Spicy Bloody Mary Mix – Made With Fresh Picked Vegetables

After many trials, we have finally perfected our own Spicy Bloody Mary Mix Recipe!

As many of you know, we have enjoyed a Bloody Mary on Saturday mornings for many years. In fact, we even carried on the tradition while we were on our trip across the country.

However, we have always bought our mix at the grocery store. And although we doctor up the mix to make our drinks just how we like them, we have always wanted to make our own mix.

First of all, we know that a homemade version is much healthier than store bought. And since we are bringing in bushels and bushels of tomatoes out of the garden every day, we decided it was the perfect time to give it try.

Although every year we can a variety of tomato based products out of the garden, we have never used the tomatoes to make Bloody Mary’s.

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Zing Zang Copycat Recipe

So we took a look at the ingredients on the back of the Zing Zang bottle to see what we would need to make our very own.

We were totally shocked at the numerous ingredients that it took to make the mix.

However, we were happy to see that it did include a variety of vegetables. In fact, it was quite similar to the ingredients that are found in a Spicy V-8 Tomato Juice recipe.

Then, after a little research on how others made their mix, we knew that we could come up with one that would work for us.

Our first few attempts were delicious! However, we really wanted to make one that was similar to the flavor of Zing Zang.

And after a few adaptions and substitutions, we have finally made our absolute, favorite Spicy Bloody Mary Mix!

But best of all, we will be able to enjoy it all year long! In developing this recipe, we followed the safe canning guidelines from the USDA. Therefore, the tomato and vegetable juice is considered safe to be canned.

Now, every weekend, we can pull a jar off our canning pantry shelf and make our very own Bloody Mary’s knowing it was made with vegetables from our garden!

Spicy Bloody Mary Mix Recipe

Obviously, the base of this recipe is tomato juice. And because we have been canning our own Tomato Juice for years, we felt confident we could use this as the starting point for this recipe.

However, because we are picking ripe tomatoes daily, we decided to use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato juice. And because we have a Food Strainer, there is no need to peel or remove the seeds prior to cooking.

If you don’t have a strainer, you can still make this recipe by using an Immersion Blender, large capacity food processor, or a high speed blender once the vegetables are cooked.

The next step is to add in a few carrots in the pot for sweetness. However, the next ingredient, blew us away. We never knew that red beets were included in most Bloody Mary mixes.

And boy were we relieved to see that! We have planted beets for the last couple of years in the garden. And unfortunately, we are not huge beet fans. So now we have the perfect use for them!

Add in a little celery, garlic and parsley, and you have the start to a delicious Bloody Mary Mix.

Peppers or No Peppers?

Next it is time to decide how spicy that you want your drink. We added 2 jalapeños and 3 cherry bomb peppers from the garden. Not only did we add the peppers to the tomato mixture, we kept the seeds and pith intake as well.

Yes, we like it hot! However, you can leave out the peppers all together if you would like. Or if you would like the flavor of the peppers, without the massive amount of heat that comes with them, remove the seeds.

Simmer The Vegetables

Now cook your vegetables until they become nice and tender. We recommend at least a 30 minute simmering time. This will allow the vegetables become soft and easily mixed or strained.

Run your mixture through the Tomato Strainer to remove the seeds and skins. Or use an immersion blender to puree the mixture.

If you don’t have either a Tomato Strainer or an Immersion Blender, you can work in batches and puree the mixture in a food processor or high speed blender.

Just be careful to not fill your container over half full. Hot food expands when blended and if over full, the lid on your container can blow off and cause a HUGE mess!

Return the vegetable juice to a large pot and add in the remaining ingredients. Now you have another chance to adjust the heat level.

Not So Spicy Modifications

If you like a Spicy Bloody Mary Mix, complete the recipe as written. However, if you like it a little less spicy, decrease the amount of hot sauce and Sriracha sauce at this time.

Bring the mixture to a boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. If you are going to preserve the juice by canning, prepare and sterilize quart mason jars.

Process in a hot water bath canner, adding 2 Tablespoons of bottled lemon juice per quart jar, for 40 minutes. Or use a pressure canner at 10 lbs. for a processing time of 15 minutes. *As with all canning recipes, adjust for altitude as necessary.

You can also refrigerate the mixture for up to 2 weeks or freeze in an air tight container for up to 12 months.

Use the Spicy Bloody Mary Mix as you would any store-bought Bloody Mary Mix.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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