Ever since returning from my trip to Baja California, I’ve been obsessed with all things verde lately, be it salsa verde or Aguachile Verde. So, naturally, when I created a twist on a Bloody Mary for my fellow Californians at Hangar 1 Vodka, I went Verde and made this Tomatillo Bloody Mary Cocktail recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This recipe is for you if you are like me and sometimes crave spiciness everywhere. It’s a mix of fresh, spicy, sweet, and light cocktails, but be careful because you may want to have too many.
Recipe Ingredients
These are the ingredients that you’ll need to make this recipe:
For The Bloody Mary Base:
- Fresh cilantro: For a vegetal note.
- Tomatillos: For the base of the flavor.
- Green or yellow grape or cherry tomatoes: These will add a bit more sweetness and round out the flavor.
- Persian cucumbers: For clean, crisp flavor.
- Garlic cloves: To add to that classic Bloody Mary flavor.
- Freshly-squeezed lime juice: Some acid to balance it all.
- Serrano or Thai chile: For a bit of a kic.
- Kosher salt: To bring out the flavor!
For The Cocktail:
- Hangar 1® Straight Vodka: Or another high-quality vodka or tequila!
- Prepared horseradish (not creamed): This will provide that signature Bloody Mary kick.
- Green hot sauce: We like the Tobasco brand.
- Worcestershire: Or tamari to make it gluten-free.
- Celery seeds: Essential for a classic taste.
- Ice: Large cubes are great here.
How To Make This Recipe
These are the instructions that you’ll need to follow to prepare this recipe:
- Make the Tomatillo Bloody Mary Base: Combine the bunch of cilantro leaves, quartered tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic cloves, lime juice, chopped serrano chile, and kosher salt in a blender and process until very smooth, at least 30 seconds.
- Make the Salted Rim: To make a salted rim, run a lime wedge around the edge of a tall glass, then dip the glass rim in the smoked salt.
- Make One Tomatillo Bloody Mary: Combine 5 ounces of the Tomatillo Bloody Mary Base mixture with the vodka, horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire, celery seeds, juice from the lime wedge, and ice in one cocktail shaker tin. Cover it with a Hawthorne strainer to keep all the ice in the shaker tin.
Roll the cocktail by pouring the liquids back and forth between the cocktail shaker and a large glass or second cocktail shaker.
Repeat the rolling 5 to 6 times then pour the drink and ice into a serving glass. Top with any or all of the garnishes and serve immediately.
About The Tomatillo Bloody Mary Base
The base is and isn’t salsa verde, aka tomatillo salsa. It’s a mix of tomatillos, chiles, and cilantro, but then I added cucumbers and tomatoes so that there’s no doubting this is, in fact, a Bloody Mary.
Rock And Roll Or Shake!
A lot of people use a cocktail shaker to, well, shake when they make a Bloody Mary. That’s OK, but we have thoughts about it. Personally, we feel that you want to “roll” a Bloody Mary instead of shaking it. To roll the cocktail, the technique is to pour the mixture back and forth between two mixing glasses.
The difference? It may not seem significant, but the difference comes down to how much air is in the drink and how much the ice dilutes it.
When you “roll” the drink rather than shake it, there is less dilution, which ultimately means more flavor. And when you have this much flavor in the Bloody Mary base, you don’t want to ruin it by diluting it!
Now, go stock up on all your cooking essentials, then head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!
More Cocktail Ideas
If you loved this recipe, you should check out these other popular cocktail recipes on our site:
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Tomatillo Bloody Mary Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
For The Bloody Mary Base:
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves and stems
- 1 pound tomatillos husked, trimmed, and quartered
- 1/2 pint (about 7 ounces) green or yellow grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 Persian cucumbers roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice plus more for mixing the cocktail and for garnish
- 1 serrano or Thai chile halved and seeded (if desired), plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For The Cocktail:
- 2 ounces Hangar 1® Straight Vodka
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (not creamed)
- 3/4 teaspoon green hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
- 1 pinch of celery seeds
- Ice
For Garnish:
- Smoked sea salt optional for garnish
- Cooked shrimp peeled but tail left on, optional for garnish
- Tortilla chips optional for garnish
- Scallions optional for garnish
Instructions
- Make The Tomatillo Bloody Mary Base: Combine the bunch of cilantro leaves, 1 pound of quartered tomatillos, the 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, the 2 cucumbers, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, the chopped up serrano chile, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a blender and process until very smooth, at least 30 seconds.
- Make The Salted Rim: If you want a salted rim, take a lime wedge and run it around the edge of a tall glass and then dip the glass rim in the smoked salt.
- Make One Tomatillo Bloody Mary: Combine 5 ounces of the Tomatillo Bloody Mary Base mixture with the vodka, the horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire, celery seeds, and juice from the lime wedge and ice in one cocktail shaker tin. Cover it with a Hawthorne strainer to keep all the ice in that cocktail shaker tin.Roll the cocktail by pouring the liquids back and forth between the cocktail shaker and a large glass or second cocktail shaker.Repeat the rolling 5 to 6 times then pour the drink and ice into a serving glass. Top with any or all of the garnishes and serve immediately.
4 thoughts on “Tomatillo Bloody Mary Cocktail”
If you’re using tomatillos why not use tequila.
Yes, that would be great! But that would technically be a Bloody Maria. Here we were creating a Bloody Mary for Hangar1. Go ahead and try it both ways and let us know what you think.
I wonder how this would taste if you toasted to tomatillos and tomatoes
You could certainly try it! We like this drink to have a clean, fresh flavor and that comes from the uncooked produce. If you toast the tomatillos, it may end up overwhelming the drink or muddy-ing the flavors. But, if you want to try it out, we’d suggest putting them on a comal or under a broiler until charred and then proceeding.