Frozen margaritas are one of life's loaded indulgences and perfect for balmy nights! Or a winter one if you're pining for summer. And let's call a spade a spade here, they're basically boozy sorbet in a cocktail glass. This frozen margarita recipe is as authentic as it gets, and the method includes tips on how to control the sweetness level to your liking or add fruit if you dare!
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The Story
According to Smithsonian magazine, the frozen margarita was born when a Texas restaurant owner added tequila to a glass full of lime sherbert.
Full stop. That's how it happened. The drink caught on and is now the quintessential poster child for American Tex-Mex dining. So here's how to whip up a frozen margarita at home. Where you can enjoy more than one since there's no driving required.
Win-win. So let's begin.
The Ingredients
This frozen margarita recipe is based on my crowd-pleasing classic margarita recipe served up or on the rocks. The ratios for the liquor are the same, and the ice is about as much as I would fill the glass with before pouring in the shaken cocktail.
- Tequila blanco
- Cointreau
- Fresh-squeezed lime juice or high-quality bottled
- Simple syrup or agave, optional
- Ice
- Salt and lime zest, for rimming the glass
Cointreau is my recommendation for an orange liqueur, as it's the most authentic historically speaking. But use what you have or what you're willing to spend money on. Triple Sec costs a little less, and I've never met a drink with it I didn't like.
Fresh-squeezed lime juice is the ticket to a margarita that makes you go Mmmmm. Bottled varieties are pasteurized and from concentrate, and lack that fresh, zingy punch of flavor fresh juice provides. If you prefer not to labor over limes, look for a bottled brand that is 100% lime juice. Products labeled "limeade" will contain lime juice from concentrate and loads of sugar. Tasty, and often cloying, not what to buy if you're after an authentic margarita.
To make simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool. A good starting point is a cup of each. That will give you about eight drinks worth of sweeter margaritas. More if you use less per drink.
If you want to take your simple syrup up a notch and add more flavor to your cocktails, replace the water with lime, orange, or lemon juice, depending on the syrup's final destination.
Choosing Tequila
A tequila blanco is the bottle to grab if you're trying to replicate chain restaurant frozen margaritas. But a reposado can be fun and packs a richer flavor punch. Fun tequilas to try are Casa Amigos and Teramana. George Clooney or The Rock. What can I say except... you're welcome.
You really can't go wrong with either. For more affordable tequila, reach for a bottle of Espolòn, El Jimador, or Lunazul.
The Method
As with many kitchen pursuits, I won't insult your intelligence by over-complicating how to make a frozen margarita. Everybody in the pool, blend and serve. I do recommend measuring the tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice to get the ratios correct. A balance of flavors is what makes the difference between a mediocre margarita and wanting a second round.
If you happen to plan ahead, place your blender pitcher and the blade (if it's a separate piece) in the freezer. This will slow down the liquifying of the cocktail.
- Measure the tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice into a blender pitcher.
- Add ice.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour into salt-rimmed, stemmed glasses.
- Slurp.
- Repeat Steps 1-5.
The recommendation for stemmed glasses is a bartender's best practice. The blended drink will melt faster from the heat of your hand if it's in an old-fashioned or high ball glass. Even classic wine glasses will work. But if all you have are stemless choices, it's just more motivation to drink up.
Pitcher Margaritas
The method is the same for one or a hundred. And depending on your blender the cocktail may blend smoother with a larger batch. The recipe card below lets you scale up to double or triple the recipe.
The written recipe will give you two frozen margaritas, so double it for a pitcher of four drinks. Fair warning, if you batch a full pitcher of margaritas by tripling the recipe, you're highly likely to drink it all!
The Best Fruit
The best fruit for a frozen margarita is the fruit you enjoy most! But truly, the most popular fruity margarita flavors are such for a good reason. Berries, pineapple, and coconut are all tropical flavors that complement lime and tequila.
And especially if you're a slow sipper, frozen margaritas blended with certain fruit will result in a thicker drink that melts a touch slower. Since the fiber in the fruit acts as an emulsifier or thickener, the drink melts and liquefies more slowly. Who knew cocktails are science in action!
Go Skinny
If you aim for a low-carb diet, are a big paleo fan, or prefer to keep your body in a state of ketosis, you can still enjoy a margarita. Or two. Just ditch the sugar.
It's that simple. You don't need a special recipe for a "skinny margarita". Depending on your daily macronutrient goals, one margarita (or two) won't sabotage your efforts. The Edible Times Husband is living, breathing truth circa the summer of 2020.
One classic drink made using this frozen margarita recipe only contains about seven grams of carbohydrates (7.55 grams to be exact). To achieve an even skinnier margarita, cut back on the orange liqueur, as that's where most of the boozy sugar is hiding. Or you can replace it with a combination of more lime juice and/or fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Homemade Mix
You can make homemade margarita mix in a variety of ways, but many of the methods call for boiling the lime juice and sugar. Which robs your margarita of that fresh-squeezed lime juice spunk. And many of the store-bought offerings are loaded with sugar and well, junk.
To make fresh margarita mix with this recipe, triple the recipe with the 3x button on the recipe card. Then combine the lime juice, Cointreau (or Triple Sec), and simple syrup or agave. If you want a "skinny" margarita mix, leave out the simple syrup or use less than called for in the recipe. Store fresh mix in the refrigerator for three to four days.
