Homemade Margarita Mix Recipe
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I never in a million years would have thought I’d need a homemade margarita mix recipe. I’m not into margaritas, at least not usually. (They make me feisty.)
But last week my husband, son and I went to dinner at a new Mexican restaurant in town as kind of a belated Cinco de Mayo slash early Mother’s Day thing. It was a gorgeous day, and I’d had a tough week, so when I saw a picture of a frosty margarita on my menu, I couldn’t resist.
Plus, they proudly announced that they made their margarita mix in-house. I needed to know more.
Homemade Margarita Mix is Superior
Halfway through my margarita, I remembered why I don’t drink them very often: those things are potent! (And that’s coming from a dry vodka martini fan.) It was yummy, though.
Store-Bought vs. Homemade Margarita Mix
The following weekend, I was craving another margarita but didn’t feel like going to a Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo. I’m just not a fan of crowds. So, I went to the store to pick up a bottle of margarita mix.
One glance at the ingredient list on a bottle of margarita mix was enough to change my mind:
Water, high fructose corn syrup, wine, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (to preserve flavor), cellulose gum, natural flavors, Polysorbate 60, and FD&C yellow 5.
Notice what’s not in there? Real juice. So, I set out to make my homemade margarita mix from scratch.
This Has Been Taste-Tested. Repeatedly.
As I often do when trying to find a recipe I really like, I checked out a variety of other peoples’ mixes. Some recipes started with commercial mix then tweaked them by adding extra citrus. I skipped those for the reasons described above.
Other recipes used key limes, which are beautifully tart but not always available year-round. Plus, they’re pricier.
Of course, I had to experiment quite a lot to come up with just the right flavor, but I’m a hard worker that way. I slogged down margaritas weekend after weekend to come up with the perfect homemade margarita mix to share with you.
What can I say, I’m a giver!
The History of the Margarita
What, did you think you’d get straight to a recipe without a bit of a detour? Thanks to the standards set by a certain search engine, short and concise food articles containing just a few words plus a recipe won’t actually appear when you search for one.
So, here’s are some surprising things about the history of margaritas that you may not know. Feel free to scroll down for the actual recipe. My purpose here is simply to ensure it shows up in search results because I think this homemade margarita mix deserves attention!
Who Invented the Margarita?
There are many stories about how margaritas were invented. Most likely, the tequila industry was looking for a cocktail that would make their product appealing to a broader audience.
After all, some people frown at downing tequila shots but don’t mind drinking a couple of them in a margarita. Go figure.
The Bar Owner and the Showgirl
One story claims that Carlos “Danny” Herrera, the owner of a Mexican restaurant, created the original homemade margarita mix in 1938 for Marjorie King, a Ziegfeld showgirl. (He even insisted that his obituary had to include this story.)
Anyway, King claimed to be allergic to all forms of alcohol except tequila, but she didn’t like to drink it neat. So Herrera fancied it up with some Cointreau, lemon juice and salt, which King did like quite a bit. This story, though, doesn’t explain where it got the name “margarita.”
Margarita, The Texas Socialite
A somewhat stronger claim to homemade margarita mix fame came from Margaret (Margarita) Sames, a socialite from Dallas, Texas. Sames said she’d come up with the recipe while vacationing with friends in Acapulco in 1948. Supposedly, her buddy Tommy Hilton (yep, that Hilton) loved it so much that he added the drink to the hotel chain’s menu, and a legend was born.
The problem with this story is that for three years prior to Sames’ vacation, Cuervo had been running an ad campaign for its tequila. The tagline was: “Margarita: It’s more than a girl’s name.” So, Sames’ story is most likely just a tall Texan tale.
The Most Likely Explanation
The most likely origin of the margarita ironically has roots in Prohibition, the failed American ban on alcohol in the 1920s. With not a drop of liquor to be legally had, Americans routinely traveled across the Mexican border to Tijuana to slake their thirst.
There, a racetrack bar named Agua Caliente (translation: hot water) served a libation called the Tequila Daisy. Based on a cocktail recipe for The Daisy, which dates to the 1800s. That beverage featured alcohol, citrus juice, and orange liqueur. In the Tequila Daisy’s case, the alcohol was tequila.
Guess what “daisy” translated from English to Spanish is? Margarita.
You be the judge.
Homemade Margarita Mix Recipe
Of all the homemade margarita mix recipe variations that I came up with, one with a combination of citrus juices appealed the most.
