Lemon Margarita
Make a margarita with lemon instead of lime! This tequila lemon cocktail is easy, refreshing and can be served frozen or on the rocks.
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“Love this simple cocktail. I’ve made it many times using the single glass recipe. Bright, fresh and delicious.”
—Diana
Can You Make a Margarita With Lemon Instead of Lime?
Hey there! You’re here because you want to make margaritas but you don’t have any limes, or your limes didn’t give you enough lime juice. You probably have a bunch of lemons and you’re wondering “hmmmm can I make a margarita with lemon instead of lime?” Yes, you can!
We’re here to make a lemon margarita, because that’s what you do when life gives you lemons but no limes.
Not only is it delicious, but it’s super easy to make. And you want to know the weird thing? It kind of ends up tasting like . . . a classic margarita.
Let’s walk through how to make these tequila lemon cocktails, plus a few variations, if your heart so desires.
Why You’ll Love This Tequila Lemon Cocktail
- It’s the perfect recipe to keep in your back pocket when life gives you no limes or those dud limes. You know, like, the ones that have hardly any juice and are all mealy inside? If you have a few lemons, you can still make margaritas.
- Lemons are cheap and plentiful and almost always juicy. Plus, they’re way faster to juice than limes!
- There’s lots of variations so you can make it to your taste – on the rocks, spicy, or sweeter with strawberries!
Tequila Lemon Drop vs. Lemon Margarita
What’s the difference between a lemon drop and a margarita? A lemon drop is traditionally vodka-based, and often served as a shot. This drink is more of a margarita, since it uses tequila and orange liqueur, but people call it a “tequila lemon drop” because it does still taste a lot like a lemon drop.
Lemon Margarita Ingredients
A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.
- sugar – regular white granulated sugar is the sweetener for the lemon simple syrup we’re making. If you don’t want to make the simple syrup, you can use a squirt of agave syrup instead.
- lemons – fresh ones! You’ll need the peel of 1 whole lemon to make the simple syrup, plus lots more fresh lemon juice to make the margaritas.
- tequila – we prefer a blanco (white/clear) tequila for this recipe, but you can use reposado, if that’s what you have on hand.
- triple sec – this orange-flavored liqueur both sweetens and adds extra flavor to these lemon margaritas. We prefer a higher-end one like Cointreau or Grand Marnier, but an affordable brand like Dekuyper works just as well.
- sugar and/or salt for rim of the glass – you might prefer your tequila glasses rimmed with all sugar or all kosher salt, or a combination of the two. Whatever you like best is what you should do!
Use FRESH Lemon Juice For Margaritas
If you want to save a little bit of time and use store-bought simple syrup instead of making your own lemon simple syrup for these lemon drop margaritas, by all means, do it!
Your lemon margaritas will be slightly less lemony using plain simple syrup instead of lemon simple syrup, but thanks to the generous amount of fresh lemon juice in the cocktail, it should still be plenty lemony.
But one thing we do NOT recommend is store-bought bottled lemon juice for this tequila lemon cocktail. We don’t recommend that for anything, actually. If you’re going to the trouble to make margaritas from scratch, just buy and juice some fresh lemons, please. It’s worth it for that real lemon flavor.
How to Make Lemon Cocktails
- HEAT. Heat the sugar, water and lemon peel in a small pot until all the sugar is dissolved.
- STEEP. Remove the simple syrup from the heat and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then, remove and discard the lemon peel and refrigerate until cool.
- BLEND. Place the ice, lemon juice, tequila, triple sec and simple syrup in a blender and blend until well combined. Serve in a salt- or sugar-rimmed glass, garnished with a lemon wedge or slice, if desired.
Tequila Lemon Drop Home Chef Tips
- You can also make these lemon cocktails with agave nectar instead of simple syrup. Start with about half the amount of agave nectar, then taste and adjust sweetness to your liking.
- For a unique smoky flavor, add a splash of mezcal in addition to the tequila.
Mixed Drinks With Lemon Variations
- Lemon Margarita On The Rocks – don’t love a frozen beverage? Simply stir the ingredients together with some ice cubes in a glass for a tequila lemon cocktail on the rocks.
- Jalapeño Lemon Margarita – spicy margaritas have been super popular at bars and restaurants the last few years! This is easy to make at home by adding a few slices of fresh jalapeño to the blender before you blend the drink up.
- Strawberry Lemon Margarita – add a handful of fresh sliced strawberries to the blender! Or blueberries, or blackberries or raspberries.
Serving A Lemon Drop With Tequila As A Shot
If you want to serve this lemon margarita recipe more like a shot, you can keep the proportions of the liquid ingredients the same as listed below, but just shake everything up with one scoop of ice in a cocktail shaker.
Then, once everything is shaken and nicely chilled, divide the liquid between shot glasses, and you’ve got tequila lemon drops!
The recipe below will yield 8 generous 2 ounce shots.
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Lemon Margarita
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Ingredients
For the Lemon Simple Syrup:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- Peel of 1 lemon
For the Lemon Drop Margaritas:
- 4 cups ice
- 6 ounces fresh lemon juice
- 6 ounces tequila
- 4 ounces Lemon Simple Syrup
- 1 ounce triple sec
- Salt and/or sugar for rim of glasses (optional)
Instructions
Make the Lemon Simple Syrup:
- In small saucepot, heat sugar, water and lemon peel over medium-high heat. Cook until all sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally (do not boil). Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Remove and discard lemon peel; transfer syrup to jar or bottle and refrigerate until completely cool. Makes about 8 ounces (enough for 8 margaritas).
Make the Lemon Drop Margaritas:
- Place ice, lemon juice, tequila, 4 ounces Lemon Simple Syrup and triple sec in blender; blend until well combined. Divide between 4 glasses garnished with salt and/or sugar, if desired.
Love this simple cocktail. I’ve made it many times using the single glass recipe. Bright, fresh and delicious.
I’m so glad to hear that, Diana! Sometimes, one perfect, simple cocktail is all you need.
Lori, someone taught me that the way to get juicy limes is to choose ones with very smooth skin (fine pores). I think they are usually shinier looking, too. That has usually worked very well for me. Hopefully it will for you, too. If you have any recommendations for good tequila, I would be interested because I really don’t know much about it.
Thank you so much for this lime tip! I had never heard this, but now I will keep it in mind. I’ve never known how to choose the best limes, and I just HATE ending up with those ones that seem to be all flesh, no juice inside.
Susan, I realized I forgot to respond to your question about tequila. The one that we always keep stocked in our bar is Herradura Blanco. Mid-range in price so won’t totally break the bank, but also not the cheap cheap stuff. It has a nice neutral flavor that works really well in margaritas and palomas. We love it!
Thank, Lori! I’ll make sure I keep that information handy.
Hi Andrew – it’s from Sur La Table!