Bloody Mary tomato sauce; a hint of heat makes this easy-to-make sauce a real winner. Use as a dip or sauce, it’s brilliantly versatile
There is a time and a place where the right answer is a Bloody Mary. Usually for brunch the morning after the night before.
An easy way to stoke an argument is to disagree with a cocktail aficionado about what should go into a proper Bloody Mary: the main ingredients are easy: tomato juice, vodka, and Worcestershire sauce. But from then it gets trickier. A hot sauce of some form is common, but should it be Tabasco, or something else? Celery salt, yes or no? A slice of lemon is a common garnish, but what about lemon juice? And finally, a stick of celery to stir it all with, complete with leaves at the top.
The Bloody Mary is also the inspiration for this sauce. Taking tomato ketchup as its base, it adds the traditional ingredients of Worcester and chili sauces, celery salt and lemon juice.
Worcestershire sauce is a great Victorian invention; the secret recipe was invented by John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the 1830 in the county that gave it its name. The original iteration was not a success, and it was only after a barrel had matured for some months that they decided that they had a winning condiment. It was from the success of their sauce that they started the eponymous company Lea & Perrins.
Worcestershire has since been merged with its neighbouring county of Hereford and sits approximately one third of the way across the widest part of England and Wales.
The original Lea & Perrins gets its intense addictive umami flavour from fermented anchovies, but of course there are many vegetarian and vegan brands available. We prefer the original in the bottle with the charismatic orange label.
This recipe is just a matter of mixing the ingredients, and adjusting the resulting sauce to taste. As no blender is needed, it’s perfect for when you’re away from your kitchen. There are many obvious uses: serve with steak, oysters, or barbecued chicken wings, or our freeze ahead chicken kebabs, and here are a few more ideas.
7 Uses for Bloody Mary Sauce
- With seafood; prawns and crabsticks
- As a dip served with crudites and crackers
- As a marinade for chicken or for kebabs
- Stir into a casserole
- Dollop onto a burger
- Stir into mayonnaise and serve with thick cut chips
- Use it to perk up shop bought dips like hummus.
Buy a packet of wraps and make a batch of my crispy baked homemade tortillas and dip in!
For more of a kick, and a sauce that is perfect with lamb you might like our kebab shop chilli sauce.
A delicious variation on ketchup, with a traditional kick from Worcester and chili sauces.
- 4 tbs tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (use vegan / vegetarian if needed)
- 1 tsp Chilli sauce
- ½ tsp celery salt
- zest 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 10 cherry tomatoes - finely chopped
-
Mix, adjust seasoning if needed.
I’m a big fan of chilli and tomatoes, so I say yes to chillies in a Bloody Mary. Nice idea to use your sauce as a dip.
Chilli and tomato goes together so well
I love this idea, Helen. Very simple, clever and as you demonstrate multipurpose. My daughter bartends at a very posh golf club in the summer, and their “secret” Bloody Mary ingredient is sweet chilli sauce. It’s great!
I imagine that is simply delicious!
I love this recipe for any season! Whenever my husband make a bloody mary, I always say that I’d rather eat it than drink it. ;-)
I think this is a preference with many people, a Bloody Mary drink isn’t for everyone.
It really does sound delicious and versatile! :D Love adding Worcestershire sauce to tomato dishes. This would be amazing mixed in with pasta!
I do enjoy a simple pasta dish with a simple sauce, great idea.
This is a genius idea for so many appetizers. I love a spicy kick when eating shrimp and think this would be the ideal dipper for shrimp, as well as on top of a burger or chicken. This recipe is a keeper :)
Such a good addition to many a good food.
I love that you’ve added a touch of heat to this. Gorgeous!
I do think that tomato and chilli go so well together.
Very smart and love the ingredients in this sauce.
A great combination of tasty ingredients that compliment each other.
What a bloody brilliant idea! I love it! My husband has a “thing” for bloody Marys – I think he’d love this.
Any fan of Bloody Mary’s would enjoy this, I’m sure.
I love Bloody Mary and this is such an inspired idea! Great tips for ways to enjoy the dip as well.
Such a versatile dip, goes well with many things.
Wow, this looks insane. Super yum,my and your pictures look amazing. Can’t wait to follow you insta to get all of the foody goodness! x
Thank you Olivia.
This looks amazing, I could eat that right now, with some lovely sweet potato fries to dip it into! I’m pinning for later :-)
Sweet potato fries would be fabulous with the dip.
This sounds nice, especially with some seafood!
I do enjoy chilli and tomato with sea food, such a good flavour combination.
This tomato sauce sounds so yummy and full of flavour. I will be bookmarking this recipe.
Lots of tasty ingredients is the key.
This looks so good! I love making dips, so I might have to add this too my repertoire. I’ve pinned it to refer to later. x
Dips are so versatile. Great for lunches, parties, an appetizer. And so many options for enjoying.
this looks and sounds brilliant. Can’t beat a bit of chilli
I really love chilli with tomato, such a good flavour.
Sounds absolutely fabulous (and easy, which I love since I have very little time)! Can´t wait to try it out with so many different things!
so quick easy and delicious.