Strawberry Margarita
Tequila, lime, orange liqueur and fresh strawberries, blended with ice. The Margarita that sells by the pitcher — and tastes of fruit rather than syrup when you use real berries.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Rim a margarita glass with sugar or salt if you like, and put it in the freezer.
Add the tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, agave syrup and strawberries to a blender with about a cup of ice.
Blend until smooth and thick, then taste and adjust with syrup or lime.
Pour into the frozen glass and garnish with a strawberry.
A thoughtful finish
- Ripe, red, fragrant berries or nothing. The drink has no way to hide an unripe strawberry.
- Keep the lime at a full ounce. Strawberries and orange liqueur both bring sugar; the lime is what keeps it a Margarita.
- A salt rim is not wrong here — salt and strawberry are a good pair — but sugar is the crowd's choice.
Common mistakes
- Strawberry syrup or purée from a bottle. It is the difference between a drink and a dessert.
- Too much orange liqueur. Half an ounce is enough against fruit.
- Blending to a thin soup. Stop while it still holds its shape in the glass.
A few good questions.
Can I make it on the rocks?
Yes: muddle three or four berries in the shaker, shake with the rest, and double strain over ice. It is drier and some prefer it.
Fresh or frozen strawberries?
Both work. Frozen berries thicken the drink and need less ice; fresh ripe ones taste brighter.
Sugar rim or salt?
Either. Salt suits the tequila and lime; sugar suits the fruit. Half a rim lets the drinker choose.
What other fruit works?
Mango, peach, raspberry, watermelon and blood orange all blend well in the same proportions. Adjust the sweetener to the fruit.
Variations
- Frozen Margarita — Without the fruit.
- Margarita — The classic, shaken.
- Strawberry Daiquiri — Rum in place of tequila.
- Blood Orange Margarita — With blood orange juice.
Where it comes from
c. 1970s · Texas and the American Southwest
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
Once the frozen Margarita machine made the slush version a chain-restaurant fixture in the 1970s, flavoured versions were inevitable, and strawberry — cheap, red and sweet — led them. There is no inventor; the drink appears across Tex-Mex restaurant menus by the end of the decade, usually made from a strawberry purée or syrup, and the home-blender version with fresh fruit followed. It remains the most-ordered flavoured Margarita in the United States, and the gap between the restaurant version and one made with ripe berries is enormous.
Sources
- Texas Monthly, 'The Frozen Margarita Machine Turns 50', 2021 (article)
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
- Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, 2016 (book)
Strength. About 1.67 US standard drinks at an estimated 9.6% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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