Keto Skinny Margarita Recipe

This is a recipe for the BEST Keto Skinny Margaritas!  They are low carb, easy to make and go awesome with just about anything, especially Mexican dishes!

Margaritas anyone?? I don’t know about you, but a margarita is definitely one of my favorite drinks. A lot of restaurants will have versions that normally are loaded with sugar, but a good traditional Marg is made with just tequila, fresh lime juice, and either a Cointreau or a Grand Marnier.

It’s gonna be the last 2 liquors that are a problem if eating Keto and Low Carb. 

But don’t worry my husband came up with a yummy Keto Margarita that is Low Carb for all of you out there.

Can you Have a Margarita on the Keto Diet?

Having a margarita while on the Keto diet is ok, but you need to make it specifically for Keto.

Ordering a normal margarita at a restaurant is NOT going to be ok because it’s full of sugar. This recipe for our Keto Margarita is totally acceptable. 

When it comes to alcoholic drinks it’s pretty straightforward. Spirits like tequila, vodka, gin, whiskey, brandy, and cognac have ZERO CARBS, which means on Keto they are totally acceptable.

Your problem is going to be what you add to any of these spirits. You need to avoid adding things like juice, tonic, soft drinks, or sweet cream to any spirit. 

The worst option is going to be mixing alcohol with soda or juice, it’s going to be sugar overload. 

So when you’re craving a margarita, try this Keto Margarita and it will definitely hit the spot without adding all that extra sugar you certainly don’t need. 

What is the Difference between a Skinny Margarita, Keto Margarita and a Regular Margarita?

REGULAR MARGARITA – This is what you are gonna find at a lot of restaurants, especially chain restaurants. They use a pre-made margarita mix, that’s added to the tequila. There are a few different brands of margarita mixes out there but I’m gonna use the Jose Cuervo mix as an example. 

For a 4-oz serving of this margarita mix has just over 100 calories, which all come from carbohydrates. Each serving has 24 g of carbs! It’s basically a blend of water, corn syrup, and sugar. 

SKINNY MARGARITA – Its name basically gives it away…it’s a lower-calorie version of a regular margarita. Asking for your margarita to be Skinny means that instead of adding that gross sweet syrupy mix, they will keep it nice and simple with just 3 ingredients: tequila, fresh lime juice, and an orange-flavored liqueur. 

Getting it made Skinny is going to save you calories, but not carbs. The orange-flavored liqueur such as Triple Sec, Cointreau and Grand Marnier is where your sugar and carbs are going to be.

KETO MARGARITA –  This is still a lower-calorie margarita. It has tequila, fresh lime juice, but instead of having an orange-flavored liqueur, I’ve been using an orange-flavored seltzer. It has zero calories but has a nice little orange flavor. If you like your margs a bit sweeter then using a zero-calorie sweetener is what you want to do. 

Our Keto Margarita recipe only has 1.2 Net Carbs, a major difference between this and a regular one.

Here are the Super Simple Ingredients to Make a Keto Margarita:

Tequila – Make sure to choose a good tequila! 

My recommendations are the following : (keep in mind alcohol prices are different based on where you live. My list is based on prices in Northwestern CT)  

• Lunazul Blanco or Reposado – cheaper 
• 1800 Blanco – moderately priced
• Sauza Hornitos – moderately priced
• Patron – more expensive 
• Don Julio – more expensive

Fresh Lime Juice – Very Important….fresh lime juice. I buy Organic freshly squeezed lime juice in a bottle, especially when making margaritas for a lot of people. Otherwise, we will just get a big bag of limes and squeeze them. 

If you ask real margarita lovers they will tell you that fresh squeezed lime juice is a must, in fact some of them will even take a cheap tequila as long as they can have fresh lime juice. 

But like I said, if you need to use a bottled lime juice, please please please make sure it’s a bottle of fresh organic squeezed lime juice.

