Keto Margarita

Sugar Free Margarita Recipe

Margaritas are the perfect cocktail to have on a warm Summer day as they are super refreshing – especially if you blend them! Unfortunately, due to corn syrup based mixes and sugar added to cocktails, most would typically have a lot of carbs in them, meaning you cannot really enjoy them on a keto diet. This happens especially if you order cocktails from restaurants or bars as they tend to offer larger serving sizes and just use premade margarita mix which contains corn syrup and tons of sugar or simple syrup!

When having a few drinks, you would not usually be thinking about how many carbs or sugars are in each cocktail but it all adds up and that would kick your body out of ketosis. It is not really worth it to throw away all the hard work for a few cocktails. However, you should be able to enjoy a few drinks with your friends, even if you are on a keto diet, and that’s where this keto margarita recipe comes in! With low carb margaritas you can stick to your diet while still being able to enjoy a cocktail poolside or on Cinco de Mayo!

It is so easy to make a skinny margarita. All you need to do is add all the low carb ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth! You don’t even need to make your own low carb simple syrup like other skinny margarita recipes call for. You can also make a larger batch or a pitcher if you are having guests over. This will make your life easier as you won’t have to play bartender and make individual cocktails all night.

When preparing the sugar free margarita, make sure to add in the correct quantities of ingredients as written within the recipe as otherwise you might end up with a very strong or bitter cocktail, which is not what we are going for with this best keto margarita recipe. For a proper professional looking margarita, we suggest using a lime wedge and running it around the rim of each margarita glass. Then, salt the rim of the glasses by dipping them into a plate filled with margarita salt. The salt will stick to the rim due to the lime juice.

With this recipe, you will no longer have to crave margaritas – especially when it’s Mexican night or Cinco de Mayo! This is a guilt free option without all of the extra sugars a blended cocktail would typically have. You can even go all out and have two margaritas since they are so low in carbs! This keto margarita can be served either frozen or on the rocks, solely depending on preference. With the taste of a traditional margarita but with no added sugars, it cannot get better than a skinny margarita! Your friends won’t even realize that this is a low carb version of the traditional margarita!

A typical margarita would have triple sec in it, which is a citrus infused sweet liquor. In this recipe, we use orange extract instead of triple sec and lime juice concentrate to yield a margarita that has zero net carbs. Keto margaritas pair well with Mexican dishes, so if your friends are planning on having a low carb Mexican night, we have got you covered with what you should be bringing with you!

What Goes in a Traditional Margarita?

A traditional lime margarita would be made of tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and sugar. The triple sec and sugar make the margarita not keto friendly as they contain carbs. Some classic margarita recipes even use simple syrup – a sugar water mixture – or orange juice. A typical frozen margarita could easily have 24g of sugar per serving, which would put your body out of ketosis. This skinny margarita recipe is zero net carbs!

What is Triple Sec and is it Low Carb?

Triple sec is a citrus infused sweet liquor. On its own, it tastes like syrup with orange flavor. It contains about 11 grams of sugar per ounce, making it not keto friendly or even low carb.

How to Make a Keto Friendly Margarita

It only takes a few minutes to prepare and just 5 ingredients to make a keto margarita! The process is very simple as all you need to do is add all the ingredients to a blender ( ice, tequila, concentrate or fresh lime juice, orange extract, sweetener) and blend until smooth! The triple sec and sweetener in a classic margarita contain too much sugar and too many carbs. To get around this, we use a sugar-free sweetener (monkfruit blend sweetener) and orange extract in our low carb margarita as they give off the same taste that the triple sec would give in a traditional margarita. You can also use a powdered erythritol sweetener or stevia in this margarita recipe too.

The best part is you don’t have to mess with making a keto simple syrup ahead of time like some other recipes require.

Blended or On the Rocks

Some people prefer their margaritas frozen, while others prefer them on the rocks (aka over ice). You can easily serve this blended margarita on the rocks by using a cocktail shaker. Having margaritas on the rocks is also a good option if you do not own a blender or if your blender is not strong enough to crush ice. Keto margaritas taste delicious both blended and on the rocks. It is all based on personal preference.

If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can make your own by using two glasses.

How Many Carbs are in Tequila

There are a few different main spirits allowed on a keto diet and thankfully, tequila is one of them. There are zero carbs in tequila, meaning it is a fully acceptable alcohol to have while on a keto diet. You can either drink tequila straight, mix it with sugar free mixers or blend it into a cocktail as we do in this recipe!

Variations

You can easily make different variations of keto margaritas. Add strawberries for a strawberry margarita or blackberries for a blackberry margarita. If you prefer a raspberry flavored one, add raspberries. Or try a unique keto cocktail like a cucumber lime margarita. If you prefer a bit of a kick, you can add spices or fresh herbs within the mixture. Be creative! Margaritas are very easy to modify, so your options are endless! The only thing you need to make sure of is to use ingredients and alcohol which are low in sugars and carbs to keep the cocktail keto friendly.