Spicy Grapefruit Margarita.
New Year’s just isn’t complete without some margaritas.
I mean, right?!?!
Lyndsie, my brother Bren’s girlfriend, is all about the margaritas. Actually, she’s really all about tequila, but she’d never turn down a margarita either. In fact, Lyndsie and my cousin Abby were just down here at the barn trying to convince me to make more margaritas… yup, my Christmas vacation has included a lot of bartending. And you know, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
I swear I have found the perfect amount of tequila, to lime juice, to fruity mixer for margs. OKAY, so maybe some people might add an extra shot…or two of tequila…cough, cough Lyndsie. But they all love them and I cannot lie, this spicy margarita is delicious.
When my cousin Abby first suggested it, I wasn’t sure I would be into drinking something spicy, but it’s kind of awesome. AND the chili salt rim? YES. I may or may not be licking that rim clean.
Abby lives in San Diego and says that the spicy margaritas are her favorite. SO, since we do Mexican every New Year’s Eve I thought I would try to make my own. I of course had to put in my own little twist on them and made them into spicy GRAPEFRUIT margaritas. Personally, the grapefruit is perfection. You could really swap in any juice of your liking though. Pomegranate, mango or pineapple would all be DELICIOUS.
Let see, what else? Oh yes, so to make the margaritas a bit spicy, you add the jalapeños directly to the drink. For a big batch recipe you’ll want to let the jalapeños sit in the drink for anywhere from 1-4 hours or until the drink has reached your desired level of spiciness. The more seeds you leave in the jalapeños, the spicier the drinks will become.
To make just one drink, simply shake a couple jalapeño slices in a cocktail shaker until spicy and awesome. It’s all simple stuff, but so good!
Abby has official given this margarita a big TWO thumbs up, so I was pretty pumped! Plus, umm, aren’t they so fun and pretty?!? Kind of loving the colors!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Spicy Grapefruit Margarita.
By halfbakedharvest
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Keyword: grapefruit, margarita
I swear I have found the perfect amount of tequila, to lime juice, to fruity mixer for margs
Ingredients
Big Batch Margaritas
- 1 1/2 cups silver tequila 12 ounces
- 2 cups grapefruit juice 16 ounces
- 3/4 cups fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup agave nectar may also use honey
- 1-2 whole jalapeños halved (depending on how spicy you want your drink)
- slices lime + grapefruit for serving
To make just ONE drink
- 1 1/2 - 2 ounces silver tequila
- 2 1/2 ounces grapefruit juice
- 1 ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or more to taste
- 1-2 slices jalapeno depending on how spicy you want your drink
- slices lime + grapefruit for serving
Spicy Chili Salt Rim
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
Spicy Chili Salt Rim
-
In a bowl, combine the chili power salt and sugar. Mix well to combine. Use this mixture to rim your glasses.
Big Batch Margarita
-
Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher and stir to combine. Keep chilled in the fridge for 1-3 hours. Taste the drink every hour to check for spiciness. The longer you leave the jalapeño in the drink the spicier the drink will become. Once the drink is spiced to your liking, remove the jalapeños.
-
When ready to serve, salt the rims of 4-6 glasses. Add ice to each glass and pour the margaritas over the ice. Add a grapefruit and a lime wedge.
To make just ONE drink
-
Salt the rim of your glass. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until combined and then strain into your prepared glass. The longer you shake the drink, the spicier it will be come. Add a grapefruit wedge and a slice of jalapeño if desired.
Cheers to Abby and her spicy margaritas!
Sounds refreshing! And I must say, your photography is rexceptional
Thanks Carolyn! Happy New Year!
I made them tonight and love them, but wouldn’t call it a refreshing drink. At least not by my definition. I think of refreshing something I reach for when I’m hot and tired and want a pick me up. Like perfectly brewed southern sun tea, or ice cold water, or cucumber water. This drink was perfect for any other occasion though. 🙂
I’m so happy you liked it!! Thanks Annabella!
Wow what a fun spicy drink! Totally the perfect one to make for my moving party!
Thanks Kelsey! Happy New Year!
Sounds like fun for New Year’s Eve.
Thank you!
I love love love those glasses! So cute.
I’m always a sucker for spicy cocktails, and grapefruit margs. They’re the best!
I’ve adopted my best friend’s margarita ratios, and last year I wanted to do a grapefruit margarita ratios, so I started googling to see what other people did to see if anything was special and inspiring other than what I normally do. I ran across Ina Garten’s recipe and she uses 2 *cups* of alcohol for *4* drinks! Definitely a woman to party with.
OMG!! That is SO much alcohol, whoooaaaaa! LOL! Happy New Year!
These look amazing- love, love the colors! Your last few posts have totally inspired me to make a big mexican new year’s feast, and these margaritas are a must 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thank you! Happy New Year!
