Homemade Bloody Mary Mix with Fresh Tomatoes
Homemade Bloody Mary Mix, made with fresh tomatoes, herbs, pickle juice, Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of spicy hot sauce. This DIY bloody mary mix recipe is great to make ahead and store for later. Cheers!
Are you a bloody mary lover? So are we! That’s why we decided to recreate our favorite bloody may mix (Zing Zang) at home using fresh tomatoes from the garden. You’ll love this recipe as it’s super fresh, a little spicy, and perfect for a homemade mary for your next brunch!
👉 Ready to learn how to make DIY bloody mary mix with fresh tomatoes? Let's do it!
🍅 Ingredients
- Tomatoes: Any tomatoes will do for making your blood mary mix, but we like big fat beefsteak or roma tomatoes the best
- Fresh herbs: We like a mixture of fresh basil and oregano (fresh or dried) to flavor your mix
- Pickle or caper juice: A dash of salty pickle or caper juice adds depth of flavor
- Hot sauce: Optional, but we like to sweat when drinking a mary! Our go-to is Louisiana, but Tobasco works as well
- Worcestershire sauce: A small amount of Worcesteshire sauce rounds out the mix
- Seasonings: A pinch of salt and pepper adds flavor, but we like to kick it up a notch and do a smoky sea salt
- For a bloody mary: Vodka (we like Tito’s) and garnishes like a tomato, lime, olive, celery stick, etc. Don’t hold back!
- Recommended tools: large soup pot, handheld immersion blender, glass jar for storing
🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)
1️⃣ Step One: Cook bloody mary mix
The first step to making fresh homemade blood mary mix is to prepare the tomatoes! Simply wash them and them cut into smaller pieces so they cook down easier than if they were whole.
Then place the cut tomatoes in a large pot with fresh basil, pickle or caper sauce, hot sauce, a dash of Worcestershire, a sprinkle of oregano, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to a low simmer over medium-low heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes cook down, become tender, and release their juices.
2️⃣ Step Two: Blend and chill mix
When the tomatoes have completely cooked down and the mixture is similar to a thick tomato soup, blend the mixture with an immersion blender until it’s smooth.
Then place the mixture in the refrigerator until it’s chilled, about 1 hour.
3️⃣ Step Three: Make a blood mary!
The final step is to make yourself a blood mary with your homemade mix! To do this, simply combine 1.5 ounces of vodka with your homemade bloody mary mix in a glass with ice and stir to combine. Then garnish with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
❓ Recipe questions + quick tips
The best tomatoes for bloody mary mix are those with a high water content so they release a lot of natural liquid when cooked. We like heirlooms, big beef, and large roma tomatoes, but really any variety will work.
Bloody mary mixes typically only include plant-based ingredients, however if a mix uses Worcestershire sauce then it will likely contain fish sauce. However, you can make your own bloody mary mix at home using vegan Worcestershire sauce.
Traditional garnishes for bloody mary cocktails are olive, limes, celery stalks, and cherry tomatoes. However, many people like to get creative and add nontraditional bloody mary garnishes like bacon, shrimp, carrots, pearled onions, etc. The possibilities are endless!
🧊 How to store
- Refrigerator storage: Store leftover bloody mary mix in an airtight glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- Freezer storage: Bloody mary mix can be frozen! Store in a freezer-friendly bag or glass for up to 2-3 months (possibly longer), and thaw by placing in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
🥃 Tips and tools
This simple bloody mary mix recipe doesn't require much equipment, but here are a few of my recommendations for making it perfect every time:
- A soup pot or dutch oven: one of my most-used kitchen tools, a large soup pot or good quality dutch oven is essential for soup (and bloody mary) season.
- Great spices and sauces: my favorite bloody mary spices include smoked sea salt, red pepper flakes, ground black pepper, Tabasco sauce, and Worcestershire
- Fancy cocktail glasses: A set of quality highball cocktail glasses makes a huge difference when making homemade bloody marys for guests
- A blender: to get a smooth mary mix, a handheld immersion blender or traditional blender is key
♻️ Sustainable kitchen tips
Take advantage of tomato season! The best time to make bloody mary mix is when fresh tomatoes are in season. In Northern California that’s April through November, but check out Seasonal Food Guide’s growing calendar to check when tomatoes are in season in your area.
