This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
Get ready for happy hour with these refreshing passionfruit margaritas. It's a delicious spin on a traditional margarita with tropical flair and a little bit of spice from a Tajín rim. This tequila cocktail can be made with either fresh passionfruit or bottled passionfruit nectar. It's also easily turned into a mocktail. Cheers!
I originally came up with a version of this passionfruit chili margarita back in 2010 as a riff on a cocktail that me and my husband enjoyed at a local steakhouse (that has since closed).
We really loved the combination of sweet, spicy, and sour in this cocktail recipe. Since that original incarnation, we've learned a lot about making cocktails at home, so I wanted to revisit this one to see if I could improve upon it.
You know, for science 😉.
In my testing, I wanted to offer options for using fresh passionfruit and also the bottled cocktail/juice/nectar. Fresh passionfruit can be expensive, and not everyone enjoys the texture of the seeds.
I'm happy to say that I've now perfected this passionfruit cocktail (including a mocktail variation) and am thrilled to share the new and improved recipe with you!
If you're looking for more summery tequila cocktail options, this guava cocktail and this watermelon cocktail are also great choices.
Jump to:
🧡 Why we love this cocktail
- It brings out tropical vibes even when it feels less than tropical outside.
- Swapping out the tequila for coconut water makes it easy to turn these passionfruit margaritas into a delicious mocktail option.
- Rimming the glasses with Tajín (or other chili lime seasoning blend) gives us the best of both salty and spicy to balance out the fruit in this cocktail.
- The option to use fresh or bottled passionfruit makes it doable all year round (or when the fresh fruit is cost-prohibitive).
- This recipe can be easily scaled up for a crowd.
📝 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make passionfruit margaritas at home (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full directions):
- Passionfruit cocktail (sometimes called passionfruit nectar or passionfruit juice) or fresh passionfruit
- Tequila blanco - swap this for coconut water if making a mocktail variation.
- Freshly squeezed lime juice
- Agave syrup
- Orange bitters - feel free to omit if keeping it non-alcoholic and add a squeeze of fresh orange juice instead, if desired.
- Tajín, Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend, or a homemade blend - for garnishing the rim.
🥃 Ingredient Spotlight: Tequila
This recipe uses tequila blanco which can be found in your local liquor store.
Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the agave plant that is produced in only 5 areas of Mexico.
Depending on the aging process, tequila is bottled and sold in a few different styles:
- Blanco (white) – Tequila that is unaged or slightly aged (less than 2 months). Some distillers call tequila blanco "the essence of tequila". Great for mixing into cocktails.
- Joven (young) – Usually made from a blend of aged tequila and unaged tequila.
- Reposado (rested) – Tequila that has been aged for at least two months, and up to a year. This tequila is darker and has a deeper flavor.
- Añejo (aged) – Tequila that has been aged for at least a year but less than 3 years, traditionally in oak barrels. It has a deep golden color and complex layers of flavor from the aging process.
- Extra Añejo (very aged) – Tequilas that have been aged for at least 3 years. This is a growing category of tequila that has a lot of complexity of flavor, depending on the types of wood used in the aging barrels.
Here are a few resources if you'd like to learn more about the different varieties and styles of tequila:
💛 How to tell if passionfruit is ripe
Choosing passionfruit from the store can feel intimidating, but it doesn't need to be! My supermarket had a sign above all of the tropical fruits describing how to determine when each fruit is ripe.
If your store doesn't have a handy guide like that, just know that wrinkles are a good thing when it comes to a nice, ripe passionfruit.
Whole passionfruit are often sold when they're smooth on the outside. If you see a wrinkly one, grab it because it's ripe!
If your passionfruit isn't ripe yet, just let it sit on the counter for a few days until it gets nice and wrinkly. Those "ugly" wrinkly ones are the fruit at its best!
✅ How to make this recipe
- Rim a double rocks glass with chili lime seasoning.