Lovin all that citrus fruit! Looks gorgeous and sounds refreshing!
Thank you! Happy New Year!
This sounds interesting, I never tried a spicy margarita and I would never think of making one. It looks good though, so maybe it’s time to try something new.
Thanks Kristina! Happy New Year!
Oh these look so refreshing! And the chili salt rim? That’s just genius! I hope your Mexican themed New Years is fantastic! With all the food you have been showing, I don’t know how it couldn’t be!
Thanks Chelsea!! Happy New Year!
I just stocked up on ingredients for fresh margaritas for New Years but now that Ive seen this version Im heading straight back for some grapefruits! Cant wait to try it!
Thank you so much, Lyndsay! Happy New Year!
I made your pineapple chicken tinga (no jalapenos *this* time) and your Chipotle steak burrito (subbing Latin rice instead of cilantro lime). Your recipes are AWESOME! I’m fairly new to cooking and regularly patrol cooking blogs – yours so far has had the best results. Definitely tucking some of these into my recipe folder. Thank you!
Awe!! Thank you!!! Happy New Year!
So lovin’ these Tieghan!! Happy New Year! Congrats on all your success in 2015! Way more to come for you in 2016 for sure! Can’t wait for the cookbook!
Thank you so much! Happy New Year!
I used to be craaaazy about margaritas, now, not so much!!
http://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt
I don’t like very much margarita, but I’ll give a chance to this recipe ’cause seems easy to make 😛
Thanks Perder! Happy New Year!
These are the prettiest margaritas, I love that spicy kick! 🙂
Thanks Laura! Happy New Year!
Simply beautiful, and very tasty.
Thank you so much, Amy! 🙂
Hi Tieghan:) Sounds yummy…so I’m making them tonight for game night! Your recipe calls for jalapenos, but those look like serrano chilis in your beautiful pics…are my eyes deceiving me?
Nope! Those are chiles, but I prefer jalapenos in the recipe. Sorry for the confusion! Hope you love these!
You need to know this is one of the best margarita’s I’ve ever had! & the best part it’s a healthier version , not laden with syrupy calorie infested drink mixes. All fresh ingredients here & it’s amazing. My husband & I made these a few weeks ago & then the following weekend. We like hot & spicy, so getting a spicy-er jalepeno is a must! & it’s like magic, as the drink sits, the hotter it gets! & jalepenos can be tricky, sometimes there hot & sometimes they’re not, so i’d suggest a pre-test for heat.
This Margarita is on point!
Please make more healthier Margarita recipes.
keep em coming.
Cinco de mayo is coming…
and arbor day…
lol…
might as well make one for each holiday.
OH MY GOSH!! THANK YOU! Thrilled you loved these margs and YAY for Cinco de May coming up! 🙂
These are seriously the best margaritas I’ve ever had. We’ve made them 4 times now, including for dinner guests last night. I’ve never been a margarita lover because of that nasty green gunk, but these are fantastic. We love to add a couple dashes of Tabasco – the spicier the better!
Love your blog – I try lots of your recipes, and they’re all outstanding!
These are fabulous! I used 2 oz 1800 Reposado because I prefer the flavor, muddled three slices of jalapeno in the lime juice (for the flavor only.) I added the fruit juice, tequila and shook then poured over iced rimmed glass (isn’t that rim trim amazing? omg) and then poured 1 oz of my homemade habanero simple syrup gently over the top. No stirring, just drinking. I don’t buy agave nectar because I experiment with simple syrups and prefer to use those. The habanero syrup was perfect for these. I’m going to make another as soon as I post this and send the recipe to all my party peeps. Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing.
WOW!! Sounds amazing! I wanna see!!
I’d love to know the manufacturer of those glasses, too. I’ve seen them, or something similar before, and can’t remember where. Beautiful beautiful pictures.
Found them! 🙂
Hey Annabella! Thank you so much! Those glasses are from crate and barrel. I love them! They also have them in purple.
That looks bomb! But the chilies in the picture are not jalapeños.
Thanks Erika.
Wow. My sister and I got so drunk off of these margaritas. They go down SO easily. We started by batching them in a pitcher. The gentle heat from the jalapeños were such a nice contrast to the fresh grapefruit. We put down the entire pitcher in a hour. We still had all of the ingredients to keep going so we started making them by the glass, gotta get through this quarantine somehow…am i right? To sum it up, delicious.
Haha I am so glad you both loved these margs! Thank you for trying them, Hayley! xTieghan
Hi, this looks great! Did you use freshly squeezed grapefruit juice? Or can you recommend something already juiced?
thanks!
Hey Emily,
Yes I used fresh grapefruit juice. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan