Skinny Margarita Recipe
This Skinny Margarita Recipe combines silver tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and plenty of ice. These classic cocktails contain zero refined sugar and are plenty strong. Rim the glasses with salt and lime wedges, and sip away!
Skinny Ritas
These Skinny Ritas are as good as they look. Actually, better! In fact, I’ll never EVER use that sugary pre-mix again.
The reason that these margaritas are SKINNY is because they contain zero refined sugar. A regular margarita is made with simple syrup or that bottled pre-mix that is full of sugar. With our recipe, you are using high quality tequila and Cointreau, fresh lime juice, and a plant-based sweetener. You won’t miss the sugar.
Head’s up: These are strong. I recommend sipping very slowly. The ice will dilute these cocktails, but they still contain plenty of alcohol.
Why This Recipe Works:
- SIMPLE FOUR-INGREDIENT RECIPE – Just four simple ingredients – silver tequila, cointreau (or triple sec), freshly squeezed lime juice, and agave nectar. PLUS – lots of ice!
- LOWER IN CALORIES – These low-calorie margaritas are sans refined sugar – meaning no simple syrup. Using a cocktail shaker and plenty of ice dilutes the alcohol content and should not be skipped.
- PACKS A PUNCH – These happy hour cocktails are a little stronger than the normal margarita recipe because we’re not using fruit or juice.
- PERFECT PARTY COCKTAIL – We love making these in large batches. Combine the ingredients in a large pitcher and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill. Then pour portions into a cocktail shaker and make a couple of margs as needed. The perfect party drink!
The countdown is on to Cinco de Mayo, and these drinks are definitely making an appearance for a party. Remember to sip slowly, eat plenty, and most importantly, DON’T DRIVE.
Ingredients needed for Classic Skinny Margaritas:
- Tequila – Use a good quality silver tequila (aka blanco tequila), because there is a lot of it in this cocktail!
- Triple Sec – Use Cointreau for best results. Or any orange liqueur like triple sec works as well.
- Lime Juice – Use fresh limes and use a citrus press to squeeze about 6 ounces of juice from the limes. Or use your muscles. You’ll need about six large limes.
- Agave Nectar – A natural sweetener that is derived from the sap of the blue agave plant. While blue agave is primarily associated with the production of tequila, agave syrup is a separate product made by extracting and processing the sweet sap, or “aguamiel,” from the core (piña) of the agave plant.
- Ice Cubes – You’ll need plenty of ice to fill the glasses, and in the cocktail shaker. Dilution of these margs are crucial, because they are quite strong.
- Plus use coarse salt or kosher salt to rim the glasses, if desired.
How to make Skinny Margaritas on the Rocks:
Step 1
Prep a salt rim. Prepare your margarita glasses by running a lime wedge around the rims of the glasses. Dip the glasses in a small plate of salt. Fill your glasses about halfway with ice.
Step 2
Squeeze limes. Use a citrus press to squeeze enough limes to equal about six ounces of juice. You’ll need about six large limes.
Step 3
Add ingredients to cocktail shaker. Add a bunch of ice to a large cocktail shaker. Add the lime juice, silver tequila, Cointreau, and agave. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds..
NOTE: You may need to do this step in batches, depending on how many drinks you are making and how large your cocktail shaker is.
Step 4
Pour. Pour the cold skinny margs into prepared glasses. Add a lime slice to the skinny cocktails, and sip and enjoy!
What to serve with Skinny Margaritas:
We love Taco Tuesdays plus a good margarita. The following Mexican recipes are a must-make to pari with the best skinny margarita.
- Chunky Guacamole – A super easy 5-ingredient recipe, that is just the right amount of spicy.
- Crazy Good Corn Dip – A family recipe that we just can’t get enough of!
- Pepper Jack Queso – You can never go wrong with queso. Just sayin.
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers – These are a very popular appetizer on the blog, and for good reason!
Recipe FAQs:
Skinny Margaritas are often considered healthier because they are made without refined sugar. The sweetness of these margaritas comes from agave nectar, providing a more natural alternative than simple syrup.
