Everybody loves a good Sunday brunch and when you’re making it at home, having fun, classic drinks to pair with your food is essential. When it comes to a tasty beverage, we love a fresh, homemade, and full-loaded bloody mary. Most restaurants often have bloody marys on their weekend brunch menu and they’re often piled high with the most delicious garnishes.
Since we love garnishes on our bloody marys (specifically Original or Jalapeño Beef Chomps), we’re going to show you how to create a delicious bloody mary bar. This bloody mary bar will be perfect for your next brunch and for pairing with Chomps approved dishes like our Spinach and Mushroom Quiche.
How To Make a Bloody Mary Bar
First, you’ll want to gather all of your ingredients and keep things as fresh as possible. The most important ingredient is the tomato juice and instead of getting a bloody mary mix packed with natural flavors and added sugar, we recommend opting for an organic tomato juice.
Next, you’ll want some vodka and the higher quality the better the bloody mary will taste. Then you’ll need simple staples like lemon juice, salt, black pepper, hot sauce (we prefer tabasco sauce) and the star of the show: worcestershire sauce.
Your Perfect Bloody Mary
Once you have all of your ingredients, add them into a cocktail shaker with ice, strain into a glass with a few ice cubes and then top with your bloody mary garnishes.
For a step-by-step Bloody Mary, check out our Chomps Bloody Mary with a celery salt rim.. This recipe makes only 1 bloody mary so if you’re looking to make a large pitcher, you can easily make 4 servings in one.
Keep in mind that every bloody mary you make can be a bit different. You can add different spices and add-ins like chile powder, ginger, cumin, wasabi, or pickle juice. Some people like ice, some like no ice. It is entirely up to you!
How To Garnish Your Bloody Mary
The toppings are endless with a bloody mary but if you’re hosting more than 4 people for a brunch, we recommend putting all of your toppings/garnishes out on a charcuterie board or platter. This way, once you pour your bloody mary, each person can pick out their own garnishes. Here are the types of garnishes we stick to:
Meat
Try adding a few sticks of Original Beef or Jalapeño Beef Chomps to your bloody mary bar. You can take the 1.15oz sticks and cut them into 3rds onto a tray or you can have the entire full stick in your drink and use it to stir your drink, whichever you prefer!
Fresh vegetables
Most bloody marys are known for the large celery stick poking out from the top in addition to the skewer of pickled veggies, cheese and meat. This is totally optional but we prefer it to balance out the spiciness of the Chomps and/or tabasco in your drink! Other veggies we love are shaved carrots, cucumbers, red peppers and jalapeño peppers..
Pickled vegetables
Our favorite part of the bloody mary bar is often the pickled veggies. A few we recommend are pickled onions, fresh pickles (Grillo’s has some of the best options with phenomenal ingredients), olives, beets, asparagus,
Cheese
This is where things can get super fun with the garnishes because you can cut your cheese into small cubes to add onto your skewer with your pickled veggies and Chomps. A few cheeses we recommend are havarti, blue cheese, or manchego. Whatever cheese left that you choose not to use in your drink can be leftover as a little charcuterie board snack.
Herbs
To finish off your drink, don’t forget to add some herbs! Parsley is the most common herb in bloody marys but another nice option would be a sprig or two of thyme.
Citrus
A lemon wedge or lime wedge is an essential add on to any bloody mary!
What to Eat With Your Bloody Mary
Once you’re done adding your garnishes to your bloody mary, it’s time to enjoy it with some food. Since you will most likely still have some leftover Chomps, fresh vegetables, pickled vegetables and cheeses on your plate, you can keep this out for guests as hors d'oeuvres.
Feel free to also add some nuts like chili spiced cashews (these would be delicious alongside your bloody mary!) or marcona almonds to your bloody mary bar, along with a fresh baguette sliced into ¼” slices, for snacking.
For Chomps approved recipes to pair with your bloody mary, try these:
Other delicious meals we recommend serving at your bloody mary bar brunch are breakfast burritos, an egg scramble or even breakfast tacos.
