Red Pepper Martini
Sweet and spicy red pepper vodka martini recipe. This cocktail is a unique alternative to a bloody mary.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
I did it. I quit my job!
Itās hard to believe that the little project I named Cookie and Kate three and a half years ago has become a full-time endeavor. When my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I definitely never responded, āVegetarian food blogger,ā but that was back when I subsisted on chicken fingers with ketchup and home computers were clunky novelties. Regardless, Iāve found my calling. For now.
Iām hoping to post recipes more often from here on out. Iām already feeling like a failure since Iāve only managed to post once during my first week as a full timer. I have, however, been attacking my to-do list like itās a beast that can be conquered. Oh, if only it could.
Before I dive into the blog improvement projects on my agenda, I thought Iād ask you all what you would like to see here first. What kinds of recipes do you prefer? Do you have suggestions for how this website could work better for you? Any features youād like to see? Letās hear it!
Stoli asked me to come up with a fall-inspired cocktail and today seemed like the perfect day to share it with you all. Itās Friday, after all! And I quit my job! Iām making less money but Iām doing what I love! Letās toast to that.
At first, I was pretty set on incorporating pears in the cocktail. I tried infusing, muddling, blending and cooking, but none of those techniques brought the best out of those pears. I probably should have bought pear vodka in the first place. I was stressing about the pear issue when my friends came over for girls night, and those lovely geniuses reminded me of my favorite cocktail from Manifesto called the Beautiful Red Bell. Red bell pepper muddled into a cocktail lends sweet peppery notes and a pretty orangey pink hue. Itās delightful.
This red number is a cross between the beautiful red bell and a savory spin on a martini I tasted in Denver last month. That drink, which I sipped under the pink lights at The Thin Man, was made with a crazy-sounding roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, jalapeƱo and garlic infused vodka. It was a far cry from a classic martini, but I loved it. I love this cocktail, too. I mixed it up in a hurry this morning and got it just right on my third attempt. Of course, the drinks are reserved for tonight since I am a professional.
This cocktail would be the perfect sweet-and-spicy cocktail to serve at girls night or brunch. When you do, invite your friends to join you on RecAPP by Stoli to capture all of your original moments. Itās a free app that lets you create video recaps of events and share them with friends. Cheers!
Red Pepper Martini
Sweet and spicy, peppery vodka martinis. Serve as a savory before-dinner cocktail, or as a light alternative to a bloody mary at brunch. Amounts given below yield two cocktails.
Ingredients
- 1 medium bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 2-inch pieces
- Ā¼ medium jalapeƱo pepper, seeded (use more or less depending on how spicy you want the drink to be)
- 1 lime, juiced
- Ā½ garlic clove, peeled
- 3 ounces Stoli vodka
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar or simple syrup
- 1 dash hot sauce, preferably Cholula
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Coarse sea salt or kosher salt, optional
Instructions
- First, line the rims with black pepper and salt if desired. Sprinkle a small plate with pepper and salt, run a lime wedge around the rims of two martini glasses, and dip the edges in the salt and pepper mixture.
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the bell pepper, jalapeno, lime juice and garlic. Youāre done when the peppers have no more crunch left in them.
- Add the vodka, agave or simple syrup, hot sauce, a couple twists of freshly ground black pepper and a dash of salt. Fill the shaker with ice, top the shaker with its lid and shake it like crazy. Strain the mixture into the prepared glasses and serve immediately.
Notes
- Cocktail inspired by the beautiful red bell cocktail at Manifesto (Kansas City) and the red pepper-infused vodka at The Thin Man (Denver).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistās advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Stoli. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who allow me to serve up more recipes. Opinions are my own, always. Savor Stoli Responsibly. STOLICHNAYAĀ® Premium Vodka. 40% Alc/Vol. Distilled from grain. William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY. Ā© 2013 Spirits International, B.V.
First off, congratulations on taking the plunge!!!! That is such amazing news. I hope you get time in between all your super organization projects to enjoy one or ten of these in celebration. So excited for you!
Thank you, Stefanie! :)
Congrats girl!! I am so happy for you and canāt wait to see what is to come : )
Thank you, Abby!
YEAY!!! Congrats to you!!!!! That is so exciting! Canāt wait to see and try even more recipes by you now! :) Enjoy your weekend and being your own boss!
