A Better-for-You Cocktail!
This week on the blog we’re sharing four fruity, lightened-up, Better-for-You Cocktail recipes. Cocktails that are made with MUCH less sugar, refreshing, easy-to-make, and perfect for sipping on when the sun is shining and the temps are rising! Frozen Pineapple Margaritas is the third recipe of our Better-for-You Cocktail series—joining the refreshing Watermelon Mojito and Low-Sugar Paloma. Many of you love our Real Food Margaritas—a more traditional, on-the-rocks margarita which is one or our personal favorites as well! However, if you’re looking for that perfect summer drink and like the idea of a frozen margarita, you can now consider this blog a one-stop shop! You’re going to love our Frozen Pineapple Margaritas. They’re not only a delightful and delicious drink, they’re also incredibly easy to make. We’ve lightened them up by letting the natural sweetness of the pineapple shine. You won’t find any added sugar, no juice concentrates, and no pre-made margaritas mixes in this recipe. All you need is freshly squeezed orange juice, lime juice, a bag of frozen pineapple, and tequila. Looking for a non-alcoholic option? No problem. If you’d like to make this margarita a ‘mocktail’, simply omit the tequila and add a splash of lime flavored sparkling water.
Ingredients for Frozen Pineapple Margaritas
Made with just a few simple ingredients!
Frozen pineapples – we made this recipe especially easy for you by making it with a bag of frozen pineapple. However, if you wish to use fresh pineapple you certainly can. You’ll just want to cube the pineapple and freeze it before making the margaritas. Lime juice – while you can use store-bought lime juice, we love freshly squeezed lime juice as we feel it gives a more authentic flavor and it really only takes a minute to juice the limes with a manual juicer. Orange juice – like the lime juice you can certainly use a store-bought orange juice but we think freshly squeezed orange juice is best! Again, a manual juicer works great. Simply slice the oranges in small enough pieces to juice. Tequila – as with the Low-Sugar Paloma, we like to use tequila Blanco (or silver) in this recipe for its clean and smooth taste. Course salt or coconut sugar or a mix – while optional, a little coarse salt (or coconut sugar or a mix) on the rim complements the naturally sweet-tart flavors of the pineapple and citrus. Plus it looks pretty, too! Ice
Note: if you’d like to add a touch of sweetness, feel free to add honey or agave nectar. We recommend taste testing first before adding the sweetener as the pineapple will likely be sweet enough.
How to make Frozen Pineapple Margaritas
As mentioned above, this recipe is incredibly easy to make. Simply juice the limes and oranges (here’s a manual juice that works great). Add the juices, frozen pineapple, and tequila to a blender and blend until smooth and no chunks remain. To serve, rim the glasses with course salt or coconut sugar or a mix. To do this, pour a little coarse salt (or sugar or a mix) into a shallow bowl or dish. Now take a wedge of lime and run it around the rim of each glass and invert the glasses, one at a time, into the salt and twist the glass back and forth a few times. Now to the best part—fill each glass with the blended margarita, kick your feet up and enjoy! If you want to get extra fancy, you can add a lime slice and/or fresh pineapple triangle to the rim of the glass and top it with a fresh mint leaf.
Can the limes and oranges be juiced ahead of time?
Absolutely. Feel free to juice the limes and oranges up to 48 hours in advance. Store in a mason jar, in the fridge until ready to use.
Can the margaritas be made with store-bought orange and lime juice?
You sure could! However, we do feel they taste best with freshly squeezed juices but we understand if you want to make this recipe extra easy with the use of pre-made juices.
Other refreshing cocktail recipes you’ll love
Real Food Margaritas Cucumber Basil Moscow Mule Strawberry Kombucha Mojito Watermelon Mojitos Low-Sugar Paloma Raspberry-Peach Rosé Sangria
Pin now, make later!
**To make as a mocktail: Omit the tequila and replace with lime-flavored sparkling water All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
