This easy, not-too-sweet berry margaritas recipe uses fresh summer blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries for a colorful twist on a refreshing tequila cocktail. Make a quick berry simple syrup, then shake it up with lime juice and tequila for the perfect summer sipper. No margarita mix required! Recipe for 21+; please drink responsibly.
This mixed berry margarita recipe is a fun twist on the classic cocktail for those days when you want a drink that tastes like sunshine. It's perfect for warmer weather and made from scratch (without margarita mix!) The gorgeous color comes from a quick homemade berry simple syrup.
Just prepare the simple syrup, shake it up with your favorite tequila and a bit of lime juice, and enjoy. It’s balanced, fruity, and fun to sip without being overly sweet.
Ingredients
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
Before you jump in, there are a few things we want to highlight:
- Berries! We use fresh blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries as the backbone of our fruit syrup, but you can use whatever berry combo you like! Raspberries (à la our raspberry margaritas) and cranberries are tasty additions here. Frozen berries also work well if fresh berries aren't in season.
- Tequila. Use whatever tequila you love to drink! Some of our favorites are Espolòn Blanco, Milagro, or Casamigos.
- Lime juice is essential to a great margarita. For best results, skip the bottled stuff and squeeze your own fresh lime juice for this recipe!
- Sugar lends sweetness and a bit of viscosity to our simple syrup. We'll also use it to create a sugar rim on our cocktail glasses (though you can do a salted rim instead if you prefer!)
Variations and Substitutions
- Mix up the fruit. Use just one berry type in the simple syrup, adjust the ratio of mixed berries, or use another fruit entirely! Peaches make excellent cocktail syrup (à la our peach bourbon spritzers), as do mangoes, raspberries, and cherries.
- Add fresh herbs (like a few sprigs of thyme, basil, or rosemary) to the syrup as it cooks for more depth (similar to our blackberry whiskey lemonade!)
- Adjust the amount of sugar to suit your tastes! Less sugar will give your cocktails a more tart flavor.
- For a more complex simple syrup, use brown sugar, demerara, or turbinado sugar instead of white sugar. If you prefer no refined sugar, swap it for honey or maple syrup.
- Amp up the citrus with a splash of orange juice or your favorite orange liqueur (like Cointreau or Grand Marnier). If you add triple sec to these drinks, we recommend reducing the sugar in your simple syrup.
- Make it a mocktail. Skip the booze and use sparkling water for a light NA spritzer. There are also some good non-alcoholic tequilas available: Our current favorite is Ritual Zero Proof Tequila.
- Add bubbles! Top these drinks with a splash of tonic water, seltzer, or champagne/prosecco to stretch the recipe farther and add a fun fizz.
How to Make Berry Simple Syrup
Homemade simple syrup is our favorite easy way to step up your home bar game - and it's quicker to make than you might think!
To make the syrup, add the fresh blackberries, blueberries, sliced strawberries, water, and sugar to a small saucepan over medium-low heat (Image 1, above).
Bring the mixture to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until the sugar has dissolved, the berries are soft and mushy, and the liquid is a deep red color with a thin syrup-y consistency (2).
Let the syrup cool, then strain it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any berry pieces and seeds (Image 3, above). You'll be left with a dark, rich syrup (4).
Use the cooled, strained fruit syrup right away, or transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it!
Food Waste Tip: Freeze the leftover berries and save them for smoothies! Spread strained berries across a baking sheet lined with a nonstick baking mat, freeze until solid, then transfer them to an airtight container and return to the freezer until you're ready to use them. See exactly how we do this in our strawberry thyme cocktail post!
Adding a Salt or Sugar Rim to Margarita Glasses
- Dust a small plate with a light layer of sugar or kosher salt.
- Run a lime wedge around the rim of your glass. Use gentle pressure: You just want to moisten the very edge of the glass so the sugar will stick!
- Dip the edge of your glass into the sugar on your plate. Lightly tap the glass into the sugar a few times until you have enough on the rim.
Mix the Margaritas
When you're ready to mix your cocktails, grab a cocktail shaker. Add your berry simple syrup, lime juice, and tequila. Fill the shaker halfway with ice, attach the lid, and shake well. (Depending on the size of your cocktail shaker, you may need to work in batches here.)
Strain the drinks into prepared glasses, add some extra fresh berries or lime wedges for garnish, and say "cheers!" to a refreshing margarita.
Pro Tip: No cocktail shaker? Shake your drinks in a large mason jar with a tight-fitting lid.
FAQs
Our general rule of thumb: Use whatever tequila you like to drink! Some of our favorites include Cazadores Reposado, 1800 Reposado, Espolòn Blanco, Casamigos Blanco or Casamigos Reposado, and Milagro Silver Tequila. If you're not a tequila fan, you can swap it for another spirit in this berry cocktail (this lime juice + berry syrup combo is also great with whiskey, gin, vodka, or some rums).
Totally! Use a non-alcoholic tequila like Ritual Zero Proof Tequila or skip the spirits all together and stir simple syrup + lime juice into a glass of tonic water or seltzer for a bubbly berry drink.
Absolutely! We served these fruit margaritas on the rocks, but you can blend all of the ingredients together with a few handfuls of ice to make a frozen version. Check out these Classic Frozen Margaritas from Isabel Eats for an easy guide to frozen, blended margaritas!
