The Best Homemade Micheladas
Here’s how to make the best Micheladas, also known as red beer. It’s a savory beer drink, served with ice, lime, hot sauce and tomato juice. They are super refreshing on a hot summer evening.
Table of contents
What Is A Michelada
A Michelada is a tomato-based beer cocktail that originated in Mexico. I remember the first time I ever heard about them. We were down in Texas for my cousin Mariah’s wedding, and my older sister Jessie ordered one at the bar. Upon first inspection, it seemed as if he was mixing a Bloody Mary. Sort of, there was tomato juice at least. Tabasco and Worcestershire too. But that’s where the similarities stop. It was not really like a Bloody Mary at all.
For starters, the bartender salted the rim of the glass. It also departs from the realm of the Bloody Mary in that there was no horseradish. There was no lemon (micheladas are made with lime only.) The other glaring difference is that, when you’d expect the bottle of vodka to appear, the bartender poured in a bottle of Corona beer! He set the frothy red beer on the bar, gave it a stir, and set the three-quarter-empty bottle of beer on the counter next to it. My sister says that the tradition of serving the remaining beer with it is du rigor for a proper Michelada.
Why We Love This Best Michelada Recipe
Friends, you really need to try one of these red beers. I am telling you, they are a delight on a hot summer evening. I delight in their icy, salty, sudsy goodness. They can really hit the spot!
Jessie and I played around with the level of heat, at first with just ¼ teaspoon of Tabasco in each one. But since we have Texas blood runnin’ in our veins, we both agreed that ¾ teaspoons per glass- and the resulting tingling lips each sip brings, was much more delicious. Ultimately, I am going to leave it up to you, and I just put a range in the recipe.
Key Ingredients For Making Micheladas at Home
Limes
The tart, acidic flavor of limes adds a fresh lightness to the overall flavor profile of this cocktail and pairs well with the tomato juice and beer.
Worchestershire Sauce
Worchestershire sauce is a fermented condiment made from vinegar, anchovies, molasses, tamarind and other spices. It adds an awesome umami flavor.
Tabasco
A few dashes of Tabasco adds a welcome heat to this refreshing drink.
Clamato or Tomato Juice
Clamato juice is a blend of tomato and clam juice. Or you can use a plain tomato juice, V8 or even spicy V8. Either works well in this cocktail adding a rich acidity and viscous texture to balance the beer and other ingredients.
Lager Beer
The best beer is something light and refreshing. Mexican beers like Corona, Sol, Modelo Light or Tecate are perfect options. You can also use a light beer if you want fewer calories.
Other Ingredients For This Recipe
- coarse salt for rims of glasses
- ice to fill two glasses
Step By Step Instructions For This Red Beer Recipe
Step 1: Prepare the glass.
Run lime half on rims of glasses to moisten. Place salt on a plate. Dip rims into salt, and shake off any extra.
Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients to the glasses and mix.
Squeeze one whole lime into each glass. Add 4 dashes Worcestershire to each glass. Add Tabasco to each glass. Add Clamato juice, dividing evenly. Top with ice. Fill to the top with beer. Stir to mix. Serve with the remaining beer on the side.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Both are beer-based drinks served over ice. A Michelada is a tomato-based beer cocktail that also had tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. A Chelada is simply beer, lime and salt.
Although they are often referred to as a Mexican Bloody Mary a Michelada differs from a Bloody Mary because it features beer in place of the vodka traditionally used in Bloody Marys.
The best beer for mixing a Michelada is a light lager. Mexican beers like Corona, Sol, Modelo Light or Tecate are perfect options. Caribbean beers like Pacifico and Carib work really well too. If you cannot find one of these look for another light lager or Pilsner like Heineken or Peroni.
More Tips For the best Micheladas
- Go with Clamato for it’s savory flavor and thinner texture than V8 or tomato. You might think that’s icky because it contains MSG, but the whole MSG thing was debunked years ago.
- Be generous with the lime. If your lime is particularly un-juicy, use two rather than one.
- Some micheladas are made with only lime, no Clamato or tomato. They’re good, but I prefer the red.
- Try a little lime zest along with salt on the rim. Also if you have it try guisano powder. (It’s great on margaritas too.) It’s made from ground agave worms, chiles and lime. It has a spicy, salty, meaty taste that’s amazing. It’s a specialty in Oaxaca and often served with mezcal, but it’s great on the michie as well.
- Try other hot sauces besides Tabasco. And try other beers, though I don’t recommend a hoppier beer for this application.
Additional Cocktail Recipes To Try:
- These smoky, tart and sweet Mescal Margaritas, made with Cuantro, freshly squeezed lime and orange juice have a salted rim with a surprising ingredient!
- These Vanilla Pear Moscow Mules are super simple to stir together, and are a fun and festive cocktail for the holidays!
- These simple and bittersweet Grapefruit Champagne Cocktails are a breeze to make and they showcase my favorite liquor, Campari.
- This Pomegranate Lemon Drop Martini is a festive cocktail for the holiday season. It only takes 5 minutes to whip up.
- Here is a recipe for a Strawberry Lemonade Cocktail that may just be your new favorite summer drink!
