This Frozen Cherry Margarita Recipe ticks all the boxes: sweet, salty, tart, ice-cold, and boozy. Perfect for happy hour on a hot day, or Cinco de Mayo, these homemade cocktails only take 5 minutes to throw together. Garnish with a honey & pink Himalayan salt rim for some extra dazzle!
This post was originally published on May 4th, 2020.
Well. If tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and it just happens to fall on Taco Tuesday, today must be Margarita Monday!
That’s the cheesiest thing I’ll ever say on this blog. Mark my words.
Anyway! Is there anything better than an ice cold, frozen margarita on a hot day? A marg on the rocks is fine, but there’s just nothing like a frozen, sweet, salty, limey margarita, especially with sweet dark cherries. It’s a great twist on the classic cocktail my new favorite flavor. This fresh cherry margarita is an adult slushy, and it does make you feel like a kid again!
❤️ Why you will love these Dark Cherry Frozen Margaritas:
- Just 4 ingredients – 5 if you want to salt the rim.
- So easy! Toss everything into a blender and blend until they’re well blended.
- Really quick. This fun drink is ready in 5 minutes. Tops.
- They’re all natural: No weird ingredients here. Paleo apart from the tequila!
- No added sugar: You don’t even need to make simple syrup for this cherry margarita recipe. The cherries are sweet enough!
- They taste rocketship-on-my-way-to-mars-out-of-this-world amazing! They have the PERFECT mix of all the different levels – fruitiness from the sweet cherries, a kick from the tequila, zing from the lime, a hint of sweetness from the honey, and just a little salt.
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Frozen black cherries: One of my favorite berries! They have a deep, sweet flavor that is oh-so incredibly decadent. If you want to use fresh cherries, check that it’s cherry season first (mid-April til late-July), and then remove the pit with a cherry pitter and freeze the fresh fruit at least a day before you want to use them.
- Tequila: There are 3 types of tequila: Blanco, Reposado, and Anejo. Blanco (a.k.a. silver tequila) is generally clear in color and aged for up to 60 days after its final distillation. Reposado tequilas are a golden color and are aged for 2-12 months, often in oak barrels. Anejo tequilas are a darker, almost whisky-like color and aged beyond a year, often in bourbon barrels. It’s more of a sipping tequila than for mixing in cocktails. I sold sotol in a past life (when I lived in Texas) and they have the same names and age ranges as their cousin, tequila. In this recipe, I used a Reposado, but Blanco would work well too!
- Lime: Fresh lime juice is traditional in margaritas for that much-needed acidic zing. I also garnished the rim of the margarita glasses with a couple of thinly sliced lime wedges.
- Honey: to balance the tartness from the limes and add a bit more flavor. It’s also the base for the salted rim. Maple syrup or agave nectar are great substitutes.
- Pink Himalayan Salt: just a touch, to rim the cocktail glasses. Kosher salt can be substituted if needed.
🥣 How do you make these Cherry Frozen Margaritas?
Just 3 simple steps for this easy frozen cocktail:
- Add the frozen cherries, tequila, lime juice, and honey to a blender.
- Blend for 1-2 minutes, until everything is smooth.
- Serve immediately with honey & pink salt to rim the glasses
🧂 How do I salt the rim of a glass?
It’s easier than it looks!
- Squeeze or spoon a ring of honey onto a bowl or small plate, and add some ground pink Himalayan salt to another bowl.
- Turn your empty cocktail glass upside down and dip rim in the honey, making sure the whole edge is covered.
- Dip the honey-coated rim of the glass in pink salt, making sure the whole edge is coated, and add 2 thin lime slices
🍯 I’m vegan and don’t eat honey. What can I use instead?
You can substitute honey for agave syrup or maple syrup. Agave would work best!
☀️ When is a good time to serve this Cherry Margarita Recipe?
Margaritas are great any time of the year, however, this particular recipe is great for:
- Cinco de Mayo: Of course!
- Christmas: It is Christmas colors: red, white, and green.
- July 4th: You can make it red, white, and blue by substituting the lime wedges for a few blueberries on top, and use some coarse sea salt instead of pink Himalayan.
😋 More Mexican-inspired recipes you will love:
- Taco Truck Green Sauce
- Crispy Carnitas
- Keto Enchilada Casserole
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Restaurant-Style Chicken Fajitas
- Loaded Vegan Queso
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to know <3 Tag me (@makehealthyrecipes) on Facebook and Instagram, Pin it on Pinterest, and please give it 5 stars with a review below! Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list (top right of this page) for sparkly new recipes in your inbox.
📖 Recipe
Frozen Cherry Margaritas Recipe
Ingredients
Frozen Margarita
- 250 g 9oz frozen dark cherries
- 100 ml tequila 2 shots
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 3 tbsp honey use maple or agave syrup if vegan
Garnish
- honey optional – use maple or agave syrup if vegan
- pink Himalayan salt optional
- lime slices optional
- frozen cherries optional
Instructions
- Add the frozen cherries, tequila, lime juice, and honey to a blender.
- Blend for 1-2 minutes, until everything is smooth.
- Add honey and then salt to the rim of the glasses.
- Pour the dark cherry frozen margarita mix into the glasses.
- Add lime slices to the rim and 2-3 dark cherries to the glass if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- If using fresh cherries, remove the pit and freeze them the day before.