The Strawberry Margarita recipe
with fresh strawberries
Make a salt-and-sugar rim: mix a teaspoon of coarse salt with a teaspoon of sugar, run a lime wedge along the outside of the rim, and dip the glass into the mixture.
Halve the strawberries, add them to the shaker with the sugar syrup, and muddle them until no whole pieces remain.
Add tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, fill the shaker with ice, and shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
Double-strain through a fine-mesh strainer into the margarita glass, leaving the seeds and fibers behind.
Place a strawberry with a slit cut into it on the rim and serve immediately.
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The story
The Strawberry Margarita has no inventor with a name and a year attached to it. It belongs to the fruit margaritas that emerged in the United States when the Margarita grew into one of the most frequently ordered cocktails there, and the blender, followed later by the machine for the Frozen Margarita, made it easy to add fruit. Strawberry became one of the standard flavors. The fruit itself has a surprising history. The large garden strawberry we eat today originated in eighteenth-century France, from a cross between a North American and a Chilean wild variety. In the Netherlands, strawberries are grown from spring through autumn, in greenhouses and outdoors. That makes this margarita one of the easiest fruit versions to make here with fresh fruit.
The right glass
The Strawberry Margarita is served straight up, without ice, in a margarita glass of 27 to 28.5 cl. The wide, shallow bowl leaves room for a rim of salt and sugar, so you get a little of both with every sip. With around 14 cl of cocktail, the glass looks nicely full without spilling, while the stem keeps your hand away from the drink. Chill the glass beforehand. If you’re serving it frozen, choose a larger model of 33 cl or more. View our margarita glasses.
Arcoroc Elegance Margarita Glass 27 cl (6 pieces)
Bar Professional Margarita Cocktail Glass 28.5 cl
Both sets together € 59,90.
The right tools
For a Strawberry Margarita, besides the glass, you’ll need a Boston shaker, a muddler, a jigger for precise measuring, a cocktail strainer, a fine-mesh strainer for double straining, and lime salt for the rim. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you’ll find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 6 bar tools together € 186,65.
What do you make a Strawberry Margarita with?
For a Strawberry Margarita, you need tequila. Well-known bottles include Cointreau, Don Julio Blanco, and Patrón. On each drink page, you can find the alcohol percentage, how it tastes, which cocktails it goes with, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Make it frozen with 120 grams of frozen strawberries and 100 grams of crushed ice in the blender; for instructions, see the Frozen Margarita. A few basil leaves or a slice of jalapeño in the shaker make for a more grown-up drink. Replacing half the tequila with mezcal gives it a smoky character. The rum version with the same fruit is the Strawberry Daiquiri. Prefer different fruit? Try the Watermelon Margarita.
Serving tip
Wash the strawberries only just before use, and remove the stems afterwards. This keeps water from getting into the fruit and preserves the concentrated flavor. Let them come to room temperature half an hour before shaking: cold strawberries smell and taste flatter.
Good to know
Choosing strawberries: season and ripeness
Choose strawberries that are red all the way up to the leafy crown. White or green shoulders mean they were picked too early, and strawberries do not continue to ripen after picking. Smell the container: you should be able to smell a ripe strawberry without putting your nose inside it. Medium-sized fruit is often more fragrant than the very largest. Dutch field-grown strawberries are available in stores in summer; outside that season, greenhouse strawberries or frozen strawberries are good choices. If your strawberries are tart or pale, increase the sugar syrup to 1.5 cl.
Muddling, puréeing, or syrup
Muddling in the shaker gives the freshest flavor: the fruit is released at the moment you shake. Four strawberries of about 15 grams each are enough; more makes the drink thick. For a group, purée them in advance and use 4 cl purée per glass. For the strongest flavor, make a cold strawberry syrup: cut 200 grams of strawberries into pieces, mix them with 100 grams of sugar, let them stand for an hour, and strain off the red juice. Use 1.5 cl of that syrup instead of the fresh strawberries and sugar syrup. It keeps for a week in the refrigerator.
Frozen Strawberry Margarita
For the frozen version, use frozen strawberries. They are picked when ripe, taste the same all year round, and chill the drink as well, so you need less ice. Briefly blend 5 cl tequila, 2 cl triple sec, 2.5 cl lime juice, 1 cl sugar syrup, 120 grams frozen strawberries, and 100 grams crushed ice on the highest setting, until the texture resembles soft snow. The cold dulls the flavor, which is why an extra half centiliter of lime goes in. Spoon it into a large margarita glass and serve with a straw. Read more about the technique at Frozen Margarita.
Salt, sugar, or both on the rim
A classic Margarita gets a salt rim, but with strawberries, a mixture of equal parts salt and sugar works better. The salt makes the strawberry taste fuller and softens the tequila, while the sugar takes the sharp edge off the lime. Sugar alone can quickly make the drink too sweet; salt alone can be harsh with tart strawberries. A pinch of ground freeze-dried strawberry mixed in gives the rim a pink color. Run the lime wedge only along the outside of the glass so no grains fall into the drink.
Strawberry Margarita for a group
For six glasses, purée 250 grams of strawberries with 6 cl of sugar syrup. Mix 30 cl of tequila and 12 cl of triple sec in a pitcher and chill. Just before serving, squeeze 12 cl of lime juice and stir it into the tequila together with the purée. Shake about 28 cl of the mixture with plenty of ice for every two glasses and double-strain. Prepare the rims beforehand: a glass with a dry rim of salt and sugar stays good for hours as long as it is not in the refrigerator, because the rim absorbs moisture there and runs.
Strawberry Margarita without alcohol
Without tequila, replace the tequila and triple sec with 5 cl of cold, strong green tea and 2 cl of fresh orange juice. Keep the lime, syrup, and strawberries the same. The tea adds some bitterness and dryness, so the drink does not taste like lemonade, while the orange juice takes over the role of the triple sec. Mash and shake exactly as in the recipe, then double-strain into a glass with a rim of salt and sugar. More ideas for an alcohol-free margarita can be found under Alcohol-free margarita.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a Strawberry Margarita?
A Strawberry Margarita contains 5 cl of 100% agave tequila, 2 cl of triple sec, 2 cl of fresh lime juice, 1 cl of sugar syrup, and four ripe strawberries. Mash the strawberries finely in the shaker, shake everything with ice, and double-strain into a margarita glass with a rim of salt and sugar.
Can you use frozen strawberries?
Yes. For the shaken version, let them thaw for half an hour and then mash them finely; they release plenty of juice and a deep color. For a frozen margarita, blend them while frozen and use less ice. Out of season, frozen strawberries often taste better than pale fresh ones.
Should you strain a Strawberry Margarita?
Yes, always double-strain: through the shaker's strainer and then through a fine-mesh strainer. This keeps the seeds, fibers, and fruit pieces behind and leaves the drink smooth in the glass. Without a fine-mesh strainer, you get a cloudy cocktail with seeds between your teeth.
Which glass do you use for a Strawberry Margarita?
A margarita glass of 27 to 28.5 cl for the shaken version, pre-chilled and with a rim of salt and sugar. For a frozen version, choose a larger model of at least 33 cl, leaving room for a straw and preventing the ice from overflowing the rim.
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