Smooth, nutty, and slightly sweet with a light creaminess, this Pistachio Martini is the perfect drink for all pistachio lovers. Made with homemade pistachio liqueur (with the option to use store-bought) and tinted lightly green, you can enjoy this cocktail on St. Patrick's Day and all year round.

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Can we all agree that pistachios are one of the most universally loved nuts? Even when I claimed not to like nuts as a child, I still loved pistachio ice cream. And pistachio bread.
These days, I'll eat pistachios by the handful (though, man, they're such a pain to shell!) and incorporate them into veggie side dishes, salads, meals, and desserts.
I've been dreaming of a pistachio martini for a while. But I didn't want it to be artificially flavored. So, I infused vodka with shelled pistachios to make my own pistachio liqueur and turned it into the most exquisite lightly sweet and creamy martini.
Pistachio martinis can be enjoyed at any time, but they're an especially delicious dessert drink and extra festive during the St. Patrick's Day season.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
If you're a fan of all things pistachios, you'll most definitely want this martini in your life.
My version is made with real pistachios so it actually has the genuine nutty flavor instead of being artificial. If you prefer, you can get your liqueur from the liquor store, but I still recommend a real pistachio garnish!
The martini is easy to make and also incredibly simple to customize. You can adjust the ingredients and make the cocktail as sweet or not sweet as you like.
I use a little food coloring to give my pistachio martini a green color tint, but you can also feel free to leave it naturally colored if you prefer.
🗒 Ingredients
You have the option to use store-bought pistachio liqueur or to make your own for this martini. Either way, it's super easy to make; your homemade liqueur will just need a few days to infuse if you're going that route.
Here's everything you need (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Pistachio liqueur: store-bought or using the recipe provided in this post
- Vodka
- Dry vermouth
- Heavy cream
- Simple syrup: optional for adding more sweetness to drink. You can use store-bought syrup or use the recipe provided in the recipe card
And here's what you need if you're making your own pistachio liqueur:
- Shelled unsalted pistachios
- Vodka
- Simple syrup: store-bought syrup or homemade with recipe provided in this post
- Green food coloring: optional, but your liqueur will likely be brown-ish without it
If you're making your own simple syrup, you need:
- Water
- Granulated sugar
💚 How to make homemade pistachio liqueur
You'll want to get started on the pistachio liqueur first since I recommend letting it infuse for at least 2 days. Luckily, it's super simple to make!
Just combine the chopped pistachios and vodka in a jar and seal tightly.
Shake to combine.
And let the mixture sit in a cool, dark spot for at least 48 hours and up to a week to infuse vodka with pistachio flavor.
Give the jar a shake every now and then.
You'll notice the mixture looks a little green-ish, but is more of a brownish yellow.
You could get it a little greener if you really clean up the shelled pistachios and got all of the brown papery skin off. This is super time-consuming if you're shelling the pistachios yourself.
When your liqueur is done infusing, strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove all solid particles.
Stir in simple syrup.
Here's what mine looked like after straining:
And here's what it looked like after adding a couple drops of food coloring (green or a mix of blue and yellow).
You can add food coloring or skip it and let your liqueur have a natural look.
Though many store-bought pistachio liqueurs have cream blended into them, I recommend leaving it out of your homemade version as it will be easier to store and have a longer shelf life.
You can add cream in when you make the martini.
🍸 How to make pistachio martini
Now that you have your homemade liqueur, you're ready to make your pistachio martini!
I highly recommend rimming your martini glasses in crushed pistachios for a fun look. You can use a chilled martini glass if you want.
I brush my martini glass rim with a little simple syrup and then place the glass upside-down on a small plate with crushed pistachios.
Instantly fun glass!
Now, in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, add pistachio liqueur, additional vodka, dry vermouth, and heavy cream.
And shake well to combine.
If using additional simple syrup for a little more sweetness, add it here, too. It all depends on how sweet you like your pistachio martinis. If serving them as dessert drinks, you will likely want to add more.
Pour mixture into prepared martini glass.
And you're ready to take your first sip. I'm so in love with these pistachio martinis
I'm so excited that it's made with real pistachios that you can actually taste with every sip of this drink. But it's also nice and strong as martinis should be, balanced with sweet creaminess.
