In honor of Cinco de Mayo and my love affair with margaritas, I created a refreshing cocktail recipe – Cantaloupe Margaritas! I was equally inspired to try a new version of the standard lime Mexican cocktail by using up a ripe cantaloupe that was sitting on my kitchen counter and some leftover silver tequila. You’re going to love this recipe!
This cocktail reminds me of the fresh cantaloupe smoothie I ordered once at an authentic Mexican restaurant in our city. Imagine a backdrop of festive music, multi-colored decorations, and authentic food with a fresh drink to go with it. It was like a time warp back to our fabulous visit to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. You can read my travel tips from that vacation here.
This cocktail, made by first blending fresh cantaloupe, is a slight variation of the traditional lime cocktail thanks to the added honey, lemonade, and refined sugar. The sweet additions counterbalance the acidic citrus taste of the freshly squeezed lime juice and lemonade, giving the margarita an easy finish.
After blending the cantaloupe until very smooth, pour it into a cocktail shaker and add the tequila, lime juice, lemonade, honey, and sugar. Shake and strain into ice-filled glasses rimmed pre-rimmed with lime juice and kosher salt. If you want to garnish each glass with more cantaloupe, use a melon baller to form several circular pieces of melon and skewer them with a toothpick. I added fresh mint and a wedge of lime for added color. One look at your finished cocktail, and you’ll quickly take a sip – it’s refreshing and delicious!
As you know, I love to celebrate a holiday or host a party. Inspired by the Cinco de Mayo holiday, my Cantaloupe Margarita is the essential cocktail to accompany sizzling fajitas or savory tacos. Let me know in the comments section how you prepare your favorite party cocktail. I’m always ready to try a new recipe! Cheers.
Cantaloupe Margaritas
Ingredients
- 2 cups blended cantaloupe
- 1/2 cup silver tequila I used Camarena Tequila
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 T lemonade
- 1 T honey
- 1 T sugar
- cubed ice
- Garnish:
- 1 T kosher or maragarita salt
- lime wedge
- sprig of mint
- 2 cantaloupe melon balls
- 1 toothpick
Instructions
- Rim the cocktail glass with a lime wedge and then salt.
- Blend cantaloupe in your blender on puree setting until very smooth. This may take a couple minutes.
- Pour blended cantaloupe in a large cocktail shaker.
- Add tequila, lime juice, lemonade, honey, and sugar.
- Shake vigourously.
- Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish.
Notes
All you need to make this cocktail are two ingredients: apple juice and pumpkin vodka. I use Barnett’s pumpkin vodka, a cheaper distilled variety, but it has great flavor for any fall seasonal drink. So where does the spice come from? Add pumpkin spice to sugared graham cracker dust and rim your glass in it before pouring your shaken cocktail. I garnished this one with an red apple slice.
