Great Margarita Recipes: How To Make Watermelon Margaritas
By akirchner
How to Make Watermelon Margaritas
Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than a nice, thirst-quenching margarita - unless it's a watermelon margarita!
Here are a couple of great recipes along with some gazpacho shooters and how to make melon ice cubes.
On those long, hot days of summer if you are entertaining, think about adding watermelon margaritas to your drink arsenal.
As always, please be responsible when you drink - including when you serve others alcohol in your home. Don't let them drink and drive.
That said, enjoy a great recipe for a tasty light and refreshing cocktail!
Photos Credits
Photo Credit: Flickr by Dennis + Aimee Jonez
Photo Credit: Flickr by La Grande Farmers Market
Photo Credit: Public Domain photo
Photo Credit: Flickr by Gudlyf
Photo Credit: Flickr by Christyxcore
Photo Credit: Flickr by VictoriaPeckham
Frozen Watermelon Margaritas
Makes 4 drinks - no sugar in this recipe!
INGREDIENTS
- 2-1/2 cups seedless (or seeded) watermelon cut into 1-inch cubes (no rind)
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 4 ounces tequila
- 1-1/2 cups ice
- Lime slice or watermelon wedge - garnish
PREPARATION
- Place cut up watermelon in a freezer bag and freeze for at least 2 hours. (If you do not have time for this part of the recipe, add some extra ice cubes when blending instead)
- Dip glass rim in lime juice or water and then dip into salt or sugar to coat rims.
- Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
- Pour into glasses.
- Use a lime piece or watermelon wedge as garnish on the glass.
- Serve immediately.
Watermelon Gazpacho Shooters
Makes 16 shooters
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups seedless watermelon (about 3 pounds), diced
- 2-3 tomatillos, diced
- 1 tablespoon seeded and diced jalapeno (about 1/2 pepper)
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- Lime slices for a garnish
- Shot glasses
- Alcohol if desired such as Tequila, Midori, etc.
PREPARATION
- Using a blender or food processor, place watermelon, tomatillos, jalapeno, lime juice and zest, salt and pepper in and blend until the mixture is smooth. You may have to do in batches.
- Combine all - chill at least 1 hour before serving - but up to 1 day.
- Add alcohol if desired.
- At serving time, pour 2 ounces of gazpacho into each shot glass and garnish with lime slice or bit of watermelon.
Watermelon and Melon Basics
Today, there are many different watermelons to choose from - seedless, personal sized, Mexican, southern, etc.
One of my favorites is the little personal sized watermelons because they are so much easier to fit into the fridge!
I also am particularly fond of the seedless varieties. You can of course grow your own - which I would love to do.
When selecting a melon in general, look for the spot where it lay on the ground while it was growing - this is called the couche. If you don't see one, that means melon was not ripe when it was picked. Also look for melons that are free of blemishes and soft spots.
Find the spot where the stem was attached at one time to the stem of the plant. If the melon was ripe when it was detached, it should have a clean indentation. Any other appearance to the melon end means that it was picked when it wasn't ripe.
Melons will not ripen further after being picked - but they will accumulate lycopene and beta-carotene. One cup of melon contains more than that in 1 medium sized tomato.
Watermelon Margaritas by Emeril
Makes 1 margarita
INGREDIENTS
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1 lime wedge
- 1 cup watermelon puree (see below)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup 100% agave tequila
- 2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (such as Grand Marnier or triple sec)
- 1 cup ice
PREPARATION
- Make lime sugar syrup - In medium saucepan, combine lime zest, water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook and stir until sugar dissolves.
- Remove from heat - cool to room temperature and strain zest. (This sugar syrup can be made ahead and stored in covered container in the refrigerator)
- Watermelon puree - Remove seeds from fresh watermelon and cut into large chunks. Place in blender or food processor and process until smooth and pureed. Measure out amount needed for recipe.
- Chill margarita glass in the freezer for 30 minutes. Place coarse salt in shallow dish or saucer. Wet the rim of the glass with a lime wedge (or water) and dip the glass into the salt, coating the rim.
- In a cocktail shaker, combine 2 tablespoons of cooled lime syrup with the watermelon puree, lime juice, tequila, orange-flavored liqueur, and ice.
- Shake until frothy and well chilled - at least 1 minute.
- Strain into prepared glass and garnish with a lime wedge.
