Easy Salted Watermelon Margarita

This Salted Watermelon Margarita recipe is juicy, sweet, slightly tart, and fruity. It’s the perfect fruity cocktail to make for happy hour or whenever you’re craving that perfect refreshing drink with a salted rim for a hot summer day. It’s a fruity version of our classic margarita, with Blanco Tequila and fresh homemade watermelon juice. You could make a watermelon margarita on the rocks or a frozen watermelon margarita. It’s truly a tasty cocktail, and y’all are going to love this easy and simple recipe!

What goes in this Watermelon Drink:

This margarita does not need triple sec or Cointreau, aka, that orange liqueur, because we want the fruity watermelon juice to shine here. When watermelons are in season, we typically will take about 2 cups of cubed watermelon to make fresh juice and save it to make the perfect summer cocktail, like this one here.

Here are the key ingredients you need to have to make this perfect margarita for those warmer months:

• A ripe watermelon is blended into fresh watermelon juice.

• Freshly squeezed lime juice. When making a margarita, always use fresh lime juice versus pre-juice lime.

• Homemade Simple Syrup. It’s super easy to make simple syrup from scratch, and it takes only a few minutes to make it. While you do have to wait for it to cool, placing it in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill/cool is the quickest route.

• High-quality tequila. We prefer using a Blanco tequila for this recipe because it has a nice salty flavor. But, if you love sweet drinks that taste like candy, we recommend using a Reposado Tequila. The robust, bold flavor of Reposado makes this drink even sweeter to taste, and the taste reminds us of Jolly Ranchers. Our favorite tequila to use is Casamigos or Teremana.

• Salt. Either kosher or flaked sea salt will do. This is to rim the glass before adding your margarita.

What’s the best tequila to use

Many people usually opt-in for Blanco Tequila when they make margaritas, but we recommend exploring the other tequilas. For example, you may prefer Reposado tequila in this margarita if you have a sweet tooth and enjoy a sweeter drink or Mezcal for a smoky flavor. We like to make this fruity margarita with Blanco tequila because watermelon juice has a lot of natural sweetness. We also recommend choosing high-quality tequila (mid-price range) when you make a watermelon margarita.

How to make a watermelon margarita with simple syrup

This is such a simple recipe. Here are the basics on how to make this tasty summer drink:

• Make Simple Syrup. Using: 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup Cane Sugar.

• Make the Watermelon Juice. Cut watermelon into cubes (about 2 cups) and add to a blender. Blend until smooth, and pour the watermelon puree through a fine-mesh sieve to separate the juice from the pulp and any seeds.

• Add ingredients and ice. In a cocktail shaker with ice cubes, combine watermelon juice with Blanco tequila, fresh lime juice, and simple syrup.

• Rim the glass: Rim half of a highball glass with a lime wedge and dip the glass in a bowl with kosher salt or flaked sea salt.

• Shake and strain. Shake vigorously and strain the drink into the rimmed highball glass filled with a cup of ice.

• Garnish and serve. Add a fresh lime wedge or a watermelon cube. Make it fancy and enjoy.

How to make a frozen watermelon margarita

Instead of adding the fresh watermelon juice to a cocktail shaker with all the other ingredients, you will want to transfer the fresh juice to an ice cube tray to freeze. Once frozen (about 3 hours), add about 5 cubes of the frozen watermelon juice to a blender with and the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and transfer to a garnished and salted rim glass.

How to tell if a watermelon is ripe

This watermelon margarita “rita” recipe requires a ripe watermelon for that natural sweetness of fresh fruit. Here are a few tips for when you are picking out a ripe watermelon:

• On the watermelon, look for a light-yellow spot where the watermelon rested in the field. If the spot is white, it’s unripe: if the spot is, it’s ripe and you’re good to go.

• The watermelon should also feel heavy, indicating it’s filled with juice.

How to make a Skinny Margarita or Spicy Margarita

• Skinny Route: Instead of adding simple syrup, omit it and add more watermelon juice or agave nectar in its place. You will still get that sweet watermelon flavor going this route. We prefer to add simple syrup because it adds a nice balance of sweetness.

• Spicy Route: To not overpower the drink with too much heat, we recommend slicing a jalapeno or habanero pepper and add 1 slice along with the seeds to the cocktail shaker. The seeds will enhance the drink and give it a nice spicy kick.

FAQs:

These salted Watermelon Margaritas are simple to make, fruity, sweet, and refreshing. It’s the perfect fruity cocktail for those hot days when watermelons are in season. We hope you enjoy our recipe! ♡

Summer tequila cocktails to try next:

• The Classic Margarita
• Strawberry Margaritas on the Rocks