Thank you, Autumn! I really appreciate your comment! More recipes, coming up. :)
Congratulations!!! That is sooo unbelievably exciting. I look forward to seeing lots more from you.
xxx
Thank you, Jaclyn!
Go girl! So happy/proud of you!
Thanks, sweet friend!
Congrats. and wishing you much happiness in the future.
Thank you, Liz. Itās always so nice to hear from you. Hope youāre having a wonderful weekend.
That is awesome and so inspiring. Good luck in your blogging endeavors I hope it is an amazing rideā¦
Thank you, Sandra. :)
Congratulations! As a new vegetarian blogger (though not a new vegetarian), this is really encouraging, and I get a lot of inspiration from your blog as well!
Thanks, Melissa! You can do it!
Congratulations on quitting your day jobā¦woo hoo!
Thank you, Hima!
Long time reader, first time commenter!
Just wanted to say:
1. Congrats! I love your blog and think itās so awesome that this will now be your full-time gig.
2. This looks SO GOOD! Iām having friends over tonight that are anti-savory drinks which is a bit heartbreaking, but this will be in my future.
Hey Laura! Thanks for reading (and commenting)! Itās great to know that youāre out there. Iām sorry your friends arenāt into savory drinks. I hope youāll find a good excuse to make this cocktail soon!
Doing what you love never feels like work. Good for you! Looking forward to more of your posts.
So true! Thank you, Andrea.
Congrats!! Thatās so exciting for you. I love all of your recipes and I canāt wait to see what the future holds.
Thank you, Brittany!
Congrats, Kathryne! As a reader from the very beginning, I can say definitively that you deserve all the success youāve encountered.
I love your cocktail recipes, may I request a warm toddy inspired one? Winter is on the horizon up here in Alaska, and itād be nice to have a few unique whiskey recipes in my arsenal.
Oh, and you should consider writing an ebook or self-publishing a cookbook on Amazon. Iād buy it!
Thank you, Crystle! Itās nice to know that youāre still following along even though youāre so far away! I hope Alaska is treating you well. Good idea on the toddy. Hereās my go-to toddy that I posted right before Thanksgiving last year. I bet I can come up with another variation this winter. Stay warm!
congrats, kate!!! iāve been enjoying your blog for about a year. your photos are excellent!
you asked for feedback, so here are 3 points from me:
first, iād love to see more lacto-vegetarian recipes, i.e. no meat or fish BUT ALSO no eggs, and also see them specifically marked. i have to look thru both vegetarian and vegan recipes to find the lacto-veg ones. this is especially so with baked goods. there are more of us than people would think!
second, i prefer low-fat and low-sugar food, but never know how to substitute or amend recipes myself. i think many of your readers would find such a section useful, i.e. a small note at the end of a recipe that offers healthier alternatives, eg. greek yogurt for cream or applesauce for oil. you do this sometimes, so thank you!
third, is there any chance you could include nutritional information? so many of us count calories/fat/protein/carbs for weight loss and other health goals. there are automatic calculators online that i use now. but if you could do it once for all of us, that would be so useful.
thatās it and thank you!!
Monica, thank you. Iām glad to know youāre enjoying my blog! Thank you very much for taking the time to type up your suggestions, too. I hear you. I definitely want to come up with a better way to organize my recipes for specific diets, so Iāll work on the lacto-vegetarian option. Iāll also try to be better about providing suggestions for reducing the sugar and fat content, and Iām thinking about adding nutritional information. Several others have requested it as well. Hope you have a great weekend and thanks again!
First, congrats!
Second, isnāt it funny how our parents have absolutely no context for the blogging world, since it didnāt even really exist until somewhere around 10 years ago? And I think itās only been in the last few years that itās really exploded. I too, have thought oftenāitās kind of hilarious that Iām a blogger. Who would have *ever* guessed? I suppose kids nowadays can really say: āwhen I grow up I want to be a blogger.ā
Anyway, look forward to seeing more work from you. You have got some talent, girl!
Thanks, Janae! It is funny, just how new this blogging thing is. I wish we had better words for it than blog/blogger/blogging! Yuck. My mom publishes a small magazine so I have been around publishing for a long time, but I wouldnāt be interested in publishing if it werenāt for the existence of blogs. I love this little online platform of mine! All my best to you.
Great cocktail, Iāll drink to your success.