Watermelon Margaritas Light Version
Makes 6 servings - about 100 calories each
INGREDIENTS
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 lime wedge
- 3-1/2 cups cubed seeded watermelon
- 1/2 cup tequila
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon triple sec, cointreau, midori, or gold tequila
- Crushed ice
- Lime wedges or watermelon wedges or balls
PREPARATION
- Place 2 teaspoons sugar in saucer or flat plate. Rub rims of 6 glasses with 1 lime wedge (or water). Spin/twist the rim of each glass in sugar to coat - or use margarita salt. Set glasses aside.
- Combine watermelon, tequila, sugar, lime juice and triple sec in blender or food processor and process until smooth.
- Fill each prepared glass with 1/2 cup crushed ice.
- Add 1/2 cup margarita mix to each glass.
- Garnish with melon piece, melon ball, or lime wedge and serve.
Melon-coly Cubes
Melons generally lose their freshness after a day or two.
If you have leftover melon of any kind and you want a delicious use for it - here is your answer!
Puree chunks of melon in a blender or food processor. You could mix different kinds together and puree but think they look better if individually processed by kind of melon - for maximum color.
Pour the melon mixture into ice-cube trays and freeze until solid.
I get ice-cube trays at the Dollar Store which are tube-like in dimension so when you freeze the melon mixture, they turn out long straw-like melon cubes.
Put the melon cubes in lemonade or use the melon in drinks such as margaritas or minty mojitos!
This is a great way to use up your fresh melon and dress up other drinks.
Summing It Up
Here are just a few of the many wonderful drinks you can create with watermelon! If that wasn't enough for what to do with watermelon, check out the beautiful carved watermelon below. Now that's a work of art!
As in all things concerning alcohol, be responsible but enjoy these wonderful summertime drinks. You can interchange shaker methods for blender methods - just be aware of the point that the margarita becomes slushy or the desired thickness for the drink.
Experiment with different tequilas - there are many on the market today. Also experiment with different orange-flavored liqueurs as they each have their own flavor as well.
Most of all, enjoy the bounty that summer brings with all the melons to choose from. Enjoy!
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Sources on Making Fruit Margaritas
- Frozen Watermelon Margarita - Fresh Fruit Cocktail Recipes
Watermelon margaritas are a sweet way to keep cool in the summer. Freezing the watermelon beforehand creates a slushy, frozen cocktail without the ice. Delicious! - Watermelon-Basil Margaritas and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations
Favorite recipes and video cooking tips from Martha Stewart on marthastewart.com. Great recipes for chicken, cakes, pasta, cookies, easy meals, healthy dishes, family-friendly menus, holiday food, special occasions, and more. - Watermelon Margarita recipe
- Margarita Madness - Tequila Drink
- Fruit Margarita Drink Recipe - How to make a Fruit Margarita cocktail
How to make a Fruit Margarita Drink - Fruit Margarita Cocktail Recipe: Add the tequila, triple sec, sour mix and fruit (choose one fruit) to a blender with one cup of crushed ice. Blend well. Pour into a hurricane glass, and serve. - Watermelon Margaritas Recipe : Emeril Lagasse : Food Network
Food Network invites you to try this Watermelon Margaritas recipe from Emeril Lagasse.
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Comments
Mmm, sound delish! I can't wait to try this.
Glad you liked them - and have one for me as well! Thanks for the read, tristand.
Brilliant recipes - I'll have to try some this weekend!
MMP - Exactly - nice to make them at home and not have to worry about driving! Thanks for the read.
Wish I had found this one sooner! But I bet I can still find a watermelon or two at the Farmer's Market. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful way to relax right at home!
Azizzii - Thanks so much for stopping by! The melon ice cubes are a great idea and I'd never thought to do that before writing this hub - and they are delicious!
Wonderful. Great use of water melon. I have tried water melon ice cubes with soda water. That is a wonderful experience in hot summer. Comrades can add this minor recipie also in your beautiful list of water melon drinks.
Thanks alphonsians93 for stopping by - they are light and delicious! Enjoy - it is a great drink for the summertime.
wow!! Man i wanna taste that! looks tasty and delicious!
this is one great hub i like it! I would suggest you give us more of this hubs...because it is not only informative it is also cool!!
Thanks for stopping by, Dawn! Isn't that amazing? I wish I had that kind of talent....or better yet that kind of patience! Think I'm making these as the temps soar towards 100 degrees here.
wow what an aticle, I want one of those now!! I am going to make one of these at my next pary. Love the picture of the flower watermelon
Hi Katie - thanks so much for stopping in. I used to not like watermelon either but then I discovered how low in calories it is and how it can quench an appetite periodically - which is a great thing!
