I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I worked at a cozy college bar called “The Library” for a couple of years. It’s a small bar with a large, shaded patio—the perfect place to go for good conversation and cheap drinks. While I was working there, I learned which beers I liked amongst our 32 taps and developed a taste for olives and bloody marys.
Even before I learned to love bloody marys, I noticed that I’d wake up after a boozy night with a vicious craving for something tomato-y. Most people crave fried foods when they’re hungover, but I’ve always wanted tomato soup, ketchup, marinara sauce or salsa in a bad way. I finally discovered that lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that accumulates in the liver, is found in its highest concentrations in cooked tomato products. I have a hunch that bloody marys are the most popular drink for hangovers because of the lycopene and other vitamins present in tomato juice. It’s like a mind/body compromise—temporary liquor-induced headache relief comes along with the vitamins and nutrients needed for true recovery.
That being said, a fresh bloody mary made with high quality ingredients is going to do you a lot more good than one made with a cheap mix. One day while bartending, I happened to glance at the nutrition facts on our bloody mary mix, which is called Zing Zang. I was bummed when I saw that my preferred mix contained junk like hydrolyzed soy, MSG and preservatives.
I’ve since tried making my own bloody marys at home, but V8 was too watery and fresh tomatoes weren’t flavorful enough to stand on their own. The most important ingredient, I’ve learned, is great tomato juice. I recently discovered the R.W. Knudsen brand of organic juice and fell head over heels for it.
I found this recipe while flipping through the August issue of Martha Steward Living. Instead of mixing tomato juice with ice, you blend it with frozen tomato. Genius, right?! The frozen tomatoes lend it a thicker viscosity, and there’s no ice to water it down. It’s absolutely worth the effort.
PrintFrozen Bloody Mary
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cocktail 1x
- Category: Cocktail
Bloody mary made with frozen fresh tomatoes, blended with vodka, tomato juice and spices. This is a unique and refreshing breakfast (or anytime) drink! Bloody marys are highly personal drinks so go easy on the spices and sauces and taste as you go.
Ingredients
Per cocktail
- 1 vine-ripened tomato, cut into wedges
- Scant ½ cup tomato juice (R.W. Knudsen’s is the very best)
- 2 ounces vodka (use jalapeño-infused vodka for an extra kick)
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (Annie’s makes a vegan one)
- ½ teaspoon horseradish (I actually used Annie’s horseradish mustard because prepared horseradish tends to include tons of gross ingredients. I’m not entirely convinced that horseradish is necessary)
- ½ teaspoon celery salt (visit your local gourmet store for the good stuff, or mix your own with half celery seeds and half salt)
- Hot sauce, to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon of Tobasco sauce)
- Freshly ground pepper (I go pretty heavy on the pepper)
Instructions
- Cut the tomato into about 6 to 8 wedges and then halve each wedge across the middle. Freeze for at least four hours. Put your glasses in the freezer to chill, too.
- Purée all of the ingredients in a blender until it reaches a fine, slushy consistency.
- If you want to salt your rim, pour a little ground sea salt salt (and pepper and celery seed, in my case) onto a small, flat plate. Run a lime wedge around the rim of your glass, and dip the rim of your glass into the salt mixture. The drink is pretty salty so salting the rim is entirely optional.
- Pour the drink into your chilled glasses. I didn’t garnish mine (crazy, I know!), but I think a quartered cucumber, lime wedge and/or good green olive would pair nicely.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living’s August 2011 issue.
▸ Nutrition Information
Don’t miss other fresh drinks in my summer cocktail series: beautiful red bell, strawberry smash, rainier cherry mojito, watermelon cucumber cooler and cucumber caipiranha, peach mojito, raspberry daiquiri and blueberry lavender [hard] lemonade.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Katrina
Droooool! Love this!
Maria@Orchard Bloom
I have to say, I’ve never been a fan of bloody mary’s or tomato juice for that matter, but your photos are pretty!
chinmayie
I LOVE bloody mary! I make it quite often but it’s been a while this time! I am making this tonight :)
Kelsey (Happyolks)
Note to self – this will be on our cafe menu during the summer. Okay, yes?
kate
Okay, yes! See also: blueberry lavender lemonade.
sarah @duchess fare
many thanks for posting the recipe. i LOVE a good bloody mary — the perfect brunch accessory! your photos are wonderful (as always) too!
Tres Delicious
That is a wonderful photograph. Bloody Mary is such a refreshing treat. I love it.
Jen @ Savory Simple
How beautiful! I love bloody marys and I LOVE that you’re making them with fresh ingredients!
Flight Training
I LOVE Bloody Marys! Especially the day after a night of drinking…is that weird? An old friend of mine used to make massive quantities of her own bloody mary mix and she would bring it all to our place of employment at the time. After working hours, we’d all sit outside of the gate to the building property, open up the tailgate of her truck, and let the drinks start flowing. Such memories. I will be trying these soon!!
Kelly Jo
cannot wait to make this with fresh tomatoes from my garden this summer. I prefer Clamato juice but am kind of grossed out by the 58 ingredients.
Motion Simulator
Oh my goodness…a bloody Mary would totally hit the spot right now and these look amazing!
brian
Why would you assume that MSG would be a negative addition? I’m trying to find how much of this sodium salt of a simple amino acid would be great.
Kate
MSG gives my mom migraines, so I avoid using it in recipes despite reading that it’s safe.
brian
Also Tabasco makes a chipotle sauce that you can buy in half gallons from amazon…
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