By Gabrielle Hamilton
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(1,353)
- Notes
- Read community notes
We’ve made hundreds of thousands of bloody Marys over the decades at Prune, with 11 variations, and this classic base mix has been the stalwart, gleaming engine of them all. The lemon juice is what makes it so bright and zingy, and the Sacramento brand tomato juice is clean, with perfect body, never muddy or thick. Prepared horseradish keeps its bite and moisture just about forever, whereas fresh grated horseradish loses its potency almost immediately, leaving dead bits of pencil shavings in the glass instead — so resist the urge to “improve” the recipe. Worcestershire sauce adds greater depth to the umami already inherent in tomato, and the Tabasco brand hot-pepper sauce brings vibrancy with its high acidity but very manageable heat. This bloody Mary is as refreshing as a virgin affair as it is when spiked and garnished.
Featured in: A Bloody Mary Mix That Is as Good Virgin as It Is Spiked
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Ingredients
Yield:About 8 to 14 drinks
- 1(46-ounce) can Sacramento brand tomato juice (5¾ cups)
- ¾cup plus 1 tablespoon Gold’s Prepared Horseradish
- ½cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 or 4 juicy lemons)
- ½cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
- 2teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2teaspoons Tabasco hot sauce
- Ice
- Tito’s Handmade Vodka, for spiking (optional)
- Celery ribs, pimento-stuffed olives and lemon wedges, for garnish
For the Bloody Mary Mix
For Serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Whisk together all the bloody Mary mix ingredients, transfer to a bottle and shake well just before using.
Step
2
Fill tall glasses with ice; pour the bloody Mary mix on top.
Step
3
If using the vodka, mix ¼ cup vodka with ½ cup bloody Mary mix in a shaker over ice; shake for 10 hard strokes, strain and pour into each ice-filled glass.
Step
4
Garnish with a leafy interior rib of celery, a wooden skewer of olives and a lemon wedge.
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out of 5
1,353
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Cooking Notes
GEB123
I converted this recipe to one serving, here it is:4 ounces tomato juice1 tbsp. horseradish2 tsp. lemon juice2 tsp. Worcestershire1/4 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. pepper1/4 tsp. hot sauce3 tbsp. vodka (equals one shot, optional)
Geo Cooks!
A dear friend refers to a Virgin Mary as a Bloody Shame.
brutallyfrank
This sounds delicious. My secret ingredient for great a great Bloody Mary is celery salt.
Dumboy
There used to be a restaurant near where I worked in San Francisco named Señor Frog's. They treated their Bloody Mary glasses the way one would treat Margarita glasses, but instead of lime juice and salt, they used lemon juice and celery salt. They would prepare the glasses the night before so that the celery salt was solidly affixed to the glass when they added the Bloody Mary.
Skindog
Made hundreds of thousands of bloody Marys over the decades. Tells you to "resist the urge to “improve” the recipe."Everyone: "I added different stuff"
chris
if you add some pickle juice and substitute V8 for tomato juice, then you are good to go.
Ides
The notion that vodka is optional in a bloody mary is somewhat inane.
larrycherry
Lifelong fan of a good Bloody Mary, but a few years back I tasted what some of my friends up north refer to as the national drink of Canada, the Bloody Caesar. Much like a Bloody Mary, the various accouterments are endless and argued over, but the required Clamato juice really does take it up a notch. I WILL drink either of course but for me, the Canadians get the win.
Russ
Thank heaven we have readers who can tell Ms. Hamilton how to make her Bloody Mary better. All she ever did was turn a 12-table restaurant into a globally recognized legend, admired by 3-star Michelin chefs, while they have eaten out frequently!
Scott Papp
Clamato Juice, easy on the horse radish (prepared is fine), heavy on the Worcesteshire and Tabasco, LIME juice please, light salt, plenty pepper and well vodka is OK, garnish with a lime wedge, anything more is lunch, all of this over a tall glass of ice. Best served with a deli style egg sandwich and the NYT Sunday puzzle. Enjoy!
jane
Old Bay in the mix and around the rim of the glass.