The only one we use is called Santa Cruz Organic 100% Lime Juice. You can find it at most grocery stores.

Orange Seltzer – I know it sounds odd, but try it. Usually, in a traditional margarita, you would use a triple sec or another type of orange liquor. But like I said in the beginning, it’s gonna be higher in sugar.

So by adding just a little bit of orange seltzer, you’re getting that little bit of orange flavor, with absolutely no sugar or carbs to it. Plus it gives you just a slight bit of fizz. It’s a good addition. 

Powdered Swerve – You have to use a powdered sweetener, I used powdered Swerve. But you can use a liquid sweetener such as Lakanto Liquid Monkfruit extract. This is just gonna make your margarita a little bit sweet.

Feel free to omit this if you like your margaritas really strong, or if you like them on the sweeter side you can add more than I used. 

What can Replace Triple Sec in a Margarita?  Is Triple Sec Necessary for Margaritas?

There’s a few things that can replace triple sec, but it’s dependent on whether you’re making a Keto Margarita or a traditional one.

If making a Keto marg, you can substitute triple sec with orange seltzer like I did in this recipe. But another alternative is adding a little bit of orange extract or some orange zest.

Now if you’re not on Keto or not counting your carbs then my recommendations are a little bit different. Here’s a few my husband has tried that make it delicious…Cointreau and Grand Marnier. Both of them are orange liqueurs and are perfect for your margaritas. 

How to make a Keto Margarita: 

1. Get your glasses out and grab a lime. Cut a lime wedge and run it around the rim of your glasses. 

2. Sprinkle some coarse salt onto a plate, and dip the rim into the salt making sure to coat the whole thing. 

3. In a cocktail shaker, fill it up with ice. Add the tequila, fresh lime juice, and powdered Swerve. Shake well. 

4. Once it’s all mixed, add your orange seltzer and give it 1 or 2 shakes. Be careful, not to over shake it, because the seltzer will start to fizz up. 

5. Fill your glasses with ice, and strain the margarita into your glasses. Add a wedge of fresh lime, and now you’re ready to enjoy! 

How Many Carbs are in a Keto Margarita?

One of the best things about this Keto skinny margarita recipe is that it’s only 1.2 NET CARBS. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty good!  You might even want to have 2 of them since the carbs are so low!

On the Rocks or Frozen? 

If given a choice I will most every single time choose on the rocks, and my husband will choose most of the time a frozen marg. Which let me tell you is so nice, cause then he’s not drinking my margarita 😉

It’s all about preference, cause they both taste delicious. Here is a quick easy way to make this recipe frozen instead of on the rocks:

1. Grab your blender and fill with ice cubes.
2. Add tequila, fresh lime juice, powdered swerve. Turn on the blender, and blend until a slushy consistency. 
3. Add the orange seltzer, and pulse a couple of times. 

See easy right?! Now you have a nice refreshing frozen Keto Margarita cocktail!  

More Margarita Variations: 

There are so many different types of fruit and other ingredients that can be added to your margarita. These are just a couple of small additions that you can make:

Add Jalapeno’s – It’s not my thing, but a lot of people love to add a little kick to their margarita. Simply muddle 1 or 2 slices of jalapenos and add it to your drink. Start off small, add more if you want a much bigger kick. 

Add Fresh Herbs – I’m a huge mint fan, so I go to my garden and grab a few fresh sprigs and muddle that in a glass. Then add it to my margarita.

If you want to experiment with some other herbs, feel free to try some basil, cilantro, or even lavender. But whatever you do make sure your herbs are fresh. 

Mezcal – This has been a new thing my husband has been into. He loves scotch and loves tequila so Mezcal is the perfect liquor.

It’s actually made from the same blue agave plant as tequila, but instead of the agave being baked in the oven which is what they do for tequila, it’s buried in pits with hot rocks and smoked. 

