Virgin Margaritas: A Guide to Making the Perfect Mocktail

Maybe you’ve been there. You go out on Taco Tuesday with friends and order margaritas, but when they come around to your order, it’s a virgin margarita for you. A margarita doesn’t have to be made of tequila. There are plenty of delicious mocktails that can be made at home or ordered in a restaurant that tastes like the real thing–only without all the calories (or hangover).

A traditional margaritas are a quintessential cocktail that most people love. However, some margaritas can be loaded with regret and hangovers. In this blog post, we will teach you how to make a delicious virgin margarita from scratch so you can enjoy one without feeling guilty! We’ll also give you our tips on making the perfect big batch virgin margarita recipe for your next party or event!

The best part is that you don’t need any crazy ingredients for these recipes.

What is a Classic Margarita?

Margaritas are a type of cocktail consisting primarily of tequila, orange liqueur or triple sec, and lime juice. It is one the most popular alcoholic drinks in the US. The margarita is typically served in a margarita glass either frozen or on the rocks. In addition to margaritas, many other cocktails may include tequila as an ingredient as well. These types of cocktails are sometimes referred to as “Mexican Martinis”. To be honest, no matter how you pour it, it is a delicious drink that is just a spin on a Margarita; the only difference is that is served in a martini glass.

To make a classic margarita, the drinker must know the difference between a margarita and a daiquiri because they have different ingredients. A margarita has tequila whereas a daiquiri has rum which means that there will be more alcohol content in this type of drink than in a daiquiri.

What Country did the Classic Margarita originate from?

This classic drink is from the one and only Mexico. Thank you Mexico for this drink full of delicious flavors.

Virgin Margaritas (Faux-garita) Recipe

Enough with all the facts. Let’s get into why we are here, for the recipes (Virgin Margarita to be exact).

Faux-garita can also be made virgin by replacing the alcohol with zero-proof Tequilla or omitting it entirely. You don’t need to add tequila to make any mocktail margarita recipe on this page.

Classic House Non Alcoholic Margarita

Cadillac Margarita Mocktail

Frozen or Not?

When you make a virgin margarita, there are two divided houses, you either love a frozen margarita mocktail or you prefer it on the rocks. Go with what YOU prefer. Keep in mind you need to blend a frozen virgin margarita. When I entertain I don’t generally prefer keeping a blender out, but it may be great on a hot day.

If you want a frosty drink, you can blend about 1/2 cup of ice per servings to any of the recipes mentioned in this blog.

Variations

Living in Southern California – there is never just 1 margarita option. There are so many variations, make sure you experiment and let me know what variation you like? Play around with seasonal herbs and fruits as well. Here are different flavors you can try out:

• Sweet (strawberry, mango, watermelon)
• Spicy (a few muddled jalapenos add medium heat, a thin slice of habanero can kick this up a notch)
• Tart/Sour (cranberry, kiwi, raspberry, passionfruit)
• Floral (elderflower, hibiscus, lavender, honeysuckle, rosewater, chamomile, lilac)

Garnishing Tips for a Virgin Margarita

You can garnish with a lime.

Lime Wedge

Lime Wheel (you can use fresh lime or a dehydrated lime)

Salt Rims

A salt rim will always elevate your alcohol-free margarita. You can salt the rim with kosher salt, coarse salt or tajin. To get the salt to stick, the trick is to use a liquid. I would recommend:

• lime juice (for any classic virgin margarita recipe)
• orange juice or agave syrup (for a spicer drink)
• lemon juice (for a virgin margarita using berries)

My trick for a perfect rim every time is 2 have 2 plates. Have one small plate or bowl with lime juice (or whatever you prefer) and have another small plate for the salt.

Dip the glass in the lime juice

Then dip the glass into the salt (make sure you pour a large amount of salt into the plate).

The best salt to use is coarse salt (you can get fancy and add lime zest, lemon zest, coarse sugar, cayenne pepper)

There are also trendy rims I have seen at many restaurants, you can take a lime wedge and drag it from the top of the glass to the bottom of the glass. Take the glass where the lime juice was placed roll the glass in salt. I said it before, but take the extra step to rim your glass I promise you will enjoy it just a little more.

What Can I Serve my Virgin Margarita in?

• Margarita glasses
• Double Rimmed Old Fashion Glasses

Why I stopped drinking Alcoholic Margaritas

Because hangovers suck. I loved the flavor of them, but you can never just have one. I would end up drinking so many and regret the calories and headaches.

