homemade spicy bloody mary mix recipe

With a reputation as a hangover cure or restorative “hair of the dog” drink, a spicy Bloody Mary is the quintessential morning cocktail and one of my favorite drinks. 

It is a staple in our house around the busy holidays, especially on Black Friday, Christmas and New Year’s Day, but to be honest, a batch of these babies is a hit all year round, no matter the occasion. For gatherings like a baby or bridal shower, holidays or tailgates, consider making a a batch of this homemade spicy Bloody Mary mix recipe and then let guests customize their drinks with a variety of spices and garnishes by making a build your own Bloody Mary bar!

Looking for other brunch ideas and inspiration? Off the Eaten Path’s strawberry bellinis, bagel and lox brunch board, easy pumpkin waffles, pimento cheese deviled eggs, sweet potato breakfast hash, and gluten free quiche are all brunch hits!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE A GREAT BLOODY MARY

These are the tools you’ll need to make this spicy Bloody Mary mix recipe:

• Large pitcher, carafe or mason jar
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons
• Shallow, small plate to mix the seasoned salt rim
• Cocktail shaker

And here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• Tomato juice, clamato juice, or Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix
• Pickle juice or olive brine
• Hot sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Lemon juice 
• Dried spices like oregano, basil, garlic powder, and celery salt
• Creamy prepared horseradish
• Old Bay seasoning
• Kosher Salt and black pepper
• Lime wedges and lemon wedges
• Liquor of your choice: vodka is usually the popular pick but you can use gin or tequila too
• Ice

And don’t forget the garnishes. Making a Bloody Mary bar doesn’t have to be complicated (I hold your hand and walk you through it step by step, including the best Bloody Mary garnish ideas in my Bloody Mary bar post).

While a stalk of celery or pickle spear is the typical Bloody Mary garnish, I love thinking more outside the box when it comes to Bloody Mary toppings. Here are some of our favorite garnishes:

• bacon
• meat sticks
• pickled veggies
• Pickles
• Celery sticks
• asparagus
• giardiniera
• mushrooms
• artichoke hearts
• shrimp
• oysters
• olives
• pimento, garlic or blue cheese stuffed olives
• beef jerky
• hard boiled eggs
• cocktail onions
• carrots
• bell peppers
• roasted red peppers
• Hot peppers
• green beans
• jalapeños
• pepperoni
• pepperocini peppers
• pickled beets
• baby corn
• cheese cubes
• cheese sticks
• grilled cheese sandwiches
• cheeseburgers
• Lemon wedges and lime wedges.

HOW TO MAKE THIS HOMEMADE BLOODY MARY MIX RECIPE

I hope, if anything, this Bloody Mary recipe is so easy and delicious it encourages you to skip the store bought stuff and make your own Bloody Mary mix at home! 

To make the mix, it’s basically a two step process: you’ll add all of your ingredients (tomato juice, pickle juice, lemon juice, seasonings and spices) to a large pitcher, carafe or mason jar. Make sure whatever container you’re using it has a lid or it can be covered to store in the fridge (I like to use a large mason jar to make the mix and then transfer it to a pitcher for serving).

After adding the main ingredients, taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference. For example, you may want to add additional hot sauce, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, garlic, celery seed, salt or pepper depending on how you prefer your brunch beverage. A few shakes here and a few shakes there should do the trick. Make sure you add additional seasonings and spices a little at a time as taste as you go until the mix is perfect.

Stick the pitcher in the refrigerator overnight, if possible (this allows the flavors to marinate and combine together which will make your mix taste better). If you don’t have time to chill overnight, at least give it a couple of hours.

Before serving, make the salt rim. On a shallow, small plate, combine Old Bay seasoning and salt. Prior to filling a high glass with ice, make a notch in a quarter of a lemon wedge or lime wedge. Rub the lemon or lime along the top rim of a highball glass until it is wet, and then tip the glass into the seasoned salt mixture and spin until the glass rim is coated.

Then its time to make the cocktail! Add a ton of ice to your salt rimmed glass, combine five ounces of the tomato juice mixture and 2 ounces of vodka, gin or tequila into a cocktail shaker and shake to combine, or directly into the glass and stir to combine. Garnish as desired!

