Dirty Vodka Martini
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Traditional dirty vodka martini. Shaken and served up with stuffed green olives. The dirty martini has to be one of the best cocktails ever, and this recipe will help you make the perfect one, every single time.
A dirty vodka martini helped me realize one thing. Turns out I must officially be a grown-up … because I always thought you had to be one to enjoy drinks like Dirty Vodka Martinis.
Remember the old shows like I Love Lucy and Bewitched? How Ricky and Darren would come home to a fresh martini cocktail at the end of the day?
It just seemed so grown up and sophisticated!
For me, it was sort of the same thing as blue cheese. It was never my favorite, then all of the sudden, like overnight, I loved it. A dirty martini with hand stuffed bleu cheese olives — that’s when a martini is truly perfect in my world.
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My Favorite Dirty Martini
I have always loved olives, of any kind, and the idea of a dirty martini just sounded good. It wasn’t until I had a good one that I was hooked.
A great dirty martini relies on the quality of its very simple ingredients. Your olives, the vodka, and the vermouth. If you shop quality in these departments then you already have gone more than halfway to a perfect dirty martini.
Great Vodka For Dirty Martinis
It helps to know a bit about your vodka if you want to make a great martini of any sort. We can get into gin martinis another time because that is a whole other topic. But, for vodka martinis, just like gin, the quality of the alcohol makes a big difference.
This is a cocktail where you are meant to taste the alcohol, not bury it. Use cheap booze in some sort of sugary and syrupy mixer meant to hide it. For cocktails like dirty martinis, you want to taste the spirit, not conceal it.
These days, there are so many varieties of vodka to choose from. There are great domestic vodkas and of course the ever popular Russian, Polish, Swedish and French vodkas.
Let’s just say it isn’t hard finding a good vodka. The hard part is picking one among so many!
Vodkas I Like For Dirty Martinis
The quality of vodka is defined in a few ways. First, the amount of “Heat” it has is important. A good clean vodka doesn’t feel like it is burning your tongue. A good clean taste that is smooth and doesn’t burn your tongue is preferable.
Next, the type of water and the type of grain, vegetable, or even fruit makes a difference. The best vodkas are made from specific wheat grain. However, there are perfectly good vodkas made from potatoes, grapes, and even beets.
Here are some I can personally recommend:
- Grey Goose – French vodka
- Stoli – Often ranked as the best Russian vodka
- Square One – a great domestic vodka
Types Of Olives For Dirty Vodka Martinis
I use the bigger Spanish Queen pimento-stuffed olives. The smaller manzanilla olives are a good stand by, if you can’t find the big Spanish ones. If you are feeling extra daring and want to really dirty things up, remove that pimento, and hand-stuff some bleu cheese into those Spanish olives!
Give an extra little splash of the olive juice to the top of your martini if you like it extra “dirty”.
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I always chill my glasses before I make them. Fill them with ice and cold water, and let them sit while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
For me, it’s Grey Goose Vodka, some vermouth, olives and olive juice, plus a martini shaker with ice. I love when you shake them just right and there are little ice chips in the glass!
Other Martini Recipes We Love:
- Citrus Basil Martini
- Dreamsicle Martini
- French Martini
- Pink Pussycat Martini
- Sakitini Martini
- Espresso Martini
- Bikini Martini
- Rosemary Infused Cranberry Bourbon Martini
- Grapefruit Martini
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My Dirty Martini Recipe
We have been making them at home for a while now, and this is the dirty martini recipe we rely on.
Cheers to you and your equally sophisticated taste in martinis! Enjoy! 
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Dirty Vodka Martini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 ounces of good Vodka we use Grey Goose
- 1/2 ounce dry Vermouth
- 1 ounce green olive juice brine
- 2-3 large stuffed green olives
- ice
Instructions
- Add ice cubes and cold water to a martini glass to chill glass.
- Add vodka, vermouth and olive juice into a martini shaker, add ice and shake to chill.
- Drain water from martini glass and strain martini from shaker into the glass.