For frozen margarita mix, pour the mix into ice cube trays. Standard ice cube trays hold about one ounce in each cube, so this should give you about 27 cubes (enough for three batches of two drinks, six drinks total).
To blend up frozen margaritas with the chilled mix, measure out one cup plus two tablespoons (nine ounces) of the refrigerated mix for two drinks. Add a half of a cup of tequila, and two cups of ice, and blend until smooth.
To whip up margaritas using frozen cubes of the mix, blend nine cubes of the frozen mix with half of a cup of tequila for two drinks. A blended margarita made with the frozen mix will give you a thicker, stronger drink since you eliminate the need for ice. To soften the blow, add the ice called for in the recipe.
Winning, mi amigos.
FAQs
The best preemptive strike against runny frozen margaritas is to start with frozen, or well-chilled ingredients, and only use a cup of ice for every serving. Frozen margarita recipes blended with fruit will result in thicker, more stable drinks that melt slower. The fiber in fruit, especially berries, mango, and coconut, help the cocktail blend up thicker. For best results, use frozen, not fresh fruit.
Traditionally, a tequila blanco is the distilled mezcal of choice. But whatever tequila is your favorite works just fine. The deeper the color of tequila, the richer and more nuanced the flavors. For a smooth tequila that lays low in the background, stick with a decent blanco.
Tipsy Tips
Go easy on the ice. In order to prevent the worst frozen margarita blunder - one that is runny and liquified - err on the side of less ice and ample tequila. A heaping cup of ice is the upper limit for one drink.
Freeze the glasses. My favorite sommelier secret is to chill glasses you plan to use, one final stopgap to help slow what will become a rapidly melting boozy smoothie.
Choose Cointreau over Triple Sec. Cointreau contains more alcohol by volume than Triple Sec. The higher concentration keeps your frozen libation, well, frozen longer.
And that's what we're all after, right? To sip and dream of escaping to an oceanfront pool bar in Cancún or Cabo San Lucas. At least until the kids start screaming or the dog barks to go out.
📖 Recipe
Frozen Margarita Recipe
Presenting a classic and authentic frozen margarita recipe that is perfect for hot summer nights! Snag a whole bag of limes, you can zest the peel for extra zing with salt-rimmed glasses.
To keep the sugars at a minimum, ditch the syrup and replace half or all of the orange liqueur with fresh-squeezed orange juice. To add fruit, replace the correct measure of ice with your favorite tropical fruit or berry.
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: 2 frozen margaritas 1x
Ingredients
- ¼ cup flake salt, kosher or sea salt recommended
- Lime zest, from one or two limes
- 4 ounces or ½ cup or 2 double shots of tequila blanco
- 2 ounces or ¼ cup or 2 shots Cointreau
- 2 ounces or ¼ cup or 2 shots fresh-squeezed lime juice, from two to three limes
- 1 ounce or 2 tablespoons or 1 shot of simple syrup or agave, optional (for sweeter margaritas, add up to 4 tablespoons)
- 2 cups of ice or frozen fruit, such as strawberries, pineapple, mangos or a combination
Instructions
For Lime Salt
- In a small bowl or on a small plate, mix together salt and lime zest.
- Cut one lime into quarters, for rimming glasses.
- To rim glasses, run the flesh-side of a lime wedge around the rim, then dip the top of the glass in the lime salt.
- Store extra lime salt chilled for later use.
For Frozen Margaritas
- If possible, chill your blender pitcher and/or blade a few hours ahead of time.
- Combine the fresh-squeezed lime juice, Cointreau, tequila, simple syrup if using, and ice in a blender.
- Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
- Divide blended margaritas among two salt-rimmed glasses.
Notes
On Ice
Go easy on the ice. In order to prevent the worst frozen margarita blunder - one that is runny and liquified - err on the side of less ice and ample tequila. A heaping cup of ice is the upper limit for one drink.
Freeze Your Glasses
My favorite sommelier secret is to chill glasses you plan to use, one final stopgap to help slow what will become a rapidly melting boozy smoothie.
Homemade Margarita Mix
To make fresh margarita mix with this recipe, triple the recipe with the 3x button on the recipe card. Then combine the lime juice, Cointreau (or Triple Sec), and simple syrup or agave. If you want a "skinny" margarita mix, leave out the simple syrup or use less than called for in the recipe. Store fresh mix in the refrigerator for three to four days. To blend up frozen margaritas with the chilled mix, measure out one cup plus two tablespoons (nine ounces) of the refrigerated mix for two drinks. Add a half of a cup of tequila, and two cups of ice, and blend until smooth.
For frozen margarita mix, pour the mix into ice cube trays. Standard ice cube trays hold about one ounce in each cube, so this should give you about 27 cubes (enough for three batches of two drinks, six drinks total).
Nutrition Information
The Nutrition Information below is based on the recipe above, as written with 1½ ounces of simple syrup. If you leave out the syrup (most of the sugar), the drinks will have significantly fewer carbohydrates and sugars.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 margarita
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 23.5 g
- Sodium: 2.7 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 25.6 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: frozen margarita recipe, frozen margarita, how to make frozen margaritas, homemade margarita mix
S. Randall
The photos look great. Can’t wait for the weekend to try the recipe!
Christina
Thank you! I hope you enjoy.
Randy
Brings back my memories from Cabo! Fresh limes are key!
Christina
You're are absolutely right! Fresh lime juice makes such a difference.