I have a suggestion for the blog, It would be amazing if you posted the nutritional information with your recipes.
Good luck, Catherine
Thank you for commenting, Catherine! Iāll think about adding the nutritional information. Iām hesitant to do so for a few reasons, one of which being that itās just one more thing to do before I can hit publish. Perhaps more important, though, is that the nutritional breakdown would very much be an estimate. Calories and fat content depend on serving sizes and exact ingredients, etc. Would having a rough estimate be better than no information at all? Are you interested in calories, fat content and protein, or any other details? I really appreciate your feedback!
Wow, this is exciting! Many congrats from both of us, Kathryne!! :)
Thank you, Sonja (and Alex)! Iāve been thinking about your emailāIāll get back to you soon!
Congratulations!
I have followed your site for almost 2 yrs and Iām happy that you get to give it your full attention. I also love your fondness for spice and look forward to more recipes that arenāt afraid of a little heat!
ps I used to live right near the Thin Man for 5 years. Iām so glad you liked it there. It will always be my favorite neighborhood bar!
Thank you, fellow Kate! Iām glad you appreciate my spicy recipes. I tend to dial back a little for the blog, but frankly, this blog just isnāt for people who donāt like spice. I loved The Thin Man and all of their infused vodkas! That was a fun experience.
Woohoo!! You go girl! Thatās huge, congratulations!
Great news! I love your site ā especially the photography, and the cocktail and food recipes. Iām not so much into baking sweets. I love recipes that are fast and delicious for week night family meals!
Thanks, Jennifer! Iāll try to post cocktails more often, and Iām always on the hunt for quick and delicious meals! Iāll have more for you soon.
so exciting, it takes a lot of guts to quit. I quit my job like 3 years ago to work on my blog, but in my case I realized although I loved blogging, I didnāt have the dedication I needed to make it a success. I needed discipline in my life and then I found another job, one that was more rewarding.
Good for you.. I canāt wait to see what you come up with.
And this drink looks fabā¦ so unique.
Thank you! Iām glad you found a more rewarding way to spend your days. Sometimes itās just a matter of taking a leap and figuring out what does and doesnāt work!
Wow, thatās fantastic! Congratulations. I have a food blog thatās in the early stages, and yours is definitely an inspiration!
Thank you, Katy! Your blogās name is so cute.
Congratulations!! Youāve achieved what so many food bloggers hope to; best of luck. Love the site and looking forward to seeing what you do with it from here on out!
Thank you, Ruby! Iām looking forward to having more time to devote to this blog. All my best to you!
Ahhhh! Congratulations my dear friend! We need to have cocktails asap ;) xo
Thank you, sweet Ashley! Yes, cocktails soon!
Congratulations! Thatās so exciting. I totally have a girl crush on your personality and your recipes, so Iām sure youāll continue to be a huge success.
Thank you, Fiona! Always nice to hear from you!
Great move! Iām all for quitting a job that makes you unhappy. This drink sounds great. I donāt like sweet drinks, so I usually end up with a plain vodka martini w/olives. Nothing wrong with that, but I also love peppers! Iā m glad you used plain vodka, I never seem to like the flavored ones, and there are so many weird ones now, you have to be careful when making your selection in the Vodka isle!
Your blog beautiful and I always open the e-mail because itās never just the same old vegetarian thing. My only suggestionā¦.more pictures of Cookie!!!
Hi Mary! Thank you! Iām glad to have more time to spend on my blog now. I hope youāll get a chance to try this cocktail soon! Itās fresh, light and well balanced. Iām wary of the flavored vodkas, too. Iām glad you like my pictures of Cookie. More coming soon!
Love the photography, and looking at your recipes even if I donāt make them!
I second the suggestion of providing healthy alternatives, in particular with baking recipes.
Keep the blogs coming!
CONGRATS!!
Thank you, Paula! And I will definitely keep that in mind.
Wow! Congratulations! Thatās really wonderful, that you are following your passion. Good luck. Definitely rooting for you!
PS this is the first time Iāve ever commented on a blog ā just so excited for you, I had to write something.
Thank you, Sarah! Your comment made me smile. Thanks for reading along and for your sweet comment! Glad to know youāre out there!
Hi Kate, congratulations! What a huge accomplishment :). If you keep posting more of your usual recipes, weāll be a lucky bunch.