My primary reason for using a variety of citrus fruit is because it nicely offsets the limes’ tartness without requiring a lot of refined sugar. Plus, the layer of flavors is amazing. (Related: Homemade Enchilada Sauce from Scratch.)
Yes, You Need Fresh Citrus!
Please don’t use bottled juices to make this homemade margarita mix, no matter how convenient they are. They simply don’t have the depth of flavor that freshly squeezed juices do.
There’s a lot of elbow grease involved in squeezing the citrus needed to make this. It goes a lot faster if you have an electric citrus juicer or several people willing to take turns juicing the fruit.
But, even though it’s a bit of work, it is SO worth it. The flavor is bright and festive, without being annoyingly sweet. If you need a reason to give this a try today, remember: you’re getting an excellent dose of Vitamin C in the mix. See, it’s healthy!
Homemade Margarita Mix
Equipment
- Juicer or citrus squeezer
- Saucepan
- Mixing spoon
Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups lime juice freshly-squeezed
- 1 cup lemon juice freshly-squeezed
- 1 cup orange juice freshly-squeezed (optional but adds great flavor)
Instructions
Make simple syrup
- In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Make the mix
- Combine the simple syrup with the remaining ingredients. Shake or stir well. Store in a non-reactive container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or the freezer for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Great, but how do I turn this into margaritas???” Settle down. I’ve got you covered.
Homemade Margaritas From Scratch Recipe
These are delicious served with vegetarian or seafood ceviche or authentic guacamole and chips.
Muy Margaritas
Equipment
- Blender
- Serving glass
Ingredients
- 6 oz homemade margarita mix
- 1 oz tequila
- 1 tbsp. Cointreau
- 2 cups ice
- 2 slices lime
- 1/2 cup Kosher salt for glass rim
Instructions
- Put all ingredients except for the lime slices and sugar/salt into a blender and blend well. (For margaritas on the rocks, don’t put the ice into the blender. Put it in the glasses, but go ahead and blend the liquids together.)
- Dip rims of glasses in water, then in sugar or salt.
- Pour mixture into glasses and garnish with lime slice. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
More Recipes to Try:
I’m a giver that way. 😉
Yummy! I wish I had some right now 🙂
Sounds great! You really have to be careful with most store-bought mixes, they’re full of all the things that we don’t really want to eat (or drink), right? Plus, usually the homemade stuff is waaay better.
That’s my attitude, too, Anja. Some of those chemicals in the store-bought mixes are truly scary!
That’s a lot of limes though right? How long does it take to juice them?
By hand using a standard juicer, about 20 minutes. I’ve started using my potato ricer to juice citrus, and it cuts the time in half.
That’s brilliant! Great recipe too, thank you!
You’re welcome!
Hi Katie,
Yes, you’re right about the stuff in store bought mix.
Next time you have problems with checking out the taste, just give me a call and I hop over haha.
Maybe you want to try Triplesec in stead of Cointreau.
That is soooo good.
Thanks.
Louise van der Marel
Actually if you use about 2 oz. Of the Cointreau plus 1 oz. Of the triple sec you will have a margarita to die for. Matter of fact I’m headed to the store to get the ingredients for this margarita mix and I’ll take one for the team tonight.
You’re a giver! How’d your margaritas turn out? I’m going to try your margarita recipe this weekend. Thank you!
Great mix! Just a little trick, put a little tequila on the rim of the glass instead of water and the salt sticks better!
Hi Dena,
What a great idea. Thank you!
Try it with Blanc de Blancs Brut Zero sparkling wine. I had a few at Treveri Winery. Oh my gosh. So good.
Sounds yummy!
I’m going to attempt making this mix, but instead of the OJ, I think I’ll try Cranberry juice….just to stir things up a bit! *a little pun intended!*
Hey, that sounds great! Enjoy!!!
Sounded great but this is very tart. After a couple I was done. Like eating a box of sour patch kids …to much toward the end. Teguuila ratio a lil low for my liking…. maybe 2 parts juice to 1 part tequila, we ended up watering it down to combat thebayrtness which helped. Also infused jalapenos into tequila for a lil spice.
Sorry you didn’t like it, Bryan. The tartness of citrus fruits varies between varieties and time of year, so the amount of sweetener might need to be adjusted from time to time — as with any recipe.
Can I use tangerines or blood oranges instead of oranges?
I haven’t tried using those, so I couldn’t say. It sounds delicious! If you try them, please let me know how it turns out.