Bloody Mary Pasta Salad Recipe

Ah, the bloody mary: Both a savory, spicy brunch cocktail and faithful hangover cure. Filled with an unusual mixture of tomato juice, Worcestershire, horseradish, and pepper, the drink is actually most known for its garnishes, which can at times be outlandish and even controversial. At its simplest, a bloody mary is garnished with a celery stick, while more involved versions might include bacon, pickles, and — in Wisconsin — cheese curds. Whatever the garnish, the bloody mary can easily be transformed from a cocktail into a salad with just a few simple changes — thanks to it being halfway there already.

The best way to turn a bloody mary into a delicious side dish is to emphasize the classic garnishes and pair them with pasta. In this recipe written with developer Michelle McGlinn, the celery, bacon, tomato, cheese curds, and pickles are combined with fusilli pasta, and then tossed with a dressing that replicates the drink itself. If you're not a bloody mary fan, tomato juice and hot sauce might not be your favorite pairing, but using them as the dressing for a robust and spicy pasta salad might just change your mind about bloody marys — and this time, the vodka's optional.

First, you'll need pasta cooked al dente. We liked the spiral-shaped fusilli for this, but you can use any short pasta like bowtie or macaroni. From there, grab bacon, cherry tomatoes, cheese curds, celery, and dill pickles. For the dressing, you can use a premade bloody mary mix, or you can create one yourself with tomato juice, lime, lemon, Worcestershire, horseradish, garlic, pickle juice, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Don't like your Bloody spicy or think the citrus makes it too fruity? Just adjust the ingredients to your liking, using a bloody mary as an example.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy.

Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and let it cool.

In a bowl, combine the cooked fusilli, tomatoes, cheese curds, celery, dill pickles, and cooked bacon.

In another bowl, add the tomato juice, lemon juice, lime juice, Worcestershire, horseradish, grated garlic, pickle juice, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Whisk the dressing until completely combined.

Add the dressing to the pasta salad and toss to combine.

Serve the pasta salad.

It can be complicated to source good cheese curds, and there's a reason why you're most likely to find them in Wisconsin. Normally, curds are separated from the whey, then combined and aged to form what we know of as cheese. Cheese curds are a product of cheesemaking, a fresh curd that is removed from production and eaten immediately instead of being aged. Technically considered a baby cheddar for this reason, cheese curds are therefore meant to be eaten fresh — so fresh, in fact, that if they are kept for more than a week they are no longer considered cheese curds (in Wisconsin they even have rules that enforce this).

That being said, cheese curds can be hard to find. If you stumble upon a bag of curds at, say, Target, it's unlikely that they came from a farmer that very day. So while they are tasty, you're probably just eating cheddar — which is perfectly fine for a recipe like this one. If you're searching for the real deal and can't quite swing a trip to Wisconsin, try to source the curds as close to a dairy farm as you can get. This might include farmer's markets, grocery stores that specialize in local goods, or Amish-run shops. Because cheese curds are a fast way to earn revenue during the otherwise lengthy cheese-aging process, anyone selling cheese may be eager to sell you some curds.

If you're an avid bloody mary drinker, you probably know how diverse the garnishes can get. This pasta salad is modeled after variations on a standard — though well-garnished — bloody mary , which typically includes bacon, cheese, and celery. You can switch this slightly and use diced ham and mozzarella instead, or turn the salad a little Greek and use artichoke hearts and feta. Luckily, with a dressing that mirrors the already versatile bloody mary, the swap options are endless.

For example, you can dress up your pasta salad with shrimp or even pieces of crab or lobster for a seaside version, which also fits well with the existing ingredients. You can also add more flavorful elements like olives, dill, or jalapeños for a pasta salad that packs a briny or spicy punch. While we love the straightforward dill pickle, you can also use cornichons, which are a common garnish for bloody marys. Lastly, you can swap out the cheese curds for any cheese you love, such as cheddar, Monterey Jack, or a spicy favorite, pepperjack.