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Sweet coconut, fresh lime juice, and your favorite tequila blanco combine in this Coconut Margarita recipe - a creamy, tropical twist on the classic margarita.
Margaritas are super refreshing cocktails, perfect for hot summer days and warm spring nights. This delicious coconut margarita recipe is a sweet take on one of my favorite cocktails.
As a margarita lover, I'll try just about any variation I can think up. We love using cream of coconut in my piña colada mocktails, so it's always in the fridge - which means I need more reasons to use it! These coconut lime margaritas are a delicious reason to get the cream of coconut out more often.
Served on the rocks (in part because I'm too lazy to involve a blender), shake up a coconut margarita for your next Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo celebration. I love it alongside some 5 Minute Blender Salsa and Homemade Tortilla Chips.
What's in a Coconut Margarita?
- Silver Tequila - Choose blanco tequila for this recipe. The flavors in gold tequila (reposado tequila) don't work well with the coconut in this cocktail.
- Limes - Fresh lime juice is important here, so skip the bottle and squeeze fresh limes. You'll need them for rimming your glass and garnishing your drink as well. Plan on 1 lime per cocktail.
- Simple Syrup - Easily made at home, mix up your simple syrup a few hours (or days) ahead of cocktail hour so it has time to completely cool in the refrigerator. You can substitute a little agave syrup in place of the simple syrup if preferred.
- Cream of Coconut - Make sure you get cream of coconut NOT coconut cream. It's usually by the cocktail mixers at your local grocery store because it's used in a piña colada and other tropical drinks. Cream of coconut is sweetened and shakes up well in drinks. Coconut cream is not sweetened and isn't a substitution in this drink.
- Orange Liqueur or Triple Sec - Any kind of orange liqueur will work here so choose your favorite. I prefer triple sec or Cointreau over Grand Marnier, but that's just me.
- Coarse Salt and/or Raw Sugar - This is for the rim of your glass, so it's totally optional but highly recommended.
How to Make a Coconut Margarita (Step by Step)
Place salt and/or sugar on a small plate. Run a slice of lime around the rim of a glass.
Dip the glass into the salt mixture. Add ice cubes to the glass and set it aside.
In a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, combine tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, cream of coconut, and triple sec.
Shake well and strain into your prepared glass. Garnish with a lime wedge or lime wheel.
Sip and enjoy!
Making Homemade Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is water and white sugar combined to make a liquid sweetener. It lasts in the refrigerator for weeks, making it easy to stir up days ahead of your happy hour. Get all the details on my simple syrup recipe page.
How to Garnish a Coconut Margarita
You may have noticed that this coconut margarita recipe doesn't call for coconut flakes or toasted coconut. Covering glass rims in coconut flakes is popular, but I can't stand it.
Why? Because I don't like to chew my drink and the salt adds a nice flavor dynamic alongside the sweet cream of coconut. Instead of a toasted coconut rim, I'm recommending a sugar or salt (or both!) rim for this cocktail along with a slice of fresh lime.
Looking for More Margarita Recipes?
Twists on the classic margarita recipe are one of my favorite things to make. I love margaritas, which is why there's a lot of margarita recipes on my website! Try my triple citrus margarita, hibiscus margarita, fresh strawberry margarita, apple cider margarita, or a non-alcoholic margarita mocktail.
What to Serve with Coconut Margaritas
The classic combination of homemade salsa and tortilla chips is perfect with margaritas. Or take it up a notch with black bean mango salsa or my 5 minute creamy bean dip.
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Coconut Margarita Recipe (On the Rocks)
Ingredients
- 2 oz silver tequila
- 1 oz cream of coconut
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 0.5 oz triple sec or orange liqueur
Instructions
- Place salt and/or sugar on a small plate.
- Run a slice of lime around the rim of a glass, then dip the glass into the salt mixture.
- Add ice cubes to the glass and set it aside.
- In a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, combine tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, cream of coconut, and triple sec.
- Shake well and strain into your prepared glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge or lime wheel.
- Sip and enjoy!
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