Ron
Why would I need to change Gabrielle Hamilton’s recipe one iota. It is awesome as is.
Rebecca
I’ll give this a try, but am I the only person who really dislikes Tito’s vodka? C’mon, it’s made from corn! Vodka is more of a feeling than a flavor, and I find Tito’s entirely too sweet.
Ann
Here in Louisiana we'll garnish with a pickled okra pod or a pickled green bean. My peak Bloody Mary experience had both, plus olives AND a slice of candied bacon. Breakfast in a glass.
Deborah
Celery salt is indispensable, imho.
Ann
I am definitely trying this. I can no longer order a Bloody Mary in a restaurant since I’ve developed a celery allergy and they all use celery seed or Old Bay or have no idea what the ingredients are. I do like Clamato so I may have two versions to pick from.
Cara Wasdyke
Wow - just made this for Christmas morning and it’s amazing. Probably hands down the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had. Perfect! Followed the recipe exactly as written. Can’t wait to add the Tito’s tomorrow with all the fixings.
Greg
This is how I’ve always made my Bloody Mary’s and it truly is perfect. Lemon and horseradish are key. Sometimes I’ll make a variation based on SF’s Zuni Cafe Bloody which calls for balsamic vinegar in place of Worcestershire. Also, tasty.
haldanish
Couldn't find Sacramento tomato juice in Southern CA, so adjusted the recipe for a 64 oz bottle of Campbells I got at Walmart. People went nuts!!
David Blackwell
I used what I had on hand. My substitutes:46 fl. oz. Spicy V-8lime juice*, 0.5 cup (117 gr. or ml.)2 tspn. celery salt**Beaver Brand Extra Hot Horseradish...Some notes on alternative measurement units:¾ cup + 1 Tbsp. horseradish = 192 gr. horseradish½ cup Worcestershire = ~ 126 gr. or ml.Notes:* I used five limes and juiced them. This yielded about 1 cup of lime juice. I used ½ cup in accordance with the recipe.** I always use celery salt for Bloody Marys
JBG
A few extra tips depending on your likings - take out the horseradish, triple the Tabasco, add 3 tablespoons dill pickle juice, 2 Teaspoons Cajun seasoning, 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Finish with any pickled vegetable, lemon and olives. Garnish glass with celery salt if you like.
StanSmith
so i take it that the specific brands are key to this recipe?
Bree
Wouldn't say "key," more of a very detailed path to creating her specific drink of choice. Different brands can have vastly different flavor profiles, but you can likely still use what you have or like best with excellent results. I'd just suggest being kind and not posting negative comments without trying it as she intended. :)
MjB
I worked in a bar in the 90s that added a bit of feta to the recipe, and that brine brought a lightness to the mix (wasn’t called Hamburger Mary’s for nothing).
Hula frances
Add celery SEED (not celery salt) and make with lemon juice, but top off with line juice. I like Old Bay Rim
PattB
Oh, yum! I steep black peppercorns in the bottle of vodka. Hot! And delicious.
Leslie
This recipe is near perfection. One fabulous addition would be celery seed (not celery salt since it's salty enough already). Perfect way to ease into the new year...or any weekend!
Dan
When I order a Bloody Mary at the bar and they ask which top-shelf vodka I prefer, I tell them that any subtle advantage a particular brand may have is lost amid the juices and spices; go ahead and use the cheap stuff.
Bree
I bartended at upscale clubs for years. This was the basic recipe EXCEPT celery salt instead of kosher salt is a must. As far as brands, I keep Bubbies horseradish in my fridge now instead of Gold's. Agree with the rest.
Jen
Tried this with V8 as the grocery was out of tomato juice. Yuck. Then added tomato juice and its delicious. Next time, less horseradish.
montreal
Honestly, unless you are drinking it directly from the freezer and straight up, the vodka in a bloody mary should be the cheapest you can find, like Smirnoff’s. It’s about the blending of the other ingredients and not recognizing that you use expensive vodka. The star is the mix not the vodka.
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