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This virgin Bloody Mary is savory, spicy, and salty enough that nobody misses the vodka. Batch it ahead and garnish it big for the best mocktail yet!
Craving a Bloody Mary but can’t do alcohol? Try my virgin Bloody Mary, also known as the Virgin Mary, and you’ll hardly know the difference! It’s so full of flavor: savory, tangy, spicy, and salty all at once!
You’ll hardly believe it’s a mocktail. In fact, I almost like this one even better than my classic Bloody Mary, especially because you can drink as many as you want! Here are all the keys to making the very best Virgin Mary drink you’ll have.
5 Star Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I just wanted to say that this recipe is truly awesome. The flavor and spice hits you with intensity. Great job!” -Jeremy
Ingredients In This Virgin Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary is a classic cocktail born in the 1920’s. Somehow the combination of tomato juice and vodka became a smash hit and it’s the most popular brunch cocktail to this day. The great thing about this drink is that it’s so full of flavor, it’s easy to cover up that there’s no alcohol! The zing of the horseradish and Worcestershire sauce easily help to distract the palate. The ingredients in a virgin Bloody Mary are:
- Tomato juice: This is the backbone of any Bloody Mary.
- Fresh lemon juice: Always use fresh lemons for cocktails: the flavor is worth it!
- Worcestershire sauce: This is what gives the signature Bloody Mary flavor.
- Prepared horseradish: Sharp and hot: use the prepared kind in a jar.
- Olive brine: This adds another dimension of salty, briny flavor.
- Hot sauce: Tabasco is my favorite here.
- Celery salt: This adds another Bloody Mary flavor layer.
- Black pepper: Freshly ground, always.
The Secret Ingredient: A Splash Of Olive Brine
Here’s the secret to giving a little complexity to the flavor: olive juice! Olive juice or the brine from a jar of olives can help to stand in for a little of the “funky” flavor you’ll get from alcohol. I use the same technique in my virgin margarita by adding pickle juice!
However, if you you’re not planning to use olives as a garnish and don’t have them on hand: you can omit it! The flavor is just as good without. It’s just a touch more fun with it!
How To Make A Virgin Bloody Mary Recipe (4 Keys)
This virgin Bloody Mary is made with the same method as our classic Bloody Mary: you just don’t add alcohol! Most of our cocktail recipes are for 1 drink, but this recipe is essentially a virgin Bloody Mary mix that makes 4 drinks. If you want one serving, simply refrigerate the remainder: the flavor improves over time! Here’s how to make a virgin Bloody Mary:
- Chill the tomato juice first. This lets the drink get cold without having to use too much ice to dilute it. Make sure to chill the tomato juice after you buy it.
- Shake the mix in a cocktail shaker without ice. Without ice? Yes! Ice dilutes the mix too much and makes for a watery consistency. Simply mix the mixture without ice, then serve it over ice.
- Strain and if time, chill. Straining removes the chunks of horseradish from the drink: a cocktail strainer is best (though you can use whatever strainer you have). If you have time, chilling the mixture for about 1 hour or overnight lets the flavors meld. But if you want it on demand, serve immediately.
- Rim the glass and garnish. Serve over ice with the garnishes of your choice.
Make It Ahead (The Flavor Only Improves)
This virgin Bloody Mary tastes great right away. But it tastes even better after at least 1 hour of chill time, or even better, overnight! You can actually make it in advance up to 1 week.
Chilling helps to meld the flavors together into a cohesive whole, instead of tasting each ingredient separately. But if you want to drink it right away: go for it! (We get it.)
Virgin Bloody Mary Garnishes
Here’s another great thing about a virgin Bloody Mary: garnish it up, and it looks and feels just like the real thing! There are so many great ways to garnish this cocktail, from celery to pickled vegetables. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Celery (required!)
- Pimento stuffed olives
- Lemon wedges
- Cocktail onions
- Dill pickle spears
- Pepperoncini
- Pickled vegetables: jalapeno peppers, pickled okra, pickled cauliflower, pickled asparagus
The best way to serve the garnishes is using cocktail picks or skewers. Thread all the garnishes onto them: they look stunning and it makes the cocktail easy to drink. Here are the bamboo cocktail picks we use.
Bloody Mary Variations
Got some alcohol drinkers to mix drinks for too? Here are all the best Bloody Mary variations to try:
- Classic Bloody Mary Here’s the traditional classic cocktail.
- Bloody Maria A Mexican style spin on this drink: using tequila!
- Spicy Mary Love the heat? Make this version with jalapeno peppers.
- Michelada Not a direct descendant, but it’s a Mexican style beer-based variation.
- Bloody Caesar The delicious Canadian variation starring Clamato juice.
Dietary Notes
This virgin Bloody Mary recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan (with vegan Worcestershire sauce), plant-based, and dairy-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most often a Virgin Mary, though sometimes people use Bloody Shame or simply a Bloody Mary mocktail. All three mean the same thing: the drink without vodka.
Nothing, honestly — just leave it out and lean harder on the savory ingredients. Olive brine, an extra dash of Worcestershire sauce, and a touch more horseradish give the mix the sharpness that alcohol would have added.
A virgin Bloody Mary has no alcohol. A dirty Bloody Mary is the alcoholic version with a heavier pour of olive brine: just like in a Dirty Martini.
Yes. V8 and similar vegetable juice blends make a slightly more savory drink straight out of the bottle. Because they’re pre-seasoned, start with half the celery salt.
Virgin Bloody Mary
This virgin Bloody Mary is savory, spicy, and salty enough that nobody misses the vodka. Batch it ahead and garnish it big for the best mocktail yet!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 drinks 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Shaken
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 cups tomato juice, chilled
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (vegan as desired)
- 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
- 2 teaspoons olive juice / brine (optional)*
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- Ice, for serving (try clear ice!)
- For the rim: Old Bay seasoning (purchased or homemade) and kosher salt
- For the garnish: celery, lemon wedge, olive, cocktail onion (use cocktail picks if desired)
Instructions
- If time allows, chill the tomato juice. Shake the tomato juice before pouring.
- In a large cocktail shaker, combine the tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, olive juice, Tabasco, celery salt and black pepper. Shake well to combine (without ice). Strain into a quart mason jar or small pitcher.
- Optional: If time, chill at least 1 hour or overnight for the best flavor. (Or, make ahead and store up to 1 week.) But you also can serve right away!
- To serve, on a plate place a mixture of roughly half kosher salt and half Old Bay seasoning (or celery salt). Cut a notch in a lemon wedge, then run it around the rim of a glass. Dip the edge of the rim into a plate of salt.
- To each glass, add ½ cup of virgin Bloody Mary mix and stir gently to combine. Fill the glass with ice and add the garnishes.
Notes
*Use the brine inside the jar of olives you’re planning to use for a garnish.
best best
I just wanted to say that this recipe is truly awesome. The flavor and spice hits you with intensity. Great job!
Thank you!