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Want to know how to make margaritas at home? This is the BEST simple margarita recipe! It’s an easy, 3 ingredient margarita with basic ingredients. Perfect with a plate of nachos!
Just in time for Cinco de Mayo!
Do you guys usually celebrate on May the 5th? We have attended a few parties in the past but we don’t usually do anything too exciting on Cinco de Mayo. I do make an effort to at least serve Mexican though 😉 This year we’re having burritos and – you guessed it – a simple margarita!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the frosty, flavored, exotic margaritas when we go out to eat at a Mexican restaurant, but these are often loaded up with sugar and are more about the syrup they’re adding than the actual tequila. And I am a tequila girl! Let’s clarify. Not a crazy spring-break tequila body shot, tequila girl BUT, a girl who enjoys the smooth flavor of a good quality tequila, and a girl who chooses a tequila shot if I MUST choose a shot 😉
If I’m going to order a cocktail, it’s more often than not a margarita or a mojito. Simple, refreshing and delicious!
What goes into a classic margarita?
Before there were spicy jalapeno margaritas, there was the simple margarita, composed of three ingredients:
- Tequila: you want a good quality tequila if you’re not adding any other sweeteners or jazzy things to the recipe. Etienne loves Casamigos, and I love it because it’s George Clooney’s brand…and I love George Clooney. You would preferably use a silver tequila, but it’s not a necessity. I didn’t use it here!
- Cointreau: you can also use Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, but you want to use a good quality orange liqueur (again, GOOD quality is the key here).
- Lime! Pretty self-explanatory, but please, please use fresh lime juice. The bottled stuff just isn’t the same!
A few other notes to make sure you get the best results:
- Salt your rim! Use a lime slice to wet the rim of a short glass, then dip the glass upside down in some coarse sea salt. That saltiness when you take a drink of margarita is a must!!
- Use a cocktail shaker, full of ice to mix all of the ingredients, before pouring it into your rimmed glass. The cocktail shaker will get the drink nice and cold before you strain it into a glass.
- All of the ice! A perfect, simple margarita is nice and cold, so fill your glass with ice after pouring your drink. The bigger ice cubes the better, so they only keep the drink cold and not melt right away!
Can you make the margarita sweeter?
Truthfully, I like these just as they are, but if you like your margs a bit sweeter, you can add a touch of agave syrup or simple syrup to your drink to sweeten it up a bit! I would keep it to half an ounce or so.
You could also switch out the Cointreau for orange juice. It’s got a touch more sweetness and it’s so fresh and delicious!
Trust me, these simple margaritas are so good just as they are. Etienne had one too many the night I perfected this recipe 😉 (Hopefully he doesn’t read how I’m ratting him out, haha).
What can I serve simple margaritas with?
Obviously, Mexican food comes straight to mind, such as:
Margaritas are also great with some of these other appetizers and snacks:
Whatever you serve these juicy drinks up with, it’ll be a good choice! Once you make one you’ll realize just how easy they are!
Cheers!
Oh, and May the 4th be with you 🙂
Some other cocktails from the blog:
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Simple Margarita
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cocktail 1x
Description
Want to know how to make margaritas at home? This is the BEST simple margarita recipe! It’s an easy, 3 ingredient margarita with basic ingredients.
Ingredients
- 2 oz good quality tequila*
- 1 oz Cointreau (sub Triple Sec or Grand Marnier)
- 1 oz fresh lime juice (~lime)**
- salt, for the rim of the glass
- ice
- optional: 1/2 oz agave syrup or simple syrup, to sweeten up
Instructions
- Use a wedge of lime to moisten the rim of a short cocktail glass and place the glass onto a small plate filled with sea salt, lining the edge with salt.
- In a cocktail shaker with 3 cubes of ice, add the tequila, Cointreau, and fresh lime juice. If using syrup, add it to the shaker! Now shake it baby! For about 10-15 seconds or until the shaker feels very cold. Strain out the cocktail from the shaker into the salt-rimmed glass. Top with large cubes of ice, and a wedge or lime. Serve immediately!
Notes
*Use a good quality tequila! Since we’re not adding any other sweeteners, you’ll want a smooth, great quality brand of tequila. We like Casamigos.
**In a pinch, you can use the bottled lime juice, but trust me when I saw fresh lime juice is 10x better!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: cocktails
- Cuisine: mexican
Why does this look so good to me at 9:16 a.m.? 🙂 Seriously drooling how beautiful 3 ingredients can be! Pinned! xo
Haha, nothing wrong with that in my opinion, Kim!! Thank you my friend!
I’m alllll about a simple margarita. I can’t stand the ones loaded with sugar because I like the tequila to shine :). This is perfection!
I know exactly what you mean, Kelsie! Etienne feels the exact same. He doesn’t understand the fruity, sugary ones! Thanks lady!
I love how simple this is!! Because after a few margaritas, I might forget anything more than three ingredients hahaha.
Hahaha, that’s too funny! After pouring a few of these the other day we just stopped measuring haha!
This looks like the perfect margarita, so refreshing and beautifully made!! And I’m with Kim– I could absolutely get into one of these right now with my breakfast!! 😉
Why not, right!? Thank you Catherine!! It’s so refreshing!
In my previous life, I tasted so many versions while rumbling around USA …. LOL but never got a recipe 🙁 Thank you dear for this one ! Now, I will make some home rumbling …
Haha, I’m glad you got well acquainted with the margarita during your time to the US. Now you can try your very own version!
Just in time for sure Katherine! Can’t beat a simple margarita for Cinco de Mayo. Cheers!
You really can’t! All that’s missing is the beach and a pile of nachos!
That simple margarita sounds so easy to make! And the ingredients are so few. Thanks for sharing this one!
Thank you Christie! It’s a classic for sure 🙂
This is exactly how I love my margaritas — classic, on the rocks and with Cointreau! All I need is a couple of these and a big plate of nachos and I’d be one happy lady!
YES! Cointreau is a must for me too. And the nachos 😉 We might as well throw in the beach too, haha!
This chilled glass looks so inviting and with 3 ingredients found in the kitchen, it is perfect for a blistering day. Thanks Katherine for sharing such a simple yet refreshing and achievable recipe.
I completely agree!! It is so refreshing, we’re big fans!! Thank you so much 🙂
Cheers to this delicious drink!! 🙂 One of the very best cocktails of all time!
I completely agree, Alex!! It’s never a bad time for a margarita! 🙂