I don't really like watermelon but my family loves it. I never knew how to tell if one was good or not when you got it in the grocery store. Thanks for sharing that info.
Thanks, Katie - looking forward to having these next week when I have a couple of days off and get to make them for family visiting! It is supposed to be blazing hot so they will be a great addition to dinner.
What a beautiful how to make watermelon margaritas guide, this is a fantastic reference and love Love LOVE all the great photography as well. A watermelon margaritas sounds heavenly, thanks for the recipe. :)
BkCreative - You are making me smile...this is a good thing! I know what you mean - nothing is worse than getting your expectations dashed into the ground by poor quality food that tastes like something NOT what you wanted. I love melons and love this time of year. If we had a longer growing season, I would attempt to grow my own...and no mals!
I just made the watermelon salads this week too and gonna try and save myself for the watermelon margaritas until my daughter arrives in a few weeks - although I'm tempted to have one every so often as I love watermelon.
I love that you can freeze it and use it later on - I may try and make myself keep some for winter - wouldn't that be a lovely change when it is dreary outside! Thanks so much for stopping in and for the kind comments - as always.
Lovely hub and these recipes look luscious! And this year I can do this.
I live for summer and watermelon - and last year all over NYC - they were awful! They were gummy and tasteless. Arrgh! And that was unforgivable. But this year - I found one place that has super perfect watermelon - like what I remember. So now that I have all the watermelon I want - I can have big watermelon fun!
Thanks too for the information about freezing it. I can do that too. I can do every recipe you have here. I can do everything - because...I have great watermelon. Life is good.
Rated up and more. Thanks so much!
Thanks, Holle.
Thanks, Steph.
Its hot and sunny outside - perfect weather for a watermelon margarita! :)
YEAH! I could go for one of those right now!
Yes - virgin watermelon margaritas are just as refreshing and I just had to include that carving - someone has WAY too much time on their hands but it is beautiful.
What an amazing carving, akirchner! These 'recipes' sound perfect even without the booze.
Thanks!
Judy - always glad to be of help!
Now I know what to do with the other half of the watermelon in my fridge. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for stopping in, msannec - hope you get a chance to have one...they are really good!
Mmm, sound delish! I can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing the recipes and the watermelon selection tips.
Myyawn - Think it's very refreshing and hope you like it, too.
Pamela - I know - it's kind of inventive. I love fresh margaritas and now I love watermelon ones for summer even better!
Micky - It'll open soon enough and then you can get cracking...just don't drink and bike!
I wish the liquor store was open!
akirchner, I never thought of using watermelon in a margarita and it sounds great. Very interesting recipes.
I LOVE watermelon this margarita sound's right up my alley the light one for me Never had one Thanks! Nice hub
Too funny - and hope you have one for me! I need to go to the market and get a watermelon, too. I started making margaritas from scratch a year or so ago and they are SOOO good but when I saw a recipe for watermelon I thought - how healthy! Cheers!
UM hello! How did you know I was thinking today was gonna be a Margarita day??lol You are right..nothing is better on a hot day....heading to the store. Funny...I've bartended 12 years of my life and I have yet to make a Margarita with fresh watermelon! What is wrong with me? lol We will fix this today! Super delicious hub!!
Too funny - yes - I should have done one on him although I don't get to watch much TV!
But of course - what good accordion player could not play meloncholy baby? In the key of B-flat no less!
Be sure to include a hub about Christopher Meloni who plays the cop on that TV program - is it Law & Order? In the movies, he usually plays a bad guy.
Just had an inspiration (yearly) - can you play 'Meloncholy' Baby on your accordion?
Thanks oceansnsunsets - they just did hit the spot so to speak when I saw them! Bring on the summertime!
Hi AKirchner, these sound fun! I love the color alone, so great for summertime. Great hub, beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing, Ocean
I do seem to be fixated on watermelon- it is because of the temperature rising here - or maybe that is my hot flashes! Summer is a great time to indulge myself in melons and I would be remiss if I did not fixate on them. I probably will do a hub once the cooking jazz is over on John Cougar Meloncamp - better known as John Cougar Watermelon!
Audrey - what is this preoccupation or should I say fetish you have for watermelon. It's prevalent in your hubs lately. Are you taking those meds as advised. They will calm you down and replace your visions of watermelons with chocolate chip cookies. Ho, ho.
Yes - I totally agree! Let's have one together over the virtual space! Cheers....I think I need one!
At long last we are getting to the right recipees
akirchner 11 months ago
Thanks for the read dobo700 - save one for me - they are yummy!