Make a big batch and freeze for later. This is a great big batch recipe to make and freeze for later! Use the recipe card below to increase your serving size to adjust the ingredients to make a large amount of blood mary mix to store for later use.
🍹 More seasonal cocktail recipes
Want more plant-filled cocktail recipes? We've got you covered:
Homemade Bloody Mary Mix with Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients
Bloody Mary Mix
- 4 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons pickle juice, or caper juice
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon hickory smoked sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Bloody Mary with Homemade Bloody Mary Mix (per Bloody Mary)
- 6 ounces Homemade Bloody Mary Mix, see above
- 1.5 ounces vodka, I suggest Tito's
- Garnishes: olives, pickles, limes, celery, green onions, pearled onions, etc.
Instructions
- Cook bloody mary mix: Cut tomatoes in large pieces and place in pot with basil, pickle or caper sauce, hot sauce, worcestershire, oregano, salt, and pepper in a soup pot. Bring to medium-low heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until tomatoes cook down and become tender.
- Blend mixture and let chill: When tomatoes take on a soupy texture, blend mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Place in refrigerator until chilled before using.
- To make Bloody Mary: Combine vodka and Homemade Bloody Mary Mix in a glass with ice; stir to combine. Garnish with desired condiments and serve.
Notes
- Leftovers and storage: This homemade bloody mary mix will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. It will taste better after a day or two, so it's an easy make-ahead mix!
- Nutrition notes: Nutrition was calculated for bloody mary mix only, not the full cocktail with alcohol and garnishes.
Nutrition Information
UPDATE: This recipe was originally published in September 2018 and updated for clarity in June 2022.
Excellent I have not changed anything
Great! I’m happy you liked this bloody mary mix recipe, it’s one of my favorites. I hope you had it spicy!
I’m a little confused by the recipe. I don’t need to take the skin off my tomatoes first? Or de-seed them?
Hi Beth, thanks for reaching out. No, you do not need to remove the skin or the seeds of the tomatoes. Both the tomato skin and seeds are perfectly edible and, in fact, contain fiber and nutrients. And because the bloody mary mix is blended, everything is blended until smooth anyway. Enjoy!
Sounds and looks delicious and I’m making the mix today! Have plenty of juicy tomatoes to use up. (See slight error in last word of third paragraph.)
I hope you like it! Let me know how it turns out and if you add anything fun to your version. Bottoms up!
I never thought to make my own bloody mary mix! I’m a big fan of zing zang so this looks like it will be right up my alley.
It’s so simple! I love making homemade versions of my favorite products. It’s not always a hit but it sure is fun testing (and drinking ) until it’s perfect. 🙂
I’ve never canned. How do I save this for future use?
Hi Krista, thanks for reaching out. This recipe can easily be saved by freezing. Just fill up a big jar or smaller single-serving reusable containers with the bloody mary mix and freeze until you’re ready to use. I usually thaw by taking it out of the freezer and putting into the refrigerator the day before, or let the jar/container thaw on the counter for a few hours before serving. Hope that helps!
This is a wonderful recipe! Thank you. That said I am starting to experiment with other fresh ingredients from my garden – mainly different types of peppers; cayenne, Tabasco, jalapeño, and habanero. Oh and it was all going great until you suggested Tito’s vodka. It’s horrid. I’d suggest actual vodka – like Stolichnaya. Anyway, thanks again!
I’m so glad you liked it Scott! It’s the perfect recipe to use up garden scraps for happy hour. And you’re right, Stoli would definitely take this up a notch!
I’d like to can this recipe for zing zang do you water bath this or pressure cook?
Hi Pennie, I’m glad you enjoy the recipe! I’ve only just started canning myself so I’m not an expert, however you could treat this bloody mary mix recipe just like you would any tomato sauce recipe. So if you would water bath your tomato sauce then that would work on this mix. Make sure to write back and let us know how it turned out!
I read the ingredients in bottled catsup and it contained High Fructose Corn Syrup!!!! So I made a homemade version with tomatoes from the garden, thickened it with tomato paste. However, since I still had lots of tomatoes left: I found your recipe for the bloody mary mix – OMG to die for. Thank you.
I’m so glad you liked it Phyllis! It’s one of our favorite tomato season recipes and one of the most popular recipes on the blog. Cheers!