Bloody Mary with Bacon

A Bloody Mary with bacon is a favorite brunch cocktail, the perfect hangover cure and a nutritious breakfast, all in one. Add a strip of pig candy as the perfect garnish.

Bloody Marys always seems to be a conversation starter. Whether it’s who does or doesn’t like them, or what kind of garnishes are added.

This homemade Bloody Mary mix is easy to make and only requires a couple of ingredients. Not only is it easy to whip up, but it’s much. healthier than the bottled mixes, that are full of preservatives.

What’s in a Bloody Mary?

The base of a Bloody Mary is always tomato juice. Combined with horseradish, celery salt, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and of course, the garnishes. Truthfully, you can add whatever you’d like to your Bloody Mary mix. If you want it spicier you can add a variety of hot sauce or double the horseradish. On the flip side, you can always not add the spicy ingredients.

Some prefer their Bloody Marys a tad more peppery and spicy, while others prefer theirs more fruity with less spice. You can tailer this recipe to your liking and add more or less hot sauce and horseradish as you see fit.

For this mix, I added half a cucumber, peeled and deseeded. It added a freshness and fruitiness to the drink that is incredibly refreshing.

How to Make the Best Homemade Mix

The secret to making the perfect Bloody Mary is to blend all the ingredients together. By blending, you will be incorporating all the ingredients together and they will not separate as easily.

So, what goes in a good Bloody Mary mix?

• Tomato juice: Always start with a good tomato juice. You can press your own or you can buy canned or bottled.
• Lemon juice: Adding acid to the mix with add a much needed brightness that will lift the tomato juice.
• Tabasco sauce: A hot sauce is necessary when making a Bloody Mary.
• Vodka: Vodka is the traditional alcohol for this mix, but if vodka isn’t your thing, add a different clear alcohol such as rum or gin.
• Worcestershire sauce: Adding this sauce adds a certain “meatiness” to the mix that makes Bloody Mary enthusiasts go crazy.
• Cucumber: This will addd a freshness to your mix. My secret ingredient!
• Celery salt: More than just salt, celery salt is more savory.
• Chili salt: A drink this good needs a salted rim. Mix chili powder and salt together to make your own salt for the rim.
• Garnishes: Choose from a variety of garnishes for your Bloody Mary with bacon!

After it is blended, strain out any large bits and put the mix in a pitcher for serving.

When you serve, make a chili salt rim on your glasses. Use a lime wedge and run the flesh of the lime around the edge, then dip the edge into the salt. After your rim is salted, fill with ice, vodka and the Bloody Mary mix add the garnishes and alcohol separately. Add your desired garnishes into the drink and serve immediately!

Bloody Marys are traditionally served with vodka but you can also make your Bloody Mary with gin or with rum if you prefer.

How Far Ahead can I Make the Mix?

You can make this mix ahead of time if you are expecting company. You can also freeze it if you have leftover mix that doesn’t have any alcohol in it yet.

You can make the mix up to 5 days ahead of time and add the vodka into the mix just before drinking. A Bloody Mary mix is always best when it’s made fresh, however. so if you’re able to take the time before drinking, blend all the ingredients and then serve.

Bloody Mary vs. Bloody Caesar

What’s the difference between a Bloody Mary and a Bloody Caesar? You might hear the term Bloody Caesar and Bloody Mary used interchangeably, but they are actually two different drinks.

A Bloody Mary uses plain tomato juice but a Bloody Caesar (also known as just “Caesar”, but not to be confused with a Caesar salad) uses Clamato juice. Clamato is a premade combination of juices that is sold on store shelves in either a plastic bottle or a can. It’s a combination of clams and tomato juice, with the addition of herbs and spices. While this might not sound like an attractive option for a drink, it’s actually incredibly popular and Clamato can be found in the juice isle at pretty much any grocery store or liquor store.

If you are making a Caesar, you can add a seafood garnish to keep with the seafood theme. Add large prawns on the side or serve the drink with a shrimp cocktail or even crab cakes.

Bloody Mary Garnishes

There are many options when deciding what to pair with your Bloody Mary. A big celery stalk is synonymous with a Bloody Mary but there are lots of other options when deciding what kind of garnishes to add to your drink.

• Celery: Nothing is more classic in a Bloody Mary than a large stalk of celery. It has a refreshing crunch and is a fresh treat in your drink!
• Candied bacon: It’s sweet and crisp and has a bit of a bite to it. While you might be used to seeing regular bacon in Bloody Mary’s- and you can totally add that instead of candied, give this little extra pop of flavor a try.
• Olives: There’s no shortage of types of olives to add to this drink. Black olives, cheese-stuffed, Kalamata, or jalapeno-stuffed olives will do.
• Pickles: Add slices of pickles to your Bloody Mary to more punch. You can also add a couple teaspoons of the pickle brine to your mix. Another option is to add pickled vegetables such as pickled green beans or onions.
• Shrimp: Large shrimp are a fun and desirably garnish for Bloody Mary’s, especially if you decide to use Clamato juice as your tomato base. The clam flavor will compliment the shrimp nicely.