- There is a new cocktail I want to add to my favorites list. It is the Maple Meyer Lemon Whiskey Sour.
- Ricky Bobbies are quite simple and quenchingly quaffable.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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Best Homemade Micheladas Recipe
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Here’s how to make killer micheladas, also known as red beer. It’s a savory beer drink, served with ice, lime, hot sauce and tomato juice. They are super refreshing on a hot summer evening.
Ingredients
- 2 limes, cut in half
- coarse salt for rims of glasses
- 8 shakes Worcestershire sauce
- Tabasco sauce, to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon each glass)
- 2/3 cup Clamato Juice or tomato juice
- ice to fill two glasses
- 2 Corona Extra beers or other light-colored lager
Instructions
- Run lime half on rims of glasses to moisten. Place salt on a plate. Dip rims into salt, and shake off any extra.
- Squeeze one whole lime into each glass. Add 4 dashes Worcestershire to each glass. Add Tabasco to each glass. Add Clamato juice, dividing evenly. Top with ice. Fill to the top with beer. Stir to mix. Serve with the remaining beer on the side.
Notes
Best Beer For Micheladas:
The best beer is something light and refreshing. Mexican beers like Corona, Sol, Modelo Light or Tecate are perfect options.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Cocktail
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cocktail
- Calories: 183
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 933 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
Made this drink over the weekend! Everyone loved it!!
This has become one of my favorite drinks. I like them even more than Bloody Marys. I love your recipe!
I loved this drink! It tastes so good and so easy to make!
My husband is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to make this for him!
Best summer drink EVER! My husband and I are in love with these.
Interesting recipe and I will try it, but my comment is about your comment on the MSG issue. When you have a severe, even life-threatening allergic reaction to any food or drink containing MSG (aspartame is another), no number of “studies” will debunk the closed throat, breath-stopping, heart palpitations, blurred vision, nerve jumping reaction. It isn’t imaginary when you don’t even know the culprit is present before you ingest it. Please do not be quite so flippant. We have held our own breaths too many times when my sister has inadvertently consumed the smallest amount and, on occasion, landed in a hospital as a result. From a “healthy” standpoint, I am surprised a proponent of healthy choices (such as yourself) does not recognize these additives can be pure poison to some. When more and more restaurants and food producers are removing MSG from their products, you can be sure it isn’t because “the whole MSG thing” was debunked.
Hi Peggy. I am so glad to hear you’ll be trying the drink. Let me know what you think of it! Sorry to hear about your sisters condition. That must be scary. Food allergies are really scary, especially something she can’t even tell is present when she ingests it! As far as my being “flip”, I’m really sorry my sister’s quote comes off this way. I do try to keep my blog lighthearted and write in the way I speak in real life. It was not my intention to hurt your feelings by including her quote. I think what my sister was pointing out was an article from EatingWell that summarizes the findings which point to the fact that there has been no research to support the idea that MSG causes Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. It’s hard to say, but I don’t think Jessie doubts your sister has had reactions. Maybe my sister should talk to your sister, and we should stay out of it… Love your neighbor, Peggy. ~Katie
These are my all time favorite. I hear they even cure hangovers. Since I’ve been so busy lately what I just do is order mine online. There’s this one Lava Michelada Mix that really tastes amazing. It’s vegan and all natural, I’m talking 0 preservatives! Anyway, here’s a link for all those interested: https://drinklava.com/shop/lava-authentic-michelada-mix-buy-online-near-me/
MSG is a Neuro toxin. Period. It’s not good for anyone, even in moderate amounts. That article was bs.
Great recipe. For those who want to make it even easier and still very authentic, try our prepared Michelada Mix. We just launched a year ago and are trying to bring the Michelada to the Midwest.
use code miche20 for 20% off a bottle of our Michelada Mix. http://www.moondancemichelada.com
Red Beer (or Red Eye) is a no-brainer if you think about it: beer and tomato juice. I often hear people refer to this as a Bloody Mary; a clear misconception, but a common one.
Any beer can be used in this drink, although I would advice using a lighter one that is inexpensive (save the good beer for drinking alone). You can also dress up the flavor in the same way you would a Bloody Mary, by using hot sauce, pepper, celery salt, etc.
Try and enjoy it! You will see wonderful things!
I can’t believe I have never heard of this! My friends and I are huge Bloody Mary fans and this sounds even better to me!
You’ll love it then Marshie! Enjoy!
Fun summer drink!
Cheers Maria, thanks so much for stopping by today!
I will have one this evening, uh I mean late afternoon. Great photos, and love the idea of using my Oaxacan guisano! Thanks for the post.
Ha ha! I love it! 🙂 Have a great afternoon.
that color is gorgeous!
Thank you Anne. Have a great day!
Finally, someone else who’s heard of red beer!! My family has been drinking them for forever. I love them. We do Corona or Miller64 or some other type of light beer, and pour tomato juice right into the bottle, topped with a lime wedge. So refreshing!
Yay! Glad to hear it. Oh, I like the idea of simplifying it and doing the whole thing in the bottle. Come to think of it my husband will often add a few dashes of tabasco to his bottle of Corona.