Thank you, Kim! Hope youāre having a terrific weekend.
Congrats, congrats!! So happy for you!
Thanks, Tieghan!
Kate, youāre living my dream. Good for you! Your blog is the only one I follow and I am always so excited to read your latest post, to see your latest pictures, to hear about your latest adventure, and to salivate over your latest recipe. The very best to you in this new chapter of your life. Celebrate your well deserved success!
Rhonda, thank you! Iām delighted to hear that youāre enjoying my blog and thank you very much for your congratulations.
This is AWESOME news, Katie! Congrats on making that exciting (yet surely also a bit terrifying) decision. This if anything is worth raising our glasses to! (An incredible looking cocktail!)
These are great news! As well great for me if there are going to be even more recipesā¦ Iām a fan of all of recipes. But the āMexicanā ones I enjoy most, since in Europe weāre quite unexperienced with Mexican food. Lookin forward to see more of them! So happy professional-ism!
Thank you, Sarah! Iām glad to hear that you enjoy the Mexican recipes, because those are often my favorite! Iāll post more for you soon, Iām sure.
Congrats on taking the plunge, Katie! This martini is a great way to celebrate :)
You, friend, are the quintessence of cool.
:) thanks, friend.
WOOOOHOOOO!! Iām so excited for you. Your site is amazing and if anyone deserves to have crazy success with it, itās you!
Now letās toast with a glass of this martini! I love that itās savory. As Iāve gotten older Iāve stopped liking really sweet drinks, but this is perfect.
Thanks, Joanne! Someday I will have to make another trip to NYC so we can clink drinks in real life!
Hugest congrats to you, Kate. Youāve accomplished in three and a half years what most people wonāt in a lifetime: self-reliance and occupational bliss. Enjoy that martini; you have much to celebrate!! xxx+o van Amsterdam
Thank you, Jess. :)
Congratulations! Just this week I forwarded a link of your pumpkin pancake recipe to a friend, telling her it was an awesome recipe from my favorite blogger. I am delighted that you will be able to spend more time here.
I personally favor vegan, gluten-free recipes but I mostly hope that you will continue to post about what you love rather than trying to please readersā¦ this is what makes your blog so special!
Nik, thank you very much for sharing my recipe with your friend! Iāll keep your preferences in mind, but my recipes will always be about what I love! Iām sure that as I post more recipes in general, there will be more vegan, gluten-free recipes to choose from!
soup recipes and beans/peas/lentils recipes!
Ok, Iām on it! Thanks!
Congrats! There are two things on my wish list for your blog:
1. More of the same. I love your recipes and photography, and think your food is tasty, beautiful, and approachable.
2. Better functioning on the iPad. I do most of my blog reading on my iPad, and for some reason your blog and my iPad do not get along! It breaks each post into multiple pages rather than one page that I can scroll down, and sometimes the ads get in the way of being able to read everything on a page. And sometimes the page breaks happen in the middle of a recipe, which is tricky when Iām trying to follow said recipe. Definitely a first world problem that I have to read your blog on my laptop or iPhone. :)
Hi! Thank you for your feedback. I really appreciate it. My iPad siteās developers are always improving the site, but Iām sorry to hear that itās not working well for you. They just added a new āview recipeā feature. If you scroll over to the last page of the post, youāll see a āview the recipeā button. Click on that and youāll see a nicely formatted recipe that you can scroll down to see more. If you still donāt like it, you can also turn off the iPad version altogether. Click on the gray triangle in the top left and select āview desktop versionā. Then you can browse my site like you do from your computer! Hope one of those solutions works for you!
Great! Thanks so much! Iāll give those a try!
Um, congratsā¦can we all say, food bloggers dream come true!? Thatās amazing Kate, and I wish you the best of luck. Canāt wait to continue following and seeing more posts. Iād love to see some more recipes utilizing beans. Grains and beans are such a staple in my life, and Iām always looking for new ways to whip them up.
I am eating your honey almond granola as I read this ā congrats! I became vegetarian just a week ago and while Iāve been following you for much longer than that, Iām thinking I will be using your website more than ever now that Iāve made this commitment. (I can already tell getting enough protein is going to be tough for meā¦)
Regarding nutritional information, there are counters out there that do this, and if people are substituting ingredients and stuff anyway, I donāt see why you need to do this really.
