Best Sauce for Oysters

5 (1)

Fresh Oysters are such a beautiful appetizer and start to a meal. That simple pleasure of enjoying a mouthful of a fresh, salty, Oyster instantly transports you to the ocean. From our years and years of eating these delectable treat, we’ve narrowed down what we believe to be the Best Sauce for Oysters

Oysters are an immensely popular dish anywhere you go in the world, and feature on menus from every cuisine imaginable. The simplicity of the Oyster is what makes them so special. In our opinion, the best Oysters are natural, and paired with a lovely Sauce

The Best Sauce for Oysters has one role – to highlight and elevate the Oysters beautiful, natural flavor

The key to a great Sauce pairing with Oysters is to let the Oyster shine. Particularly if you are eating beautiful natural Oysters. The objective is to invoke that beautiful flavor that reminds you of the Ocean. So, why mask that flavor with an overpowering sauce? Subtle flavors are the key, and used sparingly

Our best advice for enjoying a lovely sauce with Oysters is to not overload the sauce. Add just a little bit of these accompaniments to the Oysters to elevate that beautiful, natural flavor

What are the best Sauces to pair with Oysters?

We’ve had a lot of Oysters in our time, and from our experience our personal favorites can be paired down to the following three:

1. Simple Lemon Juice
2. Mignonette Sauce
3. Cocktail Sauce
   
   

Simple Lemon Juice

Lemon is Seafoods best friend. The sharp acidic hit completely brightens any type of Seafood, Oysters being absolutely no exception. Lemons, like Salt, act simply as a flavor enhancer in cooking. Given the subtly of the flavor in an Oyster, a simple squeeze of Lemon Juice is all you need for that perfect bite

Mignonette Sauce

Like Lemon Juice, Mignonette Sauce also carries that strong acidic flavor. However instead of Lemon, the primary ingredient in a Mignonette Sauce is Vinegar, in most cases – Red Wine Vinegar to be precise. The other ingredient in Mignonette Sauce are finely diced Shallots. Again, this is quite a sharp sauce so use it sparingly on the fresh Oysters. Just a little bit of sauce will elevate the beautiful Oyster flavor

Cocktail Sauce

Perhaps a controversial third choice, however we absolutely love Cocktail Sauce on Seafood. It’s classic pairing is with Shrimp, as we’ve made in our amazing Shrimp Cocktail Recipe. Cocktail Sauce’s primary ingredients are Ketchup, and Horseradish. It’s also finished off with a little bit of Worcestershire Sauce and, of course, Lemon Juice! The Horseradish adds a lovely, fresh spice flavor which pairs wonderfully with the Oysters. Again, like all sauces, use this sparingly on the Oyster. Just ¼ of a teaspoon is all you need per Oyster

The Best Sauce for Oysters Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 Fresh Oysters, shucked
• Juice of 2 Lemons
• 2 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
• ½ Shallot, finely diced
• 2 tbsp. Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tbsp. Horseradish
• ½ tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt
  
  

Ingredients are for all three sauces

Instructions

To make the Mignonette Sauce

1. Peel and finely dice the Shallot. You want to try and cut the Shallots as finely as you can
2. In a small bowl, combine the Red Wine Vinegar, Shallots, and ½ tsp. of Salt. Mix well to combine
   
   

To make the Cocktail Sauce

1. In a small bowl combine the Ketchup, Horseradish, Worcestershire Sauce, Juice of ½ a Lemon, and ½ tsp. of Salt
2. Mix well to combine and check for seasoning to your preferred taste. To make the sauce slightly sweeter, add more Ketchup. For more acid, add Lemon. For more spice, add more Horseradish!
   
   

Making the Lemon Juice

1. Easily the simplest ‘sauce’ to make, as this just requires squeezing fresh Lemons over the Oysters just before serving!
   
   

The simplest sauces are often the best, so we’d love for you to try out these beautiful Sauces for Oysters and tell us which one you prefer. We know there are lots more delicious sauces that pair well with fresh Oysters too, so feel free to share with us in the comments below what your favorites are

Happy Cooking!