (even though I do use pre-peeled shrimp for this dip) and then I rough chop the shrimp for the dip.
Make the quick cocktail sauce. Again, a jarred cocktail sauce would work, but making your own takes less than a minute and allows you to customize the spiciness to suit your taste! Here is my fail proof recipe for homemade seafood cocktail sauce.
Whisk together the creamy base. Whisk together the room temperature cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream. Then stir in cocktail sauce, hot sauce, Creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.
Fold in the shrimp. Folding in the shrimp after the creamy base is ready is easier than trying to mix together everything at the same time. By making the dip in steps, you get a smoother dip with ingredients evenly distributed throughout.
Top. Spoon your dip into a shallow bowl or onto a serving platter. Spoon about ¼ cup cocktail sauce in the center. Top with extra chopped shrimp. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately or chill for 30 minutes!
You could also grate a little lemon zest across the top for added brightness.
Want to go a little more simple? Skip the cocktail sauce & extra shrimp topping and just serve the dip in a bowl with a few chives and some potato chips!
What To Serve with Cream Cheese & Shrimp Dip
We eat this dip all year long. In the summer, it’s a must to serve it with fresh vegetables for dipping. Our favorites include:
- celery sticks (so good with the cocktail sauce)
- cucumbers
- carrot sticks
- red bell pepper
- radish coins
- sweet or dill pickles
If you’re serving outside, make sure the dip stays chilled in an iced serving tray and isn’t out in the heat (90° or higher) more than an hour.
In the winter (at the holidays, especially New Year’s Eve), we serve it with garlic bread crostinis, warm naan, pita chips and/or crackers.
Making Ahead & Storing Leftovers
To make Cream Cheese Shrimp Dip ahead of time, cook the shrimp, chop and place in a zip top bag in the refrigerator overnight. Make cocktail sauce and mix up the cream cheese base, but don’t fold in the shrimp. Refrigerate in an airtight container.
Before you serve, remove the cream cheese mixture from the fridge and let soften just until it can be easily stirred. Then fold in the shrimp and add the topping. Serve immediately!
To store leftovers, cover or place in airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Freezing isn’t recommended.
More Delicious Dip Recipes
Cream Cheese & Shrimp Dip (Shrimp Cocktail Dip)
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 1 pound cooked large shrimp peeled, deveined, tail off
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ cup cocktail sauce
- 1 tablespoon All Purpose Creole Seasoning or Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- chopped chives (garnish)
Instructions
- Rough chop cooked shrimp. Separate ½ cup for use as the topping, and set the shrimp aside.
- Mix together cream cheese, mayo and sour cream until smooth using either a hand mixer or a whisk.
- Stir in ½ of the cocktail sauce + all of the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
- Fold in all of the shrimp except the ½ cup set aside for the topping.
- Spoon dip into shallow bowl or onto a serving platter. Top it with the remaining cocktail sauce and shrimp. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve!
Notes
- You can use precooked shrimp and jarred cocktail sauce. I’ve included links to recipes for boiling shrimp and a homemade cocktail sauce because it only takes about 5 minutes to make your own!
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