Try our Cinco favorite recipes!
Everyone knows that the key ingredient of any Cinco de Mayo fiesta is the margarita. While you might not be able to order ‘ritas from your favorite Mexican restaurants in town just yet, you can try your hand behind the bar in crafting one of your own.
We’ve created here a shortlist of 5 easy and delicious margarita recipes for you to make at home so that come Cinco de Mayo, you have the bebidas you need to get you in the spirit of celebration!
Simple Syrup
Some of these margarita recipes call for a sweetener. While you can vary your sweetener depending on the flavor of margarita, one solid go-to sweetener is the simple syrup.
The process is very simple, hence the name.
However, if you do make some mistakes: say — just for example — you pour the simple syrup into a faulty tupperware with a crack in the bottom, and that syrup leaks through the crack onto your Macbook on the counter, and now your Macbook tracker is busted and your entire kitchen is sticky no matter how many cleaning products you use or how many times you wash it…
Well — just be sure to take discretion when containing/bottling your simple syrup concoction so that doesn’t happen.
Okay, oddly specific enough? Here’s how to do it:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
Method:
- Add sugar and water into a sauce pan
- Simmer on low heat until sugar is completely dissolved
- Pour concoction CAREFULLY into a container; save for later
1. Classic Margarita
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup Tequila
- 2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1 tbsp & 1 1/2 tsp agave nectar (or 1 tbsp simple syrup)
- 1 tbsp & 1 1/2 tsp cold water
- Lime, sliced into wheels or wedges
- 3 tbsp salt
Method:
- Pour tequila, lime juice, agave nectar, and cold water into a shaker and shake like you mean it.
- If you want salt on the rim, moisten the rim of a glass with lime wedge and dip into a dish of kosher salt, rolling the glass on its edge
- Pour shaken mixture into that glass and garnish with lime wheel
2. Frozen Strawberry Margarita
Ingredients:
- 500 ml ice (crushed)
- 120 ml of frozen strawberry puree
- 250 ml of tequila
- 2 fresh-squeezed lime juice
- Splash of Triple Sec
- Splash of simple syrup
- Lime (sliced into wheels for garnish)
Method:
- Pour ingredients into a blender
- Puree until smooth
- Share between four glasses
- Garnish with lime wheels
3. Jalapeño Margarita
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup tequila
- 1/4 — 1/2 jalapeño pepper (sliced)
- 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Coitreau, Triple Sec, or Grand Marnier)
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cup simple-syrup, agave nectar, or fresh-squeezed orange juice
- Splash of cold sparkling water
- Ice
Method:
- Pour tequila into a small pitcher with the slices of jalapeño pepper
- Set aside for 15 minutes at room temperature; set aside longer for a spicier ‘rita
- Mix the jalapeño-soaked tequila with the orange liqueur of your choosing, along lime juice, and sweetener; add more slices of jalapeño if the spiciness isn’t to your liking
- Garnish with lime wheels
4. Beer ‘Rita
Ingredients:
- 12 oz tequila
- 12 oz Sprite
- 12 oz light Mexican beer (Corona is on sale)
- 12 oz frozen limeade
- Limes
- Ice
Method:
- Mix and stir Sprite, Mexican beer, and frozen limeade in a pitcher until frozen limeade is broken up
- Add tequila and stir
- Pour mixture into a glass filled with ice
- Garnish with lime wheel or wedge
5. Blood Orange Margaritas
Ingredients:
- 2 oz tequila
- 1 blood orange (freshly squeezed)
- 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- Limes
- Ice
Method:
- Mix sugar and salt on a small plate
- Wet the rim of your glass with a lime wedge
- Roll the outside rim of your glass in the mixture from side to side
- Fill glass with ice
- Mix tequila, blood orange juice, lime juice, and agave nectar in a shaker filled with ice for 30 seconds
- Strain into glass
- Garnish with slice of blood orange or lime
[Featured image: @taiscaptures via unsplash]