- Add olives and serve.
- Also fabulous with bleu cheese stuffed olives!
Nutrition
I feel like I’m a pro at making dirty vodka martinis now thanks to this post!
Now I simply must try stuffing blue cheese into my olives and have some extra dirty martinis. You know, for being extra grown-up. 😀
Game changer!!! Why better than the jarred ones!
My FAVORITE!! I am happy that you loved them too!
Great post! Your pictures are so classy and elegant!
This recipe makes the perfect dirty martini every time! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe~
I sent this recipe to a friend and she absolutely loved it! Thanks for sharing.
You are so right that good ingredients make a great drink and this version looks amazing!
This is perfect for the upcoming holidays parties. Such a classic drink option.
I love a good martini and this recipe turned out great! The tip to add blue cheese stuffed olives really put it over the top! 🙂
Oooh, this cocktail looks like the perfect one to make on a holiday evening. It is certainly pretty rare to spot. I like failproof recipes, and this one certainly looks like one.
I loved watching Bewitched growing up – what a great tribute to some fabulous shows!!
This was the first martini I EVER tried, I used vermouth & gin but threw in an olive brine that was made with chili’s and lemon, I’m not quite adult enough at 60 to try the blue cheese….never got there, maybe a few years down the road…..maybe brave enough to stuff 5he olives with it next time, THIS turned me into a martini drinker! Yum!!! No wonder the old timers used to have their afternoon /evening martini…..thank you! ???
Cheers, Kim! I am all about that age-old tradition of the martini!! Happy you found a cocktail to enjoy!
Does one martini really have 841 calories?
Lisa — I don’t always trust the nutrition calculator. (That’s why I have the disclaimer on there that says not guaranteed accurate) That being said — I looked up the items separately on my own to find that there are a lot of things that will vary the calories – the type of vodka, the proof of the vodka, the kind of olives (if they are stuffed with bleu cheese or not) These are not small martinis either. They have 6 ounces of vodka, and Grey Goose is 69 calories. So the vodka is 414 calories. The addition of regular stuffed olives, brine and vermouth all probably equal another 100-120 calories. So I am guessing it’s more like 550 calories or so. I hope this helps.
Loved these! Made them last night for my hubby and I to celebrate our son’s grad party during a pandemic being done! They were so delicious!
Cheers, Kathleen!! Congrats to your son!
I really want one now!!! Have never had a vodka martini before but I am salivating at the thought, no idea why……………
I tried over a dozen different Vodka Dirty Martini recipes I found online and yours is hands-down the best! Nice job!
Michael – THANK YOU so much!! We love them, too!
Do you know how much of each liquor you use? Please & Thank you
The measurements are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Good Lord! I had to scroll for 5 minutes to find the recipe! Ridiculous!
Before you get nasty, Tammy, — you apparently missed the “JUMP TO RECIPE” button at the top of the page that would have taken you right to it.
OMGoodness! I’ve made martinis forever as they are my favorite cocktail. This is by far the best recipe that I’ve ever used!!!! I added a little bit more olive juice to make it Filthy. It is so delicious! Thank you! You’re a Genius!!
Is there a favorite brand of Vermouth that you use? You elaborated on the Vodka’s but Martini and Rossi can’t be the only vermouth out there. Also there are sweet and dry Vermouth’s, dry makes the best martini, imo.
100% use a dry Vermouth. I never seem to have much of a selection of Vermouth, so that is what I always reach for. There is such a small amount in the drink itself, so it’s never bothered me. I have had martinis where they use too much, and Yuck!! That will ruin one for sure!
I want to try to make these but is this recipe really for one martini? 6 oz. seems like A LOT of vodka for one drink 😳😊.
It makes a BIG martini! I cut in half for a smaller glass! 🙂
Great article. I have to say Tito’s is my favorite vodka. I like it better than grey goose. Just an opinion. Always drank grey goose till I tried Tito’s.
I enjoy Titos too! OF course you can use whatever you like for this recipe! 🙂