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Garden Fresh Bloody Mary Mix

Fresh out of the garden, this home-canned classic Bloody Mary mix is perfectly balanced with flavors of sun-ripened tomatoes, Worcestershire, lemon, celery seed, and a blend of three fiery spices!  Drink it as is, or perk it up with 1 to 2 ounces of your favorite vodka or tequila.

  • Author: Erin Thomas
  • Prep Time: 30 Minutes
  • Cook Time: About 1 Hour (Includes Processing Time)
  • Total Time: About 1-1/2 Hours
  • Yield: 5 Quarts Mix + Extra for a Cocktail 1x

Ingredients

Scale

10 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered

6 cups water

2 tbsp. celery seed

21/4 cups lemon juice

9 tbsp. grated horseradish root (*Not horseradish sauce.)

6 tbsp. hot sauce (We use Frank’s Hot Sauce, but Tabasco is traditional.)

4 tbsp. + 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. salt (kosher, table or sea)

2 tsp. ground black pepper

**1 to 2 ounces of your favorite vodka or tequila brand

Instructions

Fill hot water canner with hot water.  Place over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.  Wash 5 to 6 quart jars in hot, soapy water, rinse and let dry.  (You can use regular or wide mouth jars.)  Place 6 unused canning jar lids and rings in a medium-sized sauce pan.  Cover with warm water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

In a large stockpot, combine cored and quartered tomatoes with water.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until the tomatoes are tender and peels are coming off, about 20 minutes.*

Ladle cooked tomatoes into a food mill placed over a large bowl.  Remove spent seeds and peels from food mill.  Continue until all cooked tomatoes have been run through the food mill.  Strain remaining juice and water in the stock pot to remove any additional seeds and peels.  Return all tomato sauce and juices to stock pot.  You should have about 17-18 cups of tomato juice.

Stir in celery seed, lemon juice, grated horseradish root, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper.  Return stock pot to medium-high heat.  Cook until mix reaches 190 degrees F.

Remove from heat.  Ladle into clean, warm quart jars.  Leave about 1/4-inch headspace.  Adjust 2-part caps.  Hand tighten and place into boiling water canner.  Process quart jars for 45 minutes.  Remove from water and let cool upside down on a towel.  Jars will be sealed when lids begin to make a popping sound.  Label with contents and date.

**To make one cocktail, fill a pint glass with crushed ice.  Pour in 1 to 2 ounces of vodka or tequila.  Top glass with Garden Fresh Bloody Mary Mix.  (Be sure to shake the jar of mix.)  Garnish glass with celery sticks, lemon wedges, cooked bacon strips, olives, etc.

Notes

*Tomatoes can be individually frozen on a cookie sheet to be used at a later time.  If using frozen tomatoes, bring tomatoes to room temperature before cooking.