Margarita Recipe
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Margaritas are a staple for Taco Tuesday, any time you’re serving delicious Mexican food – or literally anytime. This classic margarita recipe is made with only three simple ingredients and ALWAYS gets five stars from friends!
The margarita is something everyone should know how to make – they’re easy but also classy and impressive. This is a simple three ingredient margarita recipe that is commonly used in Mexico. And for good reason – it’s delicious. The key is to use high quality ingredients!
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Prepare this classic margarita recipe along with some delicious pork tacos and mango salsa. And make sure to check out our other margarita recipes: Mango Margarita Recipe, Pineapple Margarita, Grapefruit Margarita.
Classic Margarita Recipe
What is a Margarita
A margarita is a popular Mexican cocktail made with tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juice. It is often served with salt on the rim of the glass and garnished with lime wedges.
The classic margarita only contains these three ingredients, but there are many fun and sweetened variations. Margaritas are served either on the rocks (over ice) or frozen (blended with ice).
Margarita Ingredients
- Lime juice – It’s important to use fresh squeezed lime juice from a very ripe lime. Bottled lime juice doesn’t maintain the same quality of flavor as fresh squeezed and with so few ingredients, it’s important to make sure they all taste fantastic. Fun fact – Margaritas made in the US are typically made with Persian limes while margaritas made in Mexico are usually made key limes.
- Tequila – The best tequila for margaritas is a silver or blanco tequila that has not been aged more than a couple months. Gold tequilas have been aged longer in oak barrels which gives them a oaky flavor and caramel color.
- Grand Marnier – Grand Marnier is an orange-flavored cognac liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. Sometimes folks will use Cointreau or Triple Sec instead of Grand Marnier.
- Agave syrup – If you like a sweeter cocktail, you can add some agave syrup, or simple syrup. I strongly suggest trying the drink first without the added sweetener though, as truly these are delicious on their own.
- Garnishes – Is it even a margarita if you don’t salt the rim? I am a big fan of course kosher salt for our margaritas, but if you like a fine or powdery salt garnish, toss your kosher salt in the food processor for a minute first!
How Do You Make a Margarita (Step-by-step)
Margarita on the Rocks
- Swipe glass rim with a lime wedge and roll the outside in salt.
- Fill glass with ice, then lime juice, Grand Marnier, then tequila. Stir gently.
Frozen Margarita
- Swipe glass rim with a lime wedge and roll the outside in salt.
- Add ice, lime juice, Grand Marnier, and tequila to blender.
- Blend to desired consistency and pour into glass.
Margaritas Inspired by Princess Cruises
It’s become a tradition that the first thing we do when boarding a cruise is head to the lido deck and order a grilled chicken sandwich and a margarita. (Tip – the fancy glasses are fun, but if you’re a little bit clumsy like me, just ask for a regular glass!).
The chicken sandwich + margz tradition has now gotten so much better since on Princess cruises with Ocean Medallion, we can find a seat and have the drinks and food delivered right to us! We had the great pleasure of sailing on the Caribbean Princess and being spoiled with all the amazing Ocean Medallion features.
Ocean Medallion ships have super quick embarkation and disembarkation (if it took ten minutes, I’d be surprised), amazing wifi (we could Facetime our kids and stream Netflix it was so good!), no more key cards (just a cute medallion you can wear on a lanyard, around your wrist, as a necklace, or clipped to your clothes), interactive gaming throughout the ship, location services for finding your party and for staff finding you (hello food and drinks!), and so many other awesome perks.
★ If you’re heading out on a cruise soon, be sure to check out our super comprehensive CRUISE PACKING LIST (with links to all our favorite items and a free printable checklist!). ★
How Do You Make a Pitcher of Margaritas
We typically consider a pitcher to be 8 servings. Each margarita is about 1/2 cup per serving. That may seem small, but these pack a punch and are meant for sipping!
To make a pitcher, multiply each ingredient by eight (exact measurements provided below). Fill pitcher with ice, add lime juice, Grand Marnier, then tequila. Stir well.
★ More summer cocktails to help you survive the heat! ★
Can You Make Margaritas Ahead of Time
You can make our classic margarita recipe ahead of time, but make sure not to add the ice until immediately before serving (or it will melt and water down the drink). Store prepared cocktails in a sealed container in the refrigerated for up to two days.