So the flavor is similar to tequila but has a smoky and earthy taste. Some people say that it’s the “scotch” of the tequila family. If you just want a little smoky flavor, then you can do half tequila and half mezcal. 

Tips to Make Margaritas Taste Better:

1. Make sure your quantities are correct. It’s a common mistake that people make, thinking that it’s equal parts of tequila and lime juice. But you don’t want to add too much lime juice, you want a bit more tequila then lime. 
2. Use a cocktail shaker, don’t stir it. When you shake it with ice it chills it, and also blends all your ingredients nicely. 
3. Be creative with your margaritas. A lime marg is basically like a blank canvas. You can add strawberries, grapefruit, pineapples, watermelon, mango, blackberries, blueberries….your options are endless. 

How to Make a Pitcher of Margaritas:

Having a crowd of people over and don’t feel like playing bartender all night? Making a pitcher of margs is the simple solution. 

1. First prep all your glasses with salty rims and a juicy lime wedge, and fill with ice, then set aside. 

2. Next, get a large pitcher and add all your ingredients together, stir it all up. 

3. Taste and then add more sweetener if desired. Add small amounts at a time, you don’t want it too icky sweet. 

4. Pour into your glasses and serve on the rocks.

What Food Goes Well with a Margarita?

I’m gonna give you a simple answer and say almost everything! 

Now for the more detailed answer. Ok, well it is pretty true that you can pair a margarita with so many things, that it’s hard for me to tell you everything. I’d say tequila is a pretty versatile spirit, which makes food pairings pretty easy. 

When my husband is making margaritas at night, it’s usually just because we both are like “hey let’s have a marg tonight with dinner.” He and I will drink a margarita, with basically any type of dish I make. But here are some ideas of what you can pair it with. 

• Keto Tacos with Cheese Taco Shells – Ok so this one is easy. Tacos and margaritas pretty much always go hand in hand with each other. 100% of the time if I’m eating tacos, I’m gonna be drinking a nice yummy margarita to go with it. 
• Low Carb Chips and Homemade Salsa
• Guacamole
• Mexican Taco Salad
• Seafood – including ceviche, tuna tartar, and of course fish tacos.

These are just some basic ideas. As I said, feel free to have your margarita with any food you want…burgers, pasta, salads. The sky is endless. 

I’ve been in the mood lately for Mexican and that’s what I’ve been cooking. And all of these recipes I’ve been making goes especially good with this yummy Keto Margarita:

• Mango Salsa
• Avocado Salsa
• Low Carb Tortilla Chips

How do you Order a Healthy Margarita?

You need to be very clear with the bartender or waiter. Tell them you don’t want any sour mix in your margarita, even agave nectar is high in sugar. 

Tell them all you want is tequila, a little bit of triple sec and of course fresh lime juice. 

Now, this is not a Keto Margarita, but it is healthier and in my opinion, a way better tasting one than those sugary pre-mixed ones you find at a lot of restaurants. 

What Cocktails Can I Drink on Keto Diet?

There are a lot of low-carb alcohol options that are available to you while following a keto and low carb diet. Like I said already, your main spirits (Vodka, Tequila, Cognac, Gin, Whiskey and Brandy are completely free of carbs. So you can drink them straight, or you can mix them with some low-carb mixers.

Instead of using juices, sodas or even energy drinks, you can use seltzers, sugar-free tonic water, and even diet soda….even though I’m not a fan of diet sodas. 

A few common drinks that you can make Keto friendly include, mojitos, moscow mules, lemon drop martinis, bloody marys, and even cosmos. 

We have a great Moscow Mule recipe we’re working on now and will have that up on the site shortly!

If You Like this Recipe:

If you’re looking for something good to go with your Keto Margaritas, then check out some of our other Low Carb Mexican Recipes:

• Keto Cheese Taco Shells
• Easy Keto Salsa
• Low Carb Tortilla Chips
• Avocado Salsa
• Mango Salsa

All of them are low carb and your family and friends will love them!

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