Sangrita

Make this easy Sangrita recipe to sip alongside tequila or mix into cocktails. With tomato juice, fresh citrus and spicy peppers, it’s packed with flavor and versatile.

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Best Sangrita recipe

You’ve had red wine sangria, but have you tried sangrita? These drinks are vastly different — they’re not really alike at all.

Sangrita is a delicious, sweet-and-savory drink that is usually served alongside a shot of tequila. Made with tomato juice, fresh citrus and spicy peppers, this drink has so much flavor and it’s easy to customize to your liking.

This traditional Mexican drink is worth adding to your next taco night or brunch. You can even use it to mix into cocktails.

More tomato juice drinks: Caesar Drink • Bloody Derby • Clamato Juice

Why you’ll love this recipe

You’ll love this recipe for a few key reasons:

• Non-alcoholic Sangrita is designed to sip alongside tequila.
• This recipe is super simple to make with fresh, easy-to-find ingredients.
• It’s sweet, salty, savory and spicy — but you can make it milder if you prefer.

What is sangrita?

Sangrita is a savory drink from Mexico that’s made from tomato juice, orange juice, lime juice, peppers and sometimes pomegranate juice. It is designed to complement the tart, peppery notes in blanco tequila.

Sangrita translates to “little blood” in Spanish due to its red color.

Historically it was made in the Mexican region of Jalisco. It’s speculated it originated by drinking the juices left behind by pico de gallo and, but it can be made in larger batches with fresh juices.

According to the drink writer Jeffrey Morganthaler, the original version from the Lake Chapala region of Jalisco is made with Seville orange juice, pomegranate juice and powdered chiles for heat. Grenadine is sometimes used in place of pomegranate juice.

Sangrita vs. sangria

While sangria and sangrita are both drinks, they are very different.

Sangria is a sweet, fruity Spanish drink made by infusing wine with fruit. While traditionally made with red wine, white wine sangria and rosé sangria are also common.

A completely different kind of drink, sangrita is a savory Mexican drink made with tomato juice, citrus juice and peppers. It is meant to be enjoyed alongside straight tequila.

Tools & glassware

You can mix up sangrita at home with just a few tools:

• pitcher or mixing bowl and a long spoon, for mixing
• sharp knife and a cutting board, for the peppers
• juicer or citrus squeezer

Serve sangrita in a pitcher or carafe and pour it into rocks glasses to sip straight or shot glasses to serve alongside tequila.

Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. Here’s what to grab at the grocery store:

• tomato juice
• fresh orange juice
• fresh lime juice
• hot sauce
• salt
• black pepper
• jalapeño pepper, habanero pepper or ancho chile pepper

Variations & substitutions

Mix things up with one of these variations:

• Make it milder: De-seed the peppers or leave them in for less time to infuse less heat. You can also skip the hot sauce. You can also use a pinch or two of mild chili powder. 
• Make it spicier: Leave the peppers in longer and add more hot sauce to give it a stronger kick. You can also infuse a few pink peppercorns for extra spice. 
• Sweeten it: Add a splash of pomegranate juice or grenadine for a sweeter flavor.
• Experiment with the recipe: Try adding blood orange juice, celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder or a tiny bit of agave nectar. 

How to make Sangrita

Here’s how to make this easy sangrita recipe:

In a pitcher or mixing bowl, combine tomato juice, orange juice, lime juice, salt and pepper. Stir together.

Add the hot sauce. Taste. Add more salt, pepper and hot sauce if desired. Stir together.

Halve the pepper. Leave the seeds in if you like some spice.

Add the pepper halves with seeds — placing them seed-side down — and leave them in for 15-30 minutes, depending on how spicy you’d like it to be. You can do longer if you like.

With a slotted spoon, remove the pepper halves and seeds.

Refrigerate until ready to drink or serve immediately over ice.

Tips & tricks

Here are some tips and tricks for making this recipe:

• Be sure the tomato juice you use doesn’t have added sugars.
• Use fresh citrus juices for the best flavor.
• Taste the mixture after 15 minutes of leaving in the peppers. Leave them in longer if you’d prefer more spice.

How to drink Sangrita

If you’re enjoying a shot of your favorite tequila, you can serve sangrita alongside it as a chaser. Like the classic salt and lime wedge chaser, sangrita is meant to balance out some of tequila’s intensity.

When serving a tequila shot, serve a shot of sangrita in a shot glass as well. If you like, you can add a salt rim or chili-lime rim to the glass of tequila. A wedge of lime is also an ideal garnish.

You can also feel free to enjoy sangrita plain in a rocks glass, or use it in a cocktail.

In fact, sangrita is a key ingredient in the vampiro cocktail, which combines it with tequila and fruity soda. It’s a delicious tequila drink!

You could also use it in lieu of Bloody Mary mix to make a Bloody Maria.

What to serve with Sangrita

Sangrita goes well with tequila, which of course is delicious alongside Mexican foods.

Enjoy them alongside pork tacos or an appetizer of chips and guacamole.

For dessert, serve up some margarita bars.

FAQ

More tequila cocktails

• Lime Margarita
• Paloma
• Oaxacan Old-Fashioned