Nothing says summer like Frozen Watermelon Margaritas! With just 4 ingredients, a big batch of these refreshing cocktails comes together quickly, and will be a hit with any crowd on a hot day.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Frozen Watermelon Margarita Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Watermelon Margaritas
- Frozen Watermelon Cocktail Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More of Our Best Summer Cocktail Recipes
- Video
- Frozen Watermelon Margaritas Recipe
This recipe is…
Frozen Watermelon Margaritas are practically synonymous with summer.
Don’t get me wrong: around here, we love classic versions of everyone’s favorite south-of-the-border-inspired cocktail. But it’s fun to mix things up with other versions, from peach and coconut, to a pitcher of sparkling rosé margaritas.
This slushy watermelon marg is equal parts sweet, tangy, and loaded with REAL, fresh watermelon flavor. It’s the perfect drink to make for a BBQ, for sipping poolside, or just for cooling down on your porch or patio after a long day.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Only 4 ingredients
- Takes just a few minutes of prep time (plus a couple hours for the watermelon juice to freeze)
- Easy to make ahead
- The perfect cooling summertime sipper!
Frozen Watermelon Margarita Recipe Ingredients
These margaritas are super simple to make, and only contain 4 ingredients — plus an optional salt garnish for the rim of your glass. Here’s what goes into this frosty concoction. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Fresh Watermelon – Yes, obviously! Watermelon is the star of the show here. This is a fantastic way to use up that giant watermelon sitting on your countertop, or you can go ahead and buy pre-cut cubed watermelon if you’d like (just make sure it’s seedless, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time de-seeding).
- Fresh Lime Juice – Freshly-squeezed lime juice is a MUST for a good margarita. You don’t want to buy that stuff in that little green lime bottle!
- Honey – Honey is our go-to margarita sweetener. It doesn’t alter the flavor or the color of the drink, and it blends up perfectly every time.
- Tequila – For this recipe, I opt for a good-quality silver tequila so it doesn’t overpower the drink too much.
- Coarse Sea Salt – If you are on team salted rim, make sure you have some good-quality coarse sea salt on hand and a few extra lime wedges.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here are a few ways you can customize this cocktail recipe to your liking:
- Make it a mocktail – if you’re avoiding alcohol right now, this would also make a delicious alcohol-free drink.
- Test for sweetness – watermelons can vary a lot in their levels of sweetness, so feel free to add the honey a bit at a time until it’s just right.
- Spice it up – add a hit of heat by adding a little chili powder or chili-lime seasoning to the salt when you garnish the rims of the glasses.
How to Make Watermelon Margaritas
Now that you’ve got all your ingredients, it’s go time! Just a few steps separate you from summer cocktail bliss:
Step 1: Freeze 3 cups of watermelon. This yields a frozen margarita that’s not watered down. To do this, spread 3 cups of watermelon out on a sheet pan, making sure the cubes aren’t touching. Freeze for 2-3 hours, until hardened.
Step 2: Grab a high-powered blender. If you have multiple blending options, this is definitely the time to pull out your strongest option, especially if you froze your watermelon in larger cubes. This will help ensure a smooth, frothy end-result. To make blending easier, you’ll add the remaining 1 cup of fresh (not frozen) watermelon cubes to the blender along with the lime juice and honey and blend until smooth.
Step 3: Next, you’ll add the frozen watermelon and blend again until the watermelon is fully broken down. Finally, you’ll add in the tequila and blend one last time. Give it a taste and add more honey or tequila as desired.
Step 4: Pour your coarse sea salt onto a small plate, then run a lime wedge around the edge of the glass and dunk it in the salt. Pour the watermelon margaritas into the glass then sit back, sip, and relax!
Frozen Watermelon Cocktail Tips
Here are our very best tips for these yummy frozen watermelon margaritas!
- Use a seedless watermelon – although it is possible to pick out every single seed of a watermelon, it is a waste of time, and totally unnecessary! Go with a seedless watermelon to save time and guarantee that you won’t end up with a seed in your drink.
- Use a high-powered blender – pulling out the big guns blender-wise makes ALL of the difference here! It’ll ensure a smooth, delicious, frothy end drink. If you don’t have one of the high-powered types, you can still get pulp-free results by straining the watermelon juice through a fine metal mesh strainer after blending.
- Use coarse sea salt – if you’re planning to salt your rim, be sure to use a coarse sea salt rather than fine. It will really take your margarita to the next level!
How to Serve
Rim your glass, pour, and sip!
How to Store
In the unlikely event that you have leftover margaritas, it’s best to refrigerate it in a lidded jar and drink within a day or two. You’ll want to give the jar a shake before pouring to re-mix the ingredients.
While you *could* pour the mixture back into ice cube trays for a second time, it won’t totally re-freeze once the tequila is added…so that option is much trickier. You’d either want to thaw the cubes, or put them back in the blender with some extra liquids if you go that route.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the smoothest, clearest results (and to save yourself a ton of time!), be sure to buy a seedless watermelon for this recipe.
Here are a few tips to ensure that you pick a good, juicy, ripe seedless watermelon:
Look at the stripes – you’ll want to pick a watermelon with an obvious, consistent stripe pattern. The green stripe should be a dark, deep green color, and the lighter stripe should be a creamy, pale yellow color.
Look for the yellow spot – when watermelons rest on the ground for a long period of time, they form a yellow spot. Look for it! If the watermelon is ripe, this spot should be a pale, creamy yellow color.
Listen to it – tap the watermelon. A ripe watermelon should sound deep and hollow, while a not-quite-ready watermelon will sound solid.
More of Our Best Summer Cocktail Recipes
If you tried this recipe for Frozen Watermelon Margaritas, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Video
Frozen Watermelon Margaritas
Ingredients
Instructions
- Spread 3 cups of watermelon out on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 2 hours, until completely frozen through.
- Add 1 cup fresh watermelon and lime juice to a blender and blend until smooth. Add the frozen watermelon and honey and blend again, then add in the tequila.
- Pour the salt onto a small plate, then cut a small slit in a lime wedge and run it along the edge of your margarita glass. Dip the glass in the salt, then pour the margarita in the glass and enjoy! Keep any remaining margarita in the freezer until you are ready to drink it.
Nutrition
