Sip-Worthy Frozen Mango Margarita Recipe

A classic margarita is a popular drink, but making a frozen version gives you the same great taste with ice-cold freshness and a thick, blended texture while staying perfectly sippable — what's not to love? Frozen margaritas are customizable, so it's easy to make them with your favorite frozen fruit. Mango is a good choice because it freezes well and adds creaminess, sweetness, and a lovely tropical flavor to the drink.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for a frozen mango margarita you can turn to time and again. It uses frozen mango and ice, but it's not more complicated to make than a regular margarita — everything just gets blended in a blender until thick, smooth, creamy, and ice cold. All the classic margarita ingredients are present, including tequila blanco, orange liqueur (in this case, triple sec), and fresh lime juice. 

In addition, you'll add a tablespoon of agave to the mango and ice for a little sweetness. Last but not least, the rims of the glasses are coated in lime juice and then twisted in a mixture of kosher salt and cayenne pepper. This not only gives a salty touch and a complementary spicy kick to each sip, but the red rim makes for a fun presentation, too. A frozen mango margarita is perfect on a summer day, but if we're being honest, we'll reach for this recipe at any time of year.

For this recipe, you will need lime wedges, kosher salt, and ground cayenne to coat the rim of the glasses. A margarita is one of the best ways to use Tajín, a spice mixture featuring chile pepper, lime, and salt, so feel free to use that on the rim instead of salt and cayenne, if desired. For the margarita, you will need tequila blanco, triple sec, freshly squeeze lime juice, agave, frozen mango chunks, and ice cubes.

Mix the kosher salt and ground cayenne in a shallow bowl until combined.

Cut a notch in a lime wedge and run it around the rim of a margarita glass to moisten it.

Invert the glass in the salt mixture and twist to coat the rim. Repeat with the second glass.

Place the tequila, triple sec, lime juice, agave, and frozen mango chunks in a blender and blend until smooth.

Add the ice and blend again until creamy and smooth. Taste and adjust for more agave, if desired.

Pour the mixture into 2 margarita glasses.

Garnish each glass with a lime wedge and serve immediately.

Upgrade your margarita by using tequila reposado, which adds a more nuanced flavor compared to tequila blanco because it's aged for up to a year. If you're not a huge fan of spice, you can leave the cayenne pepper off the rim of the glass and just use salt. The rim will be white, so if you'd like to preserve the unique red rim, just substitute ground sweet paprika. On the other hand, increase the heat by adding jalapeño pepper to the blender for an extra kick (or use a tequila infused with spices).

The agave can be replaced with maple sugar, honey, or simple sugar, if you prefer. If you'd like to lighten up this margarita, you could reduce the amount of alcohol and agave and using orange juice instead of triple sec. A virgin frozen mango margarita can easily be made with tonic water and orange juice instead of tequila and triple sec without sacrificing taste. 

To make a regular, non-frozen mango margarita, leave out the ice and use pureed fresh mango rather than frozen mango. The other ingredients will be the same. Finally, while it won't be a mango margarita, pineapple is a good substitute if you can't get your hands on fresh or frozen mango. It's a tropical fruit, can be found fresh, frozen, and canned, and can be easier to find than mangos, depending on where you shop.

A margarita wouldn't be a margarita without tequila. Among the several types of tequila, two stand out as best for this cocktail. Tequila blanco is the most common type. Blanco means "white" in Spanish, but this is also called silver tequila in English. It is not aged and most of the flavor comes from the agave. 

Tequila reposado (which means "rested") is aged for at least two months (and up to one year) in oak barrels. It has a smoother taste and a more nuanced flavor from the wood. Tequila añejo (which means "aged") is aged for at least one year. It has a darker color and a stronger, more complex flavor. We recommend tequila blanco or reposado for margaritas, depending on your budget and how much nuance of flavor you prefer. Tequila añejo, which is more expensive and has a rich flavor, is usually reserved for enjoying on its own.

Besides tequila, two more ingredients are essential. The first is orange liqueur, which has a sweet, citrus flavor and works with lime juice to give the drink a balanced taste. Options include triple sec, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, and Curaçao. Lime juice adds a sour component to a margarita. We recommend juicing limes yourself if you can because bottled lime juice doesn't have the same fresh taste.