Maybe something that could be helpful is having the equivalent measurements in metric for people overseas, or using a kitchen scale? I dunno.
Thatās all the feedback I have! I love things the way they are but if you do change things Iām sure it will be something delightful that I hadnāt thought of. :) Best of luck to you.
Great ideas, Laura! Thank you. Iām glad you love that granola. :) Any time I feel like Iām not getting enough protein, I fill up on a meal made with beans and eggs like huevos rancheros. I have a simple recipe for huevos rancheros on the blog if you want to check that out. Greek yogurt has tons of protein, too.
This cocktail looks amazingāI love red peppers, and itās such a wonderful color. Big congratulations on becoming a full-time blogger! Wow! In addition to the recipes, I really enjoy your photography. As a blogger whoās in the earlier phases, I would love to see some posts about things behind the scenes, since youāre pro nowāmore on your photography, the business side of things, etc. Also, I always love desserts, especially ones that are somewhat healthy. Congratulations again!
ooo! I agree on Beckyās suggestions!
Thanks, Becky! Creating behind-the-scenes posts would be fun. Iāll try to pepper those in from time to time. I have more desserts in the line-up now that cold weather is approaching!
Cheers, cheers, and cheers again! Go you ā so happy for your, and canāt wait to see whatās coming!
Congratulations! I think you should work to improve the mobile version of your website. It is so clunky and honestly, I usually skip checking your website because of it.
Hey Janet, I really appreciate your feedback and Iām sorry you donāt like the mobile version of the site. The developers are always working on it to make it better. I do have a solution for now, though. If you click on the menu (the gray triangle butter in the upper left corner) you can select āview desktop versionā. Then you can browse the site like you always have!
Wow, congratulations, Kate! This is so exciting!
Donāt feel badly about your first week ā it was full of newness and transition, and you will find your groove in no time. I love this blog and am so proud/looking forward to so much more here! xoxo!
Ps, this cocktail sounds AMAZE! I wouldnāt have considered muddling these together in such a way ā sounds so good!
Iām so excited for you! Youāre my favorite blog and I visit all the time and cook with my computer on your page. Good luck on your exciting endeavor!
I would find more indexing usefulā and maybe you already do this with ātagsā so ignore me if so. Like, I need freezable soup and casserole, what are some recipes that stand up well to that and whatās the best way to do it? Ta-da, hereās a way to find those recipes on the site!
I also dig it when a recipe tells me how I can prep part of the dish in advance so I can make the weeknight meal come together more quickly.
Oh and Iām in love with my electric pressure cooker. You should try to nab a sponsor on that one. There are suprizingly few blogs or even cookbooks out there with good pressure cooker recipes. I love my pulled pork tacos recipe from martha stewart site, but many recipes I try come out too watery. I know if you gave me a recipe itād be a winner. Then again, thatās a special piece of equipment and one of the things I love about your blog is that your recipes donāt typically require specialized tools, so I guess keep your brand in mind before you act on that suggestion. :)
Or another thing that would be awesome is a lesson on how to tweak recipes. I love learning about the science of cooking that way I can troubleshoot in the kitchen.
Oh and one more thing, I always enjoy seeing pictures of people enjoying the food. If you have a girls night, maybe post a picture.
These are all things I want to do on my blog, but my blog is pretty much just for my friends and family and Iām still a novice. So Iāll just suggest them to you! Again, congrats and best wishes!
Hey Claire, thank you! Itās always so nice to hear from you. Great feedback all around! I am starting a list of tags to work on for the blog, including the ones you suggested. I think Iāll just wake up early and bust out that project soon. I have so many projects and ideas, itās hard to know where to begin!
How wonderful, congrats. I love your site and make sure to check it all the time. I certainly look forward to more recipes. I am vegan, but find it very easy to convert any of your recipes. I am also a busy mom for two babies, so any slow cooker recipes would be much appreciated. Keep up the good work. Your blog is wonderful!
Thank you, Erin! I really appreciate your comment. Iām glad youāve had an easy time converting my recipes! Iāll try to post more recipes for you soon!
Congrats!! My boyfriend and I just went vegetarian so posts related to meal planning and things that can be frozen/are good for week nights would be so helpful! Thank you!
Those are great suggestions! Thank you, Mia!
Congrats on the big move!!! So exciting!