Questions while making your mocktail?

Can you prepare in advance or premake the recipes?

You can premake the recipes a few hours in advance. My best advice is to prepare parts of the recipe in advance so the quality isn’t compromised. Here is a list of items I prepare in advance

• Cut Lime wedges
• Squeeze and add lime juice into a squeeze bottle
• Have Agave Nectar/Simple Syrup Ready
• Have Salts ready for the rim
• Have Glasses washed and ready to serve mocktails

Do I need a blender to make Virgin Margarita Recipe?

You can use a cocktail shaker or a small pitcher to make any of the recipes but if you want to make the frozen version, a blender is required.

Is a Virgin Margarita different than a Margarita Mocktail?

A virgin margarita is the same as the delicious mocktail, the names can be used interchangeably

What are virgin margaritas made of?

People get creative when creating a recipe. Usually, there is lime juice to make it tart and some sort of tonic water or sparkling water. If you aren’t a fan of carbonated water

What is a non-alcoholic substitute for tequila?

My secret ingredient is using non alcoholic spirits.

• Lyres Non-Alcoholic Spirits
• Ritual Zero Proof
• Kombucha (Lemon or Lime flavor)

How many calories are in a virgin margarita?

The calorie range can vary based on how you make a virgin margarita. Based on the virgin margarita recipe it can vary from 55 calories to 150 calories (the sweeter you go, there will be more calories)

What are the best virgin cocktails? /What are good virgin drinks?

Good refreshing drinks overall have balance. You never want a drink that is overwhelming in one aspect (sour, sweet, spicy etc.)

Here is a round up of some of my favorite mocktails.

Does virgin margarita contain alcohol?

There is no alcohol in any virgin margarita recipe. If you see alcohol ever posted as an ingredient in a mocktail, run for the door.

Is Virgin Margarita the Same as Margarita Mocktail?

While both virgin margaritas and margarita mocktails are delicious choices for drinkers who abstain from alcohol, they usually have different ingredients to achieve different flavors.

What tastes like tequila but is non alcoholic?

Ritual

Lyres Agave Blanco

Lyres Agave Reserva

Does the margarita mix have alcohol in it? / Is there non-alcoholic margarita mix? / Can you buy non alcoholic margarita mix? / Can you buy a margarita mix without the alcohol?

Virgin margarita mix is widely available, here are a few you can find easily

• Ficks
• Jose Cuervo
• WithCo
• Costco Kirkland Margarita Cocktail mix

What can I add to the margarita mix?

Margarita mix is very tart and sweet. It is a great non alcoholic option for creating a batch party punch in a time crunch. Things I would not recommend adding to the mix are

• fresh lime juice
• lemon juice
• orange juice
• agave nectar (if you cannot find agave nectar I would recommend using Maple Syrup)
• simple syrup
• sugar
• fresh juices from other fruit like watermelon

Things I would add:

• ice (ice helps keep the drink cold and helps dilute the drink as it is very tart)
• sparkling water or carbonated water (lemon or lime flavored)
• club soda
• tonic water
• Some people prefer ginger ale (but not my preference)

Can you drink margarita mix alone?

Yes, but it is not recommended. There is a lot of tart flavors, I would recommend cutting it sparkling water, carbonated water, or tonic water. For every 2 parts of the mix, I would add 1 part (maybe even 1.5 parts) based on your preference.

Does Margarita contain alcohol? / Do margaritas have alcohol?

Usually Yes, but all the recipes I posted are considered a non alcoholic margarita.

What can I substitute for Margarita?

• Paloma
• Mezcalita

What do you call a mixed drink without alcohol?

A mocktail, or a virgin drink, is a cocktail that does not contain alcohol. There are many different types of mocktails, and they can be made with any type of juice or mixer. Some popular mocktail recipes include the Shirley Temple, the Tom Collins, and the non alcoholic Margarita.

Do Virgin cocktails have alcohol?/Is there alcohol in mocktail?

Virgin cocktails, or mocktails, are cocktails that do not contain any alcohol. This means that they are perfect for those who the designated driver, don’t drink alcohol, or for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Just because someone’s not drinking, doesn’t mean they can’t have a fun drink! Don’t wait for hot summer days to try the non-alcoholic option.

If you make any margarita mocktail recipe let us know how they turned out.

*** Note I currently do not have any affiliate links in my post, but am working on getting some discount codes for my readers! I will keep you posted!