BLOODY MARY COCKTAILS TIPS AND TRICKS

HOMEMADE VERSUS STORE BOUGHT BLOODY MARY MIX

Bloody Mary mix is one of those classic recipes that everyone should have in their cocktail making arsenal. Making homemade mix doesn’t take a long time and many of the ingredients are ones you should already have in your fridge or pantry…the result should be a perfectly seasoned, balanced thick (but not chunky) mix (we’re not making cocktail sauce here, no chunks please!) Nine times out of ten, if you can make your own spicy Bloody Mary mix at home, I would recommend doing that!

But sometimes we’re short on time or need to take a few shortcuts, and that is totally fine! God created store bought cocktail mixes for a reason right? The thing we need to keep in mind is that not all store bought cocktail mixes are created equal. 

If you aren’t going to make your own mix and use a pre-made mix, the only one I would recommend is Zing Zang mix. And trust me, I have tried a LOT of Bloody Mary mixes! In my opinion, Zing Zang is the best Bloody Mary mix you can pick up at the grocery store (I will also use Mrs T Bold and Spicy mix in a pinch but I find that I have to add a lot of extra fresh horseradish to it).

What I love about Zing Zang is I find pre-made mixes to be pretty watered down, but Zing Zang packs a lot of flavor and I rarely have to zhoosh it up with extra ingredients and spices. Maybe because they use a blend of seven vegetable juices, hot sauce and spices to start with?

Beyond the great homemade versus store bought mix debate, there’s a few other things you need that are essential to making the ultimate Bloody Mary:

Fresh lemon juice and lime juice: Yes, both. The extra acid from the citrus takes a Bloody Mary to the next level in my opinion so I always make sure to add both lemon and lime juice and garnish my drinks with lemon and lime wedges.

Hot sauce: We are making a spicy Bloody Mary mix recipe here. Keyword: spicy. Spicy equals hot sauce. My preference is Texas Pete (which actually isn’t from Texas but it from North Carolina, fun fact) or Tabasco, but Siracha also works too. I love my Bloody Marys to pack a punch, so adding your own level of heat can make your drink as spicy as you want it to be.

Salt rim: small plate rim of the glass extra layer of flavor, texture and looks pretty to get the salt mixture to stick to the glass rub the cut edge of a lemon or lime wedge along the glass turn the glass over and dip the rim into the salt mixture

Beer back: In my opinion, the only proper way to serve a Bloody Mary is with a beer back, also known as a beer chaser or a sidecar of beer. What is a back exactly? A back is a shot or drink served to brace up another potable (for example, a pickleback is a shot of pickle juice served with a shot of whiskey to wash it down).  I’ve really only seen beer backs served with Bloody Marys in Wisconsin (and occasionally a few other places in the Midwest) but I lived in Wisconsin when I turned 21 and started indulging in Bloody Marys so the chasers are normal to me. Why can’t we make the beer back a nationwide movement? A great beer chaser will pair well with the Bloody Mary and also help cut the spice.  

WHAT IS THE SALAD?

Similar to beer backs, I think the salad is a Wisconsin thing. In Wisconsin, we call Bloody Marys toppings or garnish “the salad,” because you can get to the point where the toppings practically become a full meal!

WHAT LIQUOR SHOULD I USE IN A BLOODY MARY?

Vodka is the traditional liquor choice when making a Bloody Mary. But this doesn’t mean you have to use vodka! There are a variety of other liquors you can mix with your homemade spicy Bloody Mary mix to make the classic breakfast cocktail.

You can definitely make a Bloody Mary with gin (this is AJ’s favorite way to enjoy the brunch beverage), it’s just called something different: a Red Snapper. Gin pairs well with a spicy Bloody Mary mix because it adds a touch of botanical scent and flavor to the drink.

If you swap the vodka for tequila, you’ve got yourself a Bloody Maria! Tequila will generally give your drink a bolder flavor than vodka.

If you substitute absinthe instead of vodka, you’re making a Bloody Fairy. And you can use sake instead of vodka to make a Bloody Geisha. 

And to make the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary, called a Bloody Caesar, you’ll stick with the classic vodka as the liquor in your drink, but use Clamato juice rather than plain tomato juice.