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Home » Recipes » Drinks

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas with Salt Sugar Lime Rims

May 27, 2016 Updated March 21, 2025 by Lisa Goldfinger 10 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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frozen grapefruit margarita

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas are the BEST summer cocktail! Fun, frosty and refreshing! And they're perfect if you're entertaining because you can make them ahead of time. They get even slushier and better in the freezer.

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas with Salt Sugar Lime Rims

My main goal when I host a get-together, is to serve the most delicious food and drink imaginable that can be made ahead of time. These Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas are exactly that.

If it's 80 plus degrees outside, as it was on Wednesday evening when I made these for a friend's birthday gathering, all the better! Hand someone a slushy grapefruit margarita on a hot night and you'll be rewarded by smiles of happiness and appreciation.

Frozen margaritas are a perfect celebratory spring/summer cocktail. I love that they can be made the day before and kept, covered in the freezer. In fact they get even better overnight, because they become super slushy. When you're ready to serve, rim the glasses, scoop in the margaritas, and enjoy!

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas with Salt Sugar Lime Rims

I love warm weather entertaining, plotting delicious things to barbecue, fabulous side dishes using fresh summer produce, and great drinks! I've listed some of my favorite summer recipes below.  So if your weekend BBQ menu is still undecided, maybe I can help

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas with Salt Sugar Lime Rims

How to rim a glass for a margarita

Here are some of my favorite festive recipes for summer parties and backyard barbecues:

APPETIZERS & SNACKS FOR THE GRILL

  • Indonesian Grilled Green Beans  with Lemon Aoili
  • Grilled Figs with Prosciutto and Burrata
  • Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Aioli
  • Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms with Grilled Bread
  • Grilled Zucchini Caprese Stacks

MAIN DISHES FOR THE GRILL

  • Korean BBQ Burgers
  • Mexican Spiced Grilled Chicken with Nectarine Salsa
  • Grilled Turkish Kofta Kebabs
  • Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
  • Yakitori Chicken
  • Thai Coconut BBQ Ribs

GREAT SIDES TO GO WITH BARBECUE

  • Out of this World Orzo Pasta Salad
  • Corn Tomato Avocado Salad
  • French Potato Salad
  • Moroccan Carrot Salad
  • Three Bean Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing

Here's the recipe for Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas. If you make them I hope you'll come back and leave a comment to let me know what you think.

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Recipe

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Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas with Salt Sugar Lime Rims

Frozen Grapefruit Margaritas Recipe


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Lisa Goldfihnger
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Yield: 4 cocktails 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A delicious refreshing frozen cocktail that you can make ahead.


Ingredients

Units Scale

For The Margaritas

  • 1 cup ruby red grapefruit juice
  • 1 cup white tequila (I used Espolon Tequila Blanco)
  • 1 cup Cointreau (or substitute Triple Sec)
  • ½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice (4 juicy limes) or bottled pure lime juice not from concentrate
  • 2 cups of ice

For the Rim:

  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 lime, zested and cut into wedges, divided

Garnish:

  • Lime wedges or triangular slices of fresh grapefruit

Instructions

  1. Make the Rim: Pulse sugar, salt and lime zest in a small food processor or spice grinder until fully blended. Spread mixture out on a small plate, making sure it's spread wider than the diameter of your glass.
  2. Make the Margaritas: Combine everything in a blender: grapefruit juice, tequila, cointreau, lime juice and ice. Puree until smooth. Pour into a pitcher and serve or pour into a plastic container, cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. These are great to make ahead. They get nice and slushy if you leave them in the freezer overnight. Just stir, scoop and serve.
  3. To Serve: Make a little cut in a lime wedge, push it down over the rim of a glass, and run it around the perimeter to wet the edge. Press the moistened edge into the rimming mixture. Give the margaritas a good stir before serving. Pour or scoop into rimmed glasses. Garnish with lime wedges or grapefruit slices.
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Cocktail
  • Method: no cook
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on instagram with the hashtag #panningtheglobe

I got wonderful recipe inspiration from many sources for this post: Cooking Light (not longer in publication),  Barefoot Contessa, and Food Network Kitchen

You might also enjoy this post: How To Section a Grapefruit

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Drinks, Entertaining, Mexico, North America, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian Tagged With: cocktail

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

  1. Erin

    May 27, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    Hands down the best home made margaritas ever! So easy to make, and ahead of time too!!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      May 27, 2022 at 9:35 pm

      So glad you enjoyed Erin!

      Reply
  2. Jennifer

    July 23, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    I adore grapefruit and tequila and Anything Frozen. These look amazeballs! Pinned.

    Reply
  3. Dave K

    May 20, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    Hi Lisa - wow, these are delicious! I was at the store and I found a Blood Orange Liqueur made by Solerno. I tried that instead of Cointreau or Triple Sec. It works really well and the drinks are amazing. They are strong but don't taste it... I'll have to take this one slow and enjoy it.

    I figured it would go well with the lamb kebabs I'm marinating in the fridge right now.

    Dave

    Reply
  4. allie @ Through Her Looking Glass

    June 03, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    Hey girl - you are so speaking my language. I love a good frozen margarita!!! The grapefruit is a great twist...and those rims!!! So refreshing.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      June 04, 2016 at 10:38 am

      Thanks Allie!

      Reply
  5. laura@motherwouldknow

    May 28, 2016 at 9:52 am

    Lisa, I'm not much of a cocktail-maker and always enjoy a good one. So I've decided to try to up my game - a decision I just made after reading this post. Now just have to run out to get the makings for this fabulous margarita. On another, more personal note - just had a wonderful time laughing with Allison Sofer over your longstanding connection and our many connections. Now you must come to DC so we can hug in person and break bread (or more importantly, sip margaritas) together:)!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      May 28, 2016 at 12:53 pm

      I hope you enjoyed the margaritas Laura... and you've just convinced me that it's time to plan a trip to DC. I'm going to look at my calendar and be in touch!

      Reply
  6. Donna

    May 27, 2016 at 1:21 pm

    Delish! So good and not too sweet as some drinks can be. Really refreshing and fun.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      May 30, 2016 at 4:05 pm

      Thanks Donna!!

      Reply

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frozen grapefruit margarita

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