As written, this recipe makes 4 small cocktails (or 2 larger drinks). If you're making margaritas for a crowd, you can use the handy 2x and 3x buttons in the recipe card below to scale up the recipe! For more help with cocktails for entertaining, check out this post on how to batch cocktails.
More Summer Cocktail Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
Print📖 Recipe
Triple Berry Margaritas
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Inactive Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 4
- Category: Cocktails
- Cuisine: American
Description
Easy homemade margaritas with plenty of summer berries.
Ingredients
For the Berry Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup blackberries
- ⅓ cup sliced strawberries
- ⅓ cup blueberries
For the Margaritas:
- ¼ cup sugar or salt (for glass rims)
- 2 cups ice (you can eyeball this)
- ½ cup berry simple syrup
- ½ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 cup tequila
- Optional Garnishes: Lime wedges, fresh berries
Instructions
For the Berry Simple Syrup:
- Stir water, sugar, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring mixture to a low simmer and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until berries have softened and sugar has dissolved.
- Remove syrup from heat and let it cool completely, about 30 minutes to an hour.
- Strain the simple syrup to remove the berry pieces and set strained simple syrup aside for the margaritas. (I like to save the cooked-down berries for smoothies later in the week!)
For the Margaritas:
- Add a sugar or salt rim and prepare the glasses. Dust a small plate with a light layer of sugar or kosher salt. Run a lime wedge around the rim of each glass, then dip the moistened rim lightly onto the plate. You may need to lift the glass and press down a few times to evenly coat the rim with sugar. Shake off any excess, fill each glass with a handful of ice (optional), and set aside.
- Mix the margaritas. Combine berry simple syrup, lime juice, and tequila in a cocktail shaker. (Depending on the size of your shaker, you may need to do this in two batches). Add a generous handful of ice, attach the top of the shaker, and shake well until margaritas are chilled.
- Strain margaritas into your prepared cocktail glasses. Garnish with extra lime slices and fresh berries (optional) and serve immediately.
Notes
Additions and Substitutions. Use any mix of berries you like here! Raspberries and cranberries are also good in this simple syrup. Frozen berries will work if fresh ones aren't in season. Add a few fresh herb sprigs (thyme, rosemary, basil) to the simple syrup as it cooks for extra depth. Swap the sugar for brown sugar, turbinado or demerara sugar, maple syrup, or honey if you like (note: maple syrup and honey will impart a much stronger flavor). Top each drink with a splash of seltzer, tonic water, or prosecco to add some fizz. Use a non-alcoholic tequila or another spirit (rum, vodka, whiskey, gin) in place of tequila if you like, or omit the booze and mix the syrup and lime juice with a bit of sparkling water.
Juice your own fresh limes here for best results: Fresh lime juice will be brighter and more flavorful than bottled lime juice!
To make this as a blended margarita, blend margarita ingredients in a powerful blender with 2-6 cups of ice (we recommend starting with 1-2 cups of ice and adding more as needed).
Keep extra simple syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to 6 months. Use it in other cocktail recipes, mocktails, or fresh lemonade!
Adjust the sweetness. For a sweeter cocktail, use additional simple syrup. For a more tart flavor, use extra lime juice. This is a forgiving recipe - adjust the ratios to suit your palate! The sweetness of this margarita will also vary depending on the berries and limes that you use - give the mixture a taste before you pour it into glasses and add more lime juice or simple syrup if you'd like to adjust the sweetness!
If you don't have a cocktail shaker, shake your drinks in a large mason jar with a tight fitting lid and strain through a small colander or fine mesh sieve (depending on the size of your jar, you may need to work in batches).
What kind of tequila should I use? Use a tequila you love to drink! We like Espolòn Blanco, Familia Camarena, Milagro, and Casamigos. But this drink is also good with gin, vodka, or a nonalcoholic spirit!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup
- Calories: 306
- Sugar: 42.5 g
- Sodium: 1.9 mg
- Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 46 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Tonia
Can I make the syrup without sugar...or less sugar
Team Life As A Strawberry
We haven't tested a reduced-sugar version of this recipe, but we expect it to work just fine! You can try different amounts of sugar, or alternative sweeteners, to see what tastes best to you!
Daehlon
I'm the bar manger at a Tavern in Atlanta, GA. I just used this recipe as our cocktail of the week. It wasn't suppose to actually go on sale for another 3 days. But I made 1 so I could taste test and to put pics on social media. A group of customers near by started asking about it. I told them what it was and let them know they could order it in a couple days. That wasn't good enough for them. They demanded we put them on sale immediately. I made it premium by using Casamigos Blanco Tequila. I sold 18 of them in 2.5 hours between 3:30 and 6pm. Not exactly our busiest time. Great recipe!!! Thanks a bunch!
Team Life As A Strawberry
THIS IS AWESOME! We're so happy you liked the recipe!
Jan Dalton
Fantastic cocktail; also love the strawberry whiskey. I am your newest, biggest fan. ♥️
Bodynsoil
This looks so colorful in the glass, I can't wait for berry season to make this for friends.
Happy Valley Chow
You had me at margarita! Those look and sound absolutely delicious, perfect drink for summer! Thanks for sharing, PINNED!!
Jessie
Thank you so much! 🙂