What Type of Limes for a Margarita
In the United States, Persian limes are most widely available and therefore what we typically use in our margarita recipes. However, in Mexico you’ll often find them made with key limes.
Key limes are a much smaller fruit with a thinner skin and tend to be more tart. They are famous for the southern delicacy, key lime pie.
How Do You Make a Spicy Margarita
To make a spicy margarita, muddle a thin slice of jalapeno at the bottom of the glass before pouring in your juice and liquor. Make sure to stir well.
I first had a delicious spicy margarita on a trip to New York City last year and definitely made sure to try it again on our Princess cruise!
Tips and Tricks
★ Don’t forget to strain the seeds out of your juice!
★ Try different types of salt and sugar on the rim of your drink – we had the most amazing cocktail on our Princess cruise that was garnished with a smoked salt. On our mango margarita recipe I like to use a chili lime salt, and sometimes I just like to be silly with colorful sprinkles or edible glitter.
★ When garnishing the rim of your glasses make sure to roll the outside of the glass versus dipping it to avoid getting the garnish into the drink itself. We want a hint of salt, not a mouthful of salt water.
What to Serve with Margaritas
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
More Recipes with Lime
Tools we love
- Glass pitcher – Everyone needs a gorgeous glass pitcher! Perfect for water on the weekdays and cocktails on the weekends!
- Stemless wine glasses – I am a huge fan of stemless wine glasses for cocktails as they’re much less likely to tip over. Read = I am clumsy.
- Upright blender – Frozen drinks deserve a good blender. Make sure you use one that can blend ice easily.
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How to Make a Margarita
Margarita
Ingredients
BY THE GLASS (single serving)
- 2 ounces fresh lime juice
- 1 ounce Grand Marnier
- 1 ounce tequila
- Optional: 1 ounce agave syrup
- Garnish: kosher salt lime wedges
BY THE PITCHER (makes 8 servings)
- 2 cups fresh lime juice
- 1 cup Grand Marnier
- 1 cup tequila
- Optional: 1 cup agave syrup
- Garnish: kosher salt lime wedges
Instructions
BY THE GLASS
- Swipe glass rim with a lime wedge and roll the outside in kosher salt. (Be sure not to dip or you will end up with salt on the interior of the glass.)
- Fill glass with ice, add lime juice, Grand Marnier, then tequila. Stir gently.
- Optional, sweeten with agave syrup.
- Garnish and enjoy!
For Frozen Margarita
- Add 1 cup of ice, lime juice, Grand Marnier, and tequila to blender (plus optional agave syrup). Blend to desired consistency.
BY THE PITCHER
- Fill pitcher with ice, add lime juice, Grand Marnier, then tequila. Stir well.
- Optional, sweeten with agave syrup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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★ See where we cruised! Grand Cayman Island, Roatan Honduras, Belize City, and Cozumel! ★
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This is an excellent article. Great photos, as usual, and accurate, informative content. You might want to change your mention of course Kosher salt to coarse Kosher salt.
I also suggest that you add a strongly worded caution about using alternatives for the great Grand Marnier. There is no satisfactory substitution, IMO! If you do not specify that you want your margarita made with it, your bartender may attempt to serve you from a pre-mixed batch, made from a mix, and it will be disappointing, even on a cruise ship!
I agree with your comment/suggestion regarding the use of silver tequila to make your margarita, and avoiding the gold tequila, however, not all silver tequila tastes the same. and a few are not meant for blending with orange liqueur. Patron is a brand that comes to mind. If your margarita tastes (and smells) grassy or woodsy, it is because the tequila is a poor match for the liqueur. Don’t be shy! Ask for another, made with a different tequila, and specify that you want only the Grand Marnier as your orange liqueur. Most cruise ship bars will (or should) carry several brands of silver tequila..
About the margarita glass! Sipping a perfectly constructed margarita. out of anything other than a classic margarita glass. should give you cause to complain to Management. The margarita glass is a big part of the fun. Its size and shape practically requires you to sip slowly, and its great rim readily accepts the perfect amount of salt, whether that salt be the humble coarse Kosher salt, or one of the many specialty salts. The “smoked salt” that you mentioned is a great choice, so is a chili lime salt. I don’t know about the sprinkles, however!
Thanks for sharing this information with us.. . . . .
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Thanks for the great recipe!
Yum yum yummmmm! Loved it!
Your recipes are awesome, thanks! This one was a big hit at our party. We made 3 pitchers and they were gone in a flash!