- Shake the remaining ingredients together in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Fill the rimmed glass with ice and strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with a lime wheel, if desired, and enjoy!
See recipe card below for full instructions.
📌 Tips
If using fresh passionfruit, add it directly to the cocktail glass. The seeds are too big to make it through the strainer when pouring your cocktail. You'll likely want to give your finished cocktail a stir with a bar spoon to combine.
To adhere the seasoning to your cocktail glass, you'll need to wet the rim. I like using one of the limes that I juiced for the cocktail mixture. Just rub the cut-side around the edge of the glass.
If you'd like something a little sweeter, you can use agave nectar to adhere the seasoning.
You can also rub it on just a portion of the glass, like what you see in the photos for this recipe.
Pour your chili lime seasoning of choice onto a plate or other flat surface wide enough to fit the diameter of your glass. Invert the lime-coated glass and gently press it into the seasoning to adhere.
🍹 Nonalcoholic "Mocktail" Variation
We like trying to find alternatives to alcoholic beverages so our son can enjoy a "fancy drink" with us. It's also great for those who either choose not to drink alcohol or aren't able to imbibe.
To make this an alcohol-free passionfruit "mocktail", simply replace the tequila with coconut water. You can also omit the orange bitters and swap them out with a squeeze of fresh orange juice if desired.
I really enjoyed this nonalcoholic variation. It made for a nice, midday break at my desk!
🔪 Equipment
You don't need anything fancy to make these passionfruit margaritas. You can use regular measuring cups and spoons, etc. If you plan to make drinks at home often, here are a few things that will help make your cocktail mixing more smoothly:
- A jigger for measuring your ingredients.
- A cocktail shaker for mixing everything together.
- A citrus juicer to press all of the juice form the limes.
- A Hawthorne strainer if your shaker doesn't have a built-in strainer.
- A bar spoon for stirring ice-filled drinks without making a big mess.
🍹 Still thirsty? You may also like...
Do these passionfruit margaritas have you looking for more refreshing, summery cocktail recipes? Try these:
Doing some online shopping? Check out my Amazon shop page for recommendations!
Print📖 Recipe
Passionfruit Margaritas
- Prep Time: 5 Minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 Cocktail 1x
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Cocktaill Shaker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Get ready for happy hour with this passionfruit margarita. It's a delicious spin on a traditional margarita with tropical flair and a little bit of spice from a Tajín rim. This tequila cocktail can be made with either fresh passionfruit or bottled passionfruit nectar. It's also easily turned into a mocktail. Cheers!
Ingredients
For the cocktail:
- 1 ½ oz passionfruit cocktail OR fresh passionfruit pulp (about 1 passionfruit)
- 2 oz tequila blanco*
- ¾ oz lime juice
- ¼ oz agave syrup
- 2 dashes orange bitters*
For the glass (optional):
- Chili lime seasoning, such as Tajín, Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend, or a homemade blend
- Lime wheel
Instructions
- Rub the cut side of one of your juiced limes around the edge of a chilled double rocks glass and coat the rim with chile lime seasoning.
- Fill the rimmed glass with ice. If using fresh passionfruit, add the pulp to the glass.
- To a cocktail shaker, add passionfruit cocktail (if not using fresh), tequila, lime juice, agave, and orange bitters to a cocktail shaker. Fill past the top of the liquid with ice, close, and shake well.
- Strain the cocktail into the prepared glass. If using fresh passionfruit, you'll likely want to give your cocktail a stir with a bar spoon to combine. Garnish with a lime wheel, if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
Passionfruit cocktail is sometimes called passionfruit nectar or passionfruit juice.
See post above for notes on different types of tequila and how to rim a cocktail glass.
*For a mocktail variation: Swap the tequila for coconut water. You can also omit the orange bitters if keeping it nonalcoholic - feel free to add a squeeze of fresh orange juice instead if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cocktail
- Calories: 198
- Sugar: 9.9 g
- Sodium: 13.2 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.1 g
- Fiber: 4.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Comments
No Comments