Spicy Watermelon Margaritas

These Spicy Watermelon Margaritas taste like summer with a little kick! They’re easy to make a the perfect drink for relaxing on a warm summer evening.

About five years ago Kevin and I went to a Mexican restaurant in our favorite little Illinois town for my birthday. The restaurant didn’t take reservations and was the size of a shoebox. But the food was incredible. You could find a line out the door and down the street for this place. It’s the first time I ate any kind of Elote and the first time I ever had a sweet and spicy margarita. That visit started my love affair with Elote and spicy margaritas. Now I can never pass up either dish and have taken to making them both at home. That visit was also the inspiration for making my Spicy Watermelon Margaritas.

Another Saturday night…

When it comes to my favorite summer drink, margaritas are always the direction I lean. They just seem like the perfect blend of flavors – any flavor really – to go with the hot, summer weather. If it’s a Saturday night on the back patio, Kevin will usually make me a simple margarita to just hang out with but if we are entertaining, or even just feeling fancy, I’ll whip up a batch of these Spicy Watermelon Margaritas to enjoy. I love the flavor of watermelon in drinks – especially in the summer. I have a Watermelon Lemonade that’s amazing so I decided to head in that direction when coming up with these delicious margaritas.

Making Spicy Watermelon Margaritas

To make Spicy Watermelon Margaritas you need to start with the watermelon juice. The easiest way to do this is by blending a watermelon. There’s really enough water in it to get a nice juice consistency. If you don’t want the pulp you can simply strain it out.

However, I will say that the quality of the juice and the drink is really impacted by the quality of the watermelon you use. The riper, the better because the natural sweetness will be heightened. If you use a watermelon that’s just so so, you might need to add more sugar to get the sweet flavors desired. I’ve found using the smaller melons will often yield a sweeter taste for the Spicy Watermelon Margaritas.

I’ve looked for various ways to shortcut this process by buying a juice or a nectar but the watermelon is almost ALWAYS mixed with something else. The closest thing I’ve found is {THIS} juice by Parrot, but it does have a lot of sugar in it.

Adding in the spice

When it comes to making this drink spicy, I do it in two ways.

1. I add in some sliced jalapeños when I shake/mix it up. – I often remove the seeds and then add 3 slices of jalapeño. If you really like it hot, you can leave the seeds in. I find I prefer the flavor when its more even versus a burst of heat I might get it I take in a seed.

2. I add a bit of Tajin to the rim of the glass instead of sugar or salt. – If you’ve never had Tajin before you should know that it might be the perfect spice. I’m in love with it and could eat it on everything. It’s aMexican spice that’s a blend of mild-ish chili spices, dehydrated lime and sea salt. It gives you that same salty goodness you might expect with a margarita with a bit of a kick too. It’s really perfect for the Spicy Watermelon Margaritas and in my opinion ANY fruit margarita. A lot of people also like to apply it directly to fruit.

Other ingredients and serving size

The other ingredients in the Spicy Watermelon Margaritas include sugar or agave syrup to sweeten the drink, silver tequila to make it an adult beverage, Triple Sec or Orange Juice for flavor and some fresh squeezed lime juice to add notes of citrus. It’s not a hugely extensive list but you might need to just double check your refrigerator and cabinets if you’re planning on making these.

For simplicity, I’ve going to give you the recipe for making about 1 glass of the Spicy Watermelon Margaritas. However, you can increase this recipe and make a whole pitcher of this if you like. Then just serve it up by the glass and enjoy!

Thank you so much for joining me today, friends! I hope that you love these Spicy Watermelon Margaritas. You can find the full recipe below. If you’re looking for more summer drink recipes, click {HERE}. And if you’re looking for a delicious summer dessert, check out these Mini Blackberry Lavender Icebox Cake desserts {HERE}!

Spicy Watermelon Margaritas

These Spicy Watermelon Margaritas are a delicious summer drink that you can serve up on a warm summer night! They're easy to make and perfect for a party.

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: spicy watermelon margaritas

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 1.5 6 oz glasses

Author: Rachel

Equipment

• Blender

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup watermelon juice, with or without pulp
• 1-2 Tbsp. agave syrup or simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. silver tequila
• 1/2 oz. Triple Sec or Orange Juice
• 1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
• 3 Jalapeño slices, plus more for a garnish
• Tajin for the rim of the glass
• Watermelon to garnish

Instructions

• Rim each glass with a lime and then dip it in a plate of Tajin.
• Add ice to each individual glass.
• Add all the ingredients to a shaker (including 3 jalapeño slices) and shake!
• Pour over the ice and then serve with a slice of watermelon or toss in an extra slice of jalapeño for more spice.