The light green hue makes them so perfect for St. Patrick's Day, but, of course, there's no wrong time for a perfect pistachio martini.
It's the perfect dessert martini, but since you can control the sweetness, you can certainly drink it before or during dinner, too.
⏲️ How to store pistachio liqueur
I recommend storing the homemade pistachio liqueur in an airtight container like a mason jar and keeping it in a cool, dark place. Because it doesn't have cream in it and has a high alcohol content, it will keep fresh at room temperature.
However, you can also feel free to store it in the fridge if you prefer. A chilled shot of pistachio liqueur is always a delicious idea!
🛒 How to make with store-bought pistachio liqueur
You can follow the same instructions for this creamy cocktail whether you're using homemade or store-bought liqueur.
However, some pistachio liqueurs come with cream in them already, so I recommend skipping the heavy cream addition if yours does.
Some of the store-bought liqueurs are also super sweet, so you will definitely want to taste the martini before adding any additional simple syrup.
🎉 Variations on recipe
I love my simple homemade pistachio martini recipe, but there are so many different ways you could make this drink based on your preferences and the ingredients you have on hand.
Here are some ideas:
- If you don't have dry vermouth, you can skip this ingredient. I like how the slightly bitter herbal flavor balances out the nuttiness and I do think it adds another flavor dimension to the martini, but you'll still have an awesome pistachio martini without it.
- If you don't want a creamy pistachio martini, skip the heavy cream.
- For a dairy-free drink, make this martini with almond milk, coconut milk, or oat milk.
- If this martini is too heavy on the alcohol for you, you can skip adding the additional vodka when you mix the drink up.
- If you want even more nutty flavor in the drink, you can add a little pistachio extract or you can even try almond extract or almond liqueur. Or you can replace the simple syrup with homemade pistachio syrup.
- Vanilla syrup or vanilla extract would help this martini taste like pistachio ice cream!
- Swirl chocolate syrup into the martini or top it with chocolate shavings for even more decadent sweet flavor.
- If you're a fan of espresso martinis, consider adding a shot of espresso to this cocktail.
- Substitute the heavy cream for coconut cream for a unique twist and tropical-like flavor.
- Substitute the heavy cream for Irish cream liqueur to give this drink even more of a festive St. Patrick's Day feel.
- Add a splash of white chocolate liqueur to make this an even sweeter more dessert-like drink.
- For a zest flavor contrast, try adding a lemon twist.
- Instead of using simple syrup to adhere the crushed pistachios to the glass rim, use a spread of pistachio butter.
- Instead of using regular vodka to make the pistachio liqueur, you can try using a base of vanilla vodka for some extra flavor.
- Top the drink with whipped cream for a super fun touch.
👩🍳 More pistachio recipes
If you're also a big pistachio lover, try some of my other sweet and savory recipes featuring the delicious nut!
I'm also really excited to make this pistachio ice cream!
Now that we all know how to make homemade pistachio liqueur, the dessert-like martini and drink options are endless!
I'm almost always going to want to turn it into this old classic, but next up I want to try a pistachio white Russian and a pistachio espresso martini!
What's your favorite drink or food with pistachio?
📖 Recipe

Pistachio Martini
Ingredients
- 2 oz pistachio liqueur (store-bought or recipe below)
- 1 oz vodka
- ½ oz dry vermouth
- ¾ oz heavy cream
- ½-2 oz simple syrup, optional (store-bought or homemade)
Pistachio Liqueur
- 1 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1 cup vodka
- ¼ cup simple syrup (store-bought or homemade with recipe below)
- Green food coloring, optional
Homemade Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- In an ice-filled shaker, add pistachio liqueur, vodka, dry vermouth, and heavy cream and shake well to combine. If using additional simple syrup for a little more sweetness, add it here, too.
- Strain mixture into prepared martini glass.
Pistachio Liqueur
- Combine the chopped pistachios and vodka in a jar and seal tightly. Shake to combine.
- Let mixture sit in a cool, dark spot for at least 48 hours and up to a week to infuse vodka with pistachio flavor. Give the jar a shake every now and then.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove all solid particles. Stir in simple syrup.
- Mixture will likely be more brown than green, so feel free to add a little bit of green food coloring (or blue + yellow) to tint the liqueur green.
Homemade Simple Syrup
- Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.
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