Ditch the sugary mixes and enjoy our Skinny Margarita recipe for a crisp, vibrant cocktail that delivers all the classic margarita flavor with fewer calories. This refreshing drink combines fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, quality tequila, and a little agave syrup for a clean taste that won’t weigh you down. Perfect for weeknight happy hours, weekend gatherings, or anytime you want a lighter option without sacrificing that authentic margarita taste.
After five years of sipping on this skinny marg in the comfort of our own home, we’ve perfected the balance of tart, sweet, and smooth. As dedicated home mixologists, we’ve learned the secret to an exceptional skinny margarita lies in using fresh-squeezed citrus and a high-quality tequila; never bottled mixes or sour concentrate. Each component has been thoughtfully balanced for the ideal flavor profile to give you that authentic margarita experience without the excess sugar and calories. The result is a cleaner, brighter cocktail that lets the natural ingredients shine through in every sip.
If you’re a fan of lighter cocktail recipes, this fresh lime margarita with orange juice belongs in your rotation. Like our popular Skinny Pineapple Margarita, Paloma, and Vodka Press recipes, this drink features fresh juices for vibrant flavor while keeping the calorie count low. Simple to make with readily available ingredients, you’ll wonder why you ever settled for premade mixes.
What is a Skinny Margarita?
A skinny margarita typically swaps out the orange liqueur in a classic margarita for fresh orange juice for a lower-calorie cocktail. If sweetened, it’s usually done so with agave syrup, a natural sweetener.
You’ll Love This Recipe for Skinny Margaritas!
Light and fresh! These margaritas are bright and fresh thanks to the use of fresh lime and orange juices.
No funny ingredients or mixes. This recipe ditches the sweet-and-sour mix you often get in margaritas at a bar and uses real ingredients (you know, along with tequila, it IS a margarita after all).
Lower calorie option. Because this recipe just uses tequila and fresh juices with a little agave, it has fewer calories than a classic margarita does.
Customizable. Want it a little more limey, sweeter, or bit more boozy? Go for it! Simply adjust that ingredient until it’s your perfect marg.
Skinny Margarita Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh Lime Juice. Lime juice is a standard margarita ingredient that adds a lovely pop of citrus to our cocktail. Fresh squeezed tastes best, especially in this skinny version.
- Fresh Orange Juice. For a skinny margarita, we use fresh orange juice instead of an orange liqueur. It still adds the citrusy orange flavor to our drink, but with less calories and sugar.
- Blanco Tequila. A high quality tequila makes a high quality margarita!
- Agave Syrup. Sweetens our cocktail naturally, and helps to balance out the sharp citrus.
- Ice. Used for shaking and serving.
- Optional Garnish: Lime Wedge and/or Orange Wedge. Simple and easy, pop a wedge of lime and/or orange onto the edge of your glass (or toss it right into your drink!).
- Optional: Salt Rim. Adding a salt rim to a skinny marg not only looks nice, but adds a nice contract of flavor to your light and fresh cocktail.
See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for all ingredient measurements and recipe details.
The Best Tequila for Margaritas: Blanco or Reposado
Tequila blanco, also called white tequila or silver tequila, is the best tequila option to use in margaritas. This unaged tequila has a clean, crisp flavor that let’s the other ingredients’ flavors shine. Because of this light flavor and it’s affordable price-point, blanco tequila is often considered one of the best types of tequila for mixed drinks.
For a premium cocktail use a reposado tequila. Aged up to 1 year, reposado tequilas still have a mellow flavor and a bit of sweetness (often showcasing notes of caramel and vanilla). This type of tequila is often used in premium mixed drinks.
How to make a Skinny Margarita
If rimming your glass, run a lime or orange wedge around the rim of your glass.
Then dip the rim of the glass (or gently roll it) in coarse salt. Set aside.
Add the tequila, lime juice, orange juice, and agave syrup to a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice.
Cap the shaker tightly and vigorously shake until the outside of the shaker is very cold (about 15 seconds).
Strain the cocktail into your serving glass with ice.
If desired, add a lime and/or orange wedge for garnish and enjoy!
Skinny Margarita Variations
Make it spicy! If you love a spicy margarita, muddle a jalapeno slice in the cocktail shaker before adding in the rest of your ingredients and shaking. Garnish with a slice of jalapeno too.
Use simple syrup instead of agave syrup. If you have classic simple syrup on hand (or even a batch of our honey simple syrup), you can use this to sweeten your cocktail in place of the agave. Start with a 1-to-1 swap and adjust according to your taste.
Skip the sweetener. If you like a zingy, citrus-forward drink, try skipping the agave all together. If an unsweetened marg is delicious to you, this is another way to reduce the calories in your cocktail.
What to Serve With Skinny Margaritas
Like any margarita, this drink pairs nicely with any of your favorite Mexican and Tex-Mex foods!
You really can’t beat sipping on a marg with a side of chips, salsa, and some guacamole. Or enjoy your drink with a meal like our crispy fish tacos, vegetarian sheet pan tacos with chimichurri, or using our slow cooker salsa chicken for tacos!
Best Skinny Margarita Recipe FAQs
Skinny margaritas are definitely a lighter alternative to traditional margaritas! By swapping out the orange liqueur for fresh orange juice and using just a touch of agave syrup instead of sugary mixes, you’re cutting out a significant amount of calories and added sugar. Our skinny margarita recipe focuses on fresh, real ingredients like fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, quality tequila, and natural agave sweetener. It’s a cleaner, brighter cocktail that proves you don’t have to sacrifice taste for a lighter option.
Yes! Our skinny margarita contains less alcohol than our traditional margarita because we use fresh orange juice instead of orange liqueur. Our skinny version has 1.5 ounces of alcohol compared to 3 ounces in the classic. So you’re getting a lighter cocktail in more ways than one!
Love This Recipe? Try One of These Easy Tequila Cocktails Next!
Best Skinny Margarita Recipe
Equipment
- Rocks or Margarita Glass (for serving)
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounces blanco tequila (or reposado tequila)
- 2 ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 2 ounces fresh-squeezed lime juice
- .5 ounce light agave syrup
- ice (for shaking and serving)
- optional: course salt for the rim
- optional: lime and/or orange wedge for garnish
Instructions
- If rimming your glass, run a lime or orange wedge around the rim of your glass and dip it in (or gently roll it in) coarse salt. Set aside.
- Pour the tequila, orange juice, lime juice, and agave syrup into a cocktail shaker half filled with ice.
- Cap the shaker tightly and vigorously shake until the outside of the shaker is very cold (about 15 seconds).
- Strain the contents into your serving glass with ice.
- If desired, add a lime and/or orange wedge for garnish and enjoy!
Notes
- Make it boozier. If desired, increase the amount of tequila to 2 ounces per serving (or more, you do you).
- Make it spicy! Muddle a jalapeno slice in the cocktail shaker before adding in the rest of your ingredients and shaking. Garnish with a slice of jalapeno if desired.
- Use simple syrup instead of agave syrup. Replace the agave syrup with classic simple syrup or honey simple syrup if desired. Start with a 1-to-1 swap and adjust according to your taste.
- Skip the sweetener. If you like a zingy, citrus-forward drink, you can skip the agave all together. This will reduce the amount of calories even more.
Meredith says
My favorite margarita recipe!