Bloody Mary Garnish Ideas
Use easy-to-find grocery store ingredients to make Bloody Mary Garnish Skewers worthy of a trendy brunch restaurant. They’re so photogenic that you’ll want to take a picture before the first sip.
Bloody Mary Garnish Skewers Make A Whole Brunch In A Glass
Every Christmas morning when I was growing up, my grandparents would come over to see what Santa had brought. The adults would have a round of Bloody Marys, but it was the Midwest in the 1980’s, so they were very no-frills. Maybe there was a celery stick in each one if my dad was feeling fancy.
Now that I get to carry on that same Christmas morning tradition with my own parents (who are now the grandparents), I’ll be offering the same drink, but they’ll be absolutely loaded with toppings. Brunch in a glass is really what we’re going for.
These Bloody Mary garnish skewers take all of your favorite toppings you’d normally find at a restaurant and turns them into an easy at-home garnish setup. They’re perfect for Christmas morning, holiday brunch, or any weekend where your Bloody Mary needs a glow up and you want to have a lot of fun.
Why You Will Love These Bloody Mary Toppings
- They look restaurant-worthy, but they’re just made with regular grocery store stuff.
- The flavor is easy to customize for picky eaters, spice lovers or the seafood-averse.
- You can prep these skewers ahead of time, so you can host without stress.
Bloody Mary Skewers Are All About Three Types Of Garnishes
In our opinion, the best Bloody Mary skewers are a combination of something cheesy, something meaty, and something pickled. That’s it. That’s the whole formula.
Pick one or even two items from each of those categories and you’ll end up with a skewer that tastes balanced and exciting – salty, tangy and savory. And the great news is, there are SO MANY OPTIONS for each category, many of which might already be hanging out in your fridge.
Choosing The Best Skewers For Bloody Mary Garnishes
Before you pick your garnishes, you’ll need something to put them on. Something simple is usually best:
- Stainless steel cocktail picks are a classy choice that you can use again and again. Most of these are about 4 inches long, so you should be able to fit about 4 garnish pieces on each pick, and balance them on top of the glass.
- Bamboo skewers can be 6- or 8-inches long, so you can fit more garnishes on each pick (just be aware that the longer ones will be harder to balance on top of a glass, so you’ll probably want to put them IN the glass instead). If you’re hosting a big group and don’t want to worry about collecting skewers at the end, these are a great disposable option.
Cheesy Bloody Mary Garnish Ideas
Cheese adds richness and a little creamy balance to all that tangy Bloody Mary goodness. Here are some of our favorite options:
- mini fresh mozzarella balls (the “ciliegine” size is pictured here) are adorable and skewer perfectly.
- colby jack and pepper jack cubes – a lot of stores sell these cheeses pre-cubed, which makes this whole thing even easier (if not, just buy a block and cut it up).
- feta or marinated feta cubes
- cheddar or gouda cubes
- small wedges of brie or the individually-wrapped mini rounds of brie
- cut-up string cheese (which is just mozzarella)
- Babybel cheese (sounds weird but nobody will complain)
- if you’re from the Midwest, don’t sleep on the cheese curds
Meaty Bloody Mary Toppings
If you want your Bloody Mary skewers to feel like they came from a fancy brunch restaurant, the meaty toppings will do a lot of the heavy lifting. Here are some choices:
- bacon, of course! Use our Bacon In The Oven tutorial to cook it perfectly, then you can kind of fold it up (it’s ok if it breaks a little) and skewer it, or just stick whole slices in the drinks.
- shrimp is a classic garnish for Bloody Marys in the South. We simply buy a bag of frozen shrimp, toss it with Old Bay seasoning, and roast it in the oven. See Step 1 of our Shrimp Deviled Eggs recipe card for exactly how to do this.
- breakfast sausage – make Oven Baked Sausage links, chop them up and put them on skewers
- prosciutto
- salami or pepperoni or beef sticks or summer sausage
- cut up hot dogs or little smokies
- meatballs, like our Greek Chicken Meatballs or Savory Cocktail Meatballs (which have horseradish in them, so they’re the perfect pairing with a bloody). Making them slightly smaller than those recipes call for makes them a bit more manageable to eat.
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Pickled Bloody Mary Garnishes
This is our favorite category, because we love anything and everything pickled and brined. Pickled ingredients add crunch, tang and a little “wake up” factor that works so well in a Bloody Mary. Some ideas to choose from include:
- pickles – cornichons and baby dills work well
- pepperoncini (pickled mild yellow chili peppers)
- green olives (even better, get the kind stuffed with feta or blue cheese)
- marinated artichoke hearts
- cocktail onions
- Pickled Jalapenos
- pickled green beans or asparagus or okra
- caper berries
- lemon wedges (technically not pickled, but acidic, like nature’s pickle?)
- cherry tomatoes (also not pickled, but acidic, so it’s going in this category)
Bloody Mary Garnish Ideas That Don’t Need Skewers
Some things that we want to put in our Bloody Marys just don’t cooperate on a skewer. Add these directly to each glass:
- dill pickle spears
- big sprigs of fresh dill and basil
- celery stalks (preferably with the leafy tops!) or slices of bell peppers
Make-Ahead Bloody Mary Garnish Skewers
You can absolutely make your skewers the night before so you have less prep work to do in the morning (especially useful on Christmas morning, when somebody is definitely going to need you to hunt up batteries). To prep ahead:
- Assemble the Bloody Mary skewers.
- Place them on a plate or tray and tightly wrap the plate with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
How To Serve Bloody Marys With Garnish Skewers
With your skewers all ready to go, it’s time to build the drinks. First, chill your glasses in the freezer for a few minutes before assembling the cocktails. This helps keep the drinks cold longer.
Then, use a damp paper towel to wet the rims of the glasses and crust them with something salty. Celery salt is a classic, but Old Bay, Tajín and Everything Bagel Seasoning are also great choices.
Fill the glasses with crushed or cubed ice, then pour in your favorite bloody mary mix (we like Zing Zang) and vodka (we like Tito’s). Add hot sauce if you want, then garnish with the skewers you’ve made!
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Bloody Mary Garnish Skewers
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Ingredients
- 8 blue cheese- or feta-stuffed olives
- 8 fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine size)
- 8 cornichons or cocktail size dill pickles
- 4 lemon wedges
- 8 Old Bay Roasted shrimp see Step 1 of Shrimp Deviled Eggs recipe card for process
- 4 whole pepperoncini
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- Everything Bagel Seasoning for rimming glasses
- crushed or cubed ice
- Bloody Mary mix, vodka and hot sauce of choice
- 4 slices Oven Baked Bacon
- 4 stalks celery
- 4 sprigs fresh dill and/or basil
Instructions
- Thread olives, cheese, pickles, lemon wedges, shrimp, pepperoncini and tomatoes onto 4 – 8 cocktail picks or small skewers.
- Moisten the rims of 4 tall glasses and gently roll them in Everything Bagel Seasoning. Fill glasses with ice and assemble drinks with bloody mary mix, vodka, and hot sauce, if desired, leaving extra room in the glasses so they don't overflow when you add the skewers.
- Garnish drinks with skewers, bacon slices, celery stalks, and dill and/or basil sprigs and serve immediately.