Yes, you can adjust the proportions of tequila and Cointreau to suit your preferences.
You can scale up the recipe and prepare a pitcher of Skinny Margaritas a large party beverage.
We enjoy rimming the glasses with salt to enhance the cocktails. The salty rim is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the drink, creating a balanced flavor profile.
To further reduce calories, consider using a lower-calorie tequila or cutting back the amount of agave nectar. Additionally, try opting for smaller serving sizes.
Add the liquid ingredients to a large blender. Add several cups of ice and blend to thicken.
Try adding fresh orange juice in addition to fresh lime juice for something a little different. Still the same refreshing flavor with low sugar content..
Other Margarita Recipes:
In addition to traditional margaritas, we enjoy these delicious recipes too.
Kitchen Tools needed:
- Citrus Press – This press comes in handy in many of my recipes.
- Margarita Glasses – These are perfect for large servings!
- Cocktail Shaker – Needed to make the margs cold and dilute them slightly. You could also use a mason jar.
xoxo ~Sue
Skinny Margarita Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. silver tequila – good quality
- 4 oz. Cointreau – or triple sec
- 6 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice (approx 6 limes) – NOT OPTIONAL
- 2 Tablespoons agave syrup – optional
- lots of ice
- kosher salt for rim of glass
- extra lime slices for serving
Instructions
- Prep a salt rim. Prepare your margarita glasses by running a lime wedge around the rims of the glasses. Dip the glasses in a small plate of salt. Fill your glasses about halfway with ice.
- Squeeze limes. Use a citrus press to squeeze enough limes to equal about six ounces of juice. You'll need about six large limes.
- Add ingredients to cocktail shaker. Add a bunch of ice to a large cocktail shaker. Add the lime juice, silver tequila, Cointreau, and agave. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds.NOTE: You may need to do this step in batches, depending on how many drinks you are making and how large your cocktail shaker is.
- Pour. Pour the cold skinny margs into prepared glasses. Add a lime slice to the skinny cocktails, and sip and enjoy!
Notes
- You can scale up the recipe and prepare a pitcher of Skinny Margaritas a large party beverage.
- To make these into frozen margaritas, add the liquid ingredients to a large blender. Add several cups of ice and blend to thicken.
- To further reduce calories, consider using a lower-calorie tequila or cutting back the amount of agave nectar. Additionally, try opting for smaller serving sizes.
Love this recipe! Great margarita without all of the sugar and I was thankful for a non-oj recipe. This will be a go to mix going forward!
We love this one too, Matt!
Whoa! I made a batch as directed above for my wife who routinely drinks a commercial light marg mix. She loved them – I had a short half glass taste and got one that does not like skinny Rita’s, these were wonderful. No question, they are strong- as mentioned above, get chores done first as you definitely will want to relax a while after having these. Thanks for this tasty recipe.
Make sure you have your chores done before you sit down to have one of these! Lol! They are pretty strong and I usually don’t get anything else done after I have had one. 🙂 Great way to end a hot summer day!
Haha! They are on the strong side. Be careful! 🙂
Warning: These margaritas may be low on sugar but they pack a punch! They have a sour lime finish (that I love). Easy to drink, so take it easy 🙂
I hear ya on this! Strong but delish!
Please take a look at you serving size yield vs the actual directions. The actual directions indicate it’s for 4 small glasses or 2 large glasses. However, that doesn’t match up with the yield. So I changed the size to 2 servings but it still apparently gave me the directions for 4 servings and the results were excessively strong drinks.
Yes, these are strong margaritas. Did you add lots of ice to the cocktail shaker? This helps dilute it somewhat.
Making theses again tonight to celebrate Katy’s birthday! Love that they don’t have any added sugar – that means I can have extra cake & ice cream! 🙂 These are very refreshing on a hot summer Texas afternoon!
Yay! Happy Birthday to Katy! Thanks for your feedback, Cathy. 🙂
How much triple sec??!
4 ounces of triple sec (orange liqueur).
My kind of recipe! Let’s get this party started…..
YUM, YUM, YUM!!!
I can’t wait to make them again!! 🙂