Spicy Watermelon Margaritas
These watermelon margaritas are refreshing, with a kick! They're easy to make and naturally sweetened. Skip the spice for a classic watermelon margarita!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
When your day isn’t going your way, make margaritas! That’s what I say. When six o’clock rolled around yesterday, I satisfied my margarita craving with one of these thoroughly refreshing, sweet-and-spicy watermelon margaritas. They’re the latest in my collection of seasonal margaritas and I implore you to make them while the melons are still here.
These margaritas aren’t far off from last summer’s honeydew margaritas. Basically, you scoop the melon into your blender (I used my awesome new Vitamix blender, thanks Vitamix!). The blender will turn the melon into juice in no time flat. You may or may not want to strain the pulp out of the juice, depending on your watermelon and your personal preferences.
Naturally, the quality of your watermelon makes a huge difference in the flavor of your watermelon juice, so hunt down a good one at the farmers’ market if you can. I’ve found that the best watermelons for juice are any watermelons other than the standard grocery store variety, which is what I used here out of necessity. Boo.
The recipe as written below will yield plenty of juice for multiple margaritas (the actual amount will depend entirely on the size of your watermelon). I typed up the margarita ingredients per cocktail so you can make one at a time or multiply at will.
If you want to make a pitcher of these, just multiply the ingredients and stir them all together in a pitcher with ice. Keep in mind that the longer you let the jalapeño hang out in the pitcher, the spicier your margaritas will get, so you might want to fish those out after a while.
Spicy Watermelon Margaritas
These watermelon margaritas are refreshing and have a kick! They’re easy to make and naturally sweetened. Skip the chili powder and jalapeño for a classic watermelon margarita.
Ingredients
Watermelon juice
- 1 small seedless watermelon, or half of a larger watermelon
Chili-salt rims
- 1 part kosher salt
- 1 part ancho chili powder or regular chili powder
- Lime wedges
Ingredients per margarita
- 2 ounces fresh watermelon juice
- 1 ½ ounces tequila, preferably 100% agave silver or blanco tequila
- ¾ ounce fresh lime juice
- ½ ounce fresh orange juice
- ½ teaspoon agave nectar or simple syrup, more to taste
- 1 thinly sliced jalapeño round (¼th inch wide, a little goes a long way!)
- Optional garnish: 1 tiny watermelon wedge
Instructions
- To make the watermelon juice, scoop the watermelon flesh into your blender and blend until it has turned into a smooth juice. Depending on your watermelon, you may or may not need to strain out the pulp (if it’s too pulpy for your liking, pour it through a fine mesh strainer, pressing the liquid through with a big spoon).
- To prepare your margarita glasses: On a small, rimmed plate, mix together equal parts salt and chili powder. I like to use my fingers to rub the chili powder into the salt (be sure to wash your hands afterward). Run a wedge of lime around the top of each glass. Dip the top of the glass into the salt blend at a 45-degree angle and roll it from side to side to catch the salt. Add ice cubes to your glass and set it aside.
- To make margaritas (feel free to make multiple margaritas at once): Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the watermelon juice, tequila, lime juice, orange juice, agave nectar and top with a jalapeño slice.
- Secure the lid to the shaker and shake for 30 seconds. Taste and add additional sweetener if necessary. Strain the liquid into your prepared glass(es). Cheers!
Notes
Recipe adapted from my fresh honeydew margaritas.
Leftover watermelon juice? Refrigerate it and drink it within a couple of days!
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use 100 percent agave tequila.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Wow, these look like a dream come true!! so refreshing!!
Watermelon juice has been in constant rotation in my fridge, but I have yet to make a boozy drink with it! (Who am I?!). The fact that you have seasonal margarita recipes on your site just makes me want to hang with you and sip on these even more!
Yay! I think it’s about time you put some tequila in that watermelon juice. :) Thanks Abby!
Yes ma’am! A drink like this is perfect for a bad day…or good day…or medium day. It’s just so tasty sounding!
Yum! I love that you rimmed the glasses with chili powder and salt. I’ve never had a watermelon margarita, but the spice with the sweetness of the watermelon and a zip of lime sounds like it’s a perfect drink for the last warm days of September.
Thanks, Allyson! I just really love sweet and spicy cocktails. Hope you’ll get a chance to make this one!
Wow! These photos are amazing. Are you still using your 50mm 1.8G? Awesome work!
Thanks, Bethany! Good question, too. :) I just bought the 50mm f1.4 and used it to shoot these. I haven’t decided if it was worth the extra money yet (I think it would have been for sure if I had just bought it in the first place, instead of buying the 50mm f1.8 first). I’ve also been shooting a lot with my new 60mm macro lens.
that first sentence is basically my life mantra! beautiful photos in this post!!
Haha! Thanks, Gaby! :)
I need this now!!
There is no bad day that can’t be made better with margaritas! Especially watermelon margaritas. Love that you’re still summering it up!
Thanks, Joanne! Cheers!
What a great mix of sweetness and spice! These margaritas sound so tasty and super refreshing for a hot afternoon.
Looks delicious! Your photography is stunning!!
Thank you, Sarika! :)
These look so yummy! I love watermelon and I bet these taste so delicious!
Made the Watermelon Margaritas to enjoy with another couple before the high school football game. We couldn’t stop talking about them throughout the game they were so delicious! Great flavor (although we omitted the OJ in the second round) and loved having little chunks of watermelon at the end of the drink. It was like a refreshing jamba juice slushy with an added boost (tequila). Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, that makes me happy. Thanks, Lisa!
Great recipe. Perfect ratios!
This lovely fresh margarita tastes much more authentic and flavorful if you use Triple Sec instead of Orange Juice!!!!
Agree about the triple sec. Also substituted it for the orange juice and they were perfect!!
This sounds so delicious! I cannot wait to sip on this while snacking on my guacamole! Awesome recipe!
Yes! Perfect pairing. Thanks, Leslie. :)
This looks perfect for the girly get-together I’m planning for this weekend! Any guidance on how much watermelon juice you get from one watermelon?
It really depends on the watermelon, sorry!
These are delicious and very refreshing!
Would this be good served by the gallon for a party? If so, do you have the ingredient amounts? Thank you!
Hi Lissa, this recipe is for individual drinks, at about 4.5 ounces. There are 128 ounces in a gallon. The conversion would be about 60 ounces watermelon juice (7.5 cups), 45 ounces (5.5 cups) tequila, 22.5 ounces (about 3 cups) lime juice, about 15 ounces (about 2 cups) orange juice, and about 2.5 ounces of agave. I would make it in a container larger than a gallon so I had room for stirring. I would also strain the watermelon juice in such a large batch to prevent settling. I would serve chilled and pour over ice, so the ice doesn’t melt too quickly.