The Best Michelada Recipe

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The Michelada cocktail is a classic Mexican cocktail that consists of beer, tomato sauce or juice, hot sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, black pepper, and garnished.

Do you brunch?

I absolutely love to brunch.

Eggs Benedict, fresh croissants, and cocktails at 11 am – what’s not to love about that?? One of my very favorite brunch drinks is a Bloody Mary – especially with fresh jalapeños. Every time I fly I have a Bloody Mary and compare it to the previous ones I’ve had. So far, Atlanta and Dallas have the best. I’ve definitely had a few of them multiple times, but those two are the most consistent at being good.

When I was looking at different cocktail recipes for inspiration, I ran across a variation of the Bloody Mary called the “Michelada”.

What is a Michelada?

This particular cocktail contains beer in place of the traditional vodka.

I was intrigued, so I went to my local Wal-Mart (I’m so glad I have one right down the street from my neighborhood – so convenient) and grabbed all the items I needed, which included Francesco Rinaldi Original Pasta Sauce. I know pasta sauce does not make one immediately think “cocktail”, but just trust me here; it works and it will open cocktail doors you didn’t even know existed.

The Francesco Rinaldi sauce line is extensive; they offer a flavor for every taste and it’s a convenient pantry staple that you could use for so many dishes. For my drink, I chose to go with the Traditional Original.

Does pasta sauce in a cocktail work?

Yep.

Let me tell you, it worked beautifully. Tomato sauce and tomato juice aren’t really that far off. As a matter of fact, pasta sauce brings some flavorful elements to the drink I didn’t expect to really like.

I am in LOVE with this drink – it turned out better than I imagined it would. I salted the rim of the glass (mason jars) with Kosher salt mixed with cayenne pepper.

If you know me, you know that I can’t get enough heat.

I garnished this pretty little drink with celery stalks, jumbo olives, lime wedges and candied bacon.

The candied bacon was amazing in this. To make it is really simple; just sprinkle brown sugar over bacon slices that are on a baking sheet fitted with a cooling rack (with parchment paper underneath to catch the grease), and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. All bacon, and none of the grease.

The beer in place of vodka made it more light and refreshing than a traditional Bloody Mary, and the combination of flavors with the cayenne salt on the rim of the glass made it a straight-up rockstar. 

Now, you could stop there.

OR

You can add some tequila.

And that is called a Tequilada. Now that – is dangerous. But delicious. You could go with regular tequila, but I tried it with blanco (white, or clear) tequila, and it worked perfectly with the other flavors. 

Check Francesco Rinaldi out on Facebook here and follow them on Twitter – @francescosauce.  

Here’s your printable-

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The Michelada

Yield: 1 drink

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

A version of the Bloody Mary that features beer in place of vodka, with the optional addition of tequila if you're feeling adventurous.

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Ingredients

• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp. Francesco Rinaldi Original Tomato Sauce
• ¼ cup V8 Splash Tropical Blend
• 2 dashes hot sauce
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 12 oz. beer (I used Corona)
• 2 oz. tequila blanco (optional)
• Garnishments such as celery sticks, olives, lime wedges, and candied bacon

Instructions

1. Using a lime wedge, coat the rim of a large glass or mason jar with lime juice, and roll in salt/cayenne mixture. Fill halfway with ice cubes.
2. Combine the tomato sauce through lime juice and tequila, if using, in an ice filled shaker, shake a few times until chilled, then pour into ice filled glass.
3. Top it off with beer, and garnish.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 296Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 918mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 8g

The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.

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