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A Nerd Cooks » Cocktails » Margaritas

Cranberry Margarita

Dec 16, 2020 · Modified: Nov 29, 2023 by Lauren Pacek · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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This Cranberry Margarita is beautiful and festive, sweet-tart, and delicious. It requires only a handful of ingredients, and comes together in a snap!

Need more margarita recipes? Try my Pomegranate Margaritas and Blood Orange Margaritas! You'll love them both. Or try my White Christmas Margarita, made with white cranberry juice!

two glasses of cranberry margaritas
Jump to:
  • 🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • 💭 What is a Cranberry Margarita?
  • 📝 Ingredients
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 How do you make a Cranberry Margarita?
  • ❓ FAQs/Tips and tricks
  • 🔗 Other margarita recipes
  • ✨ Recipe

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's delicious. This margarita tastes great. The cranberry juice imparts sweet and tangy flavor.
It's super festive. This vibrant red marg, garnished with a green lime, just screams "Christmas."
It's easy to make. If you can shake a cocktail shaker and strain it into a glass, then you can make this recipe.

💭 What is a Cranberry Margarita?

It's a margarita made with cranberry juice, in addition to the traditional lime juice! The vibrant red color lends a bit of winter holiday festiveness to a drink that might traditionally be associated with warmer weather.

📝 Ingredients

  • Tequila - In general, I prefer to use an añejo tequila, but use whatever floats your boat! You could go super premium with your tequila selection, but something middle-of-the-road would work nicely, too.
  • Triple sec - Triple sec is a sweet, orange-flavored liqueur. Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but I usually go with something cheaper here. If you have and love Grand Marnier, by all means, have at it! But a less expensive brand will work, as well.
  • Cranberry juice - Use pure cranberry juice OR cranberry juice cocktail, according to your preference. I used cranberry juice cocktail. Just keep in mind that whichever one you use will influence how tart or sweet the cocktail is.
  • Lime juice - Fresh juice, please!
  • Kosher salt - Chunky kosher salt is key. Rim the glass with this, and don't be afraid to be heavy handed.
  • Lime slices and fresh cranberries - These aren't a necessity, but garnishing the glass with them sure does add to the wow factor of this drink.
two glasses of cranberry margaritas

👩🏻‍🍳 How do you make a Cranberry Margarita?

Start by rimming your glass(es) with some nice, chunky kosher salt. The salt will contrast really nicely with the sweet-tart margarita. You could also use granulated sugar instead of salt, or a mixture of the two, if you'd prefer! I'm a purist and only use salt, while my husband prefers a sugar rim. You do you.

Next, add the liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker with some ice. Now shake shake shake that marg until it is very cold. Once things are nice and cold, strain your drink into your prepared glass (make sure to add some ice cubes!).

cranberry margarita being poured into a rocks glass with a salt rim

Before you start sipping away, make sure to garnish your drink with a lime slice and a few fresh cranberries. It's not 100% necessary, but I think it really makes the cocktail look quite pretty.

❓ FAQs/Tips and tricks

Can you make a bigger batch of these margaritas?

Sure! This margarita should scale up very nicely. Just multiply the ingredients listed below by whatever amount you're looking to make and there you go.

Cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail?

Either! Just keep in mind that pure cranberry juice is much more tart than the sweetened cranberry juice cocktail.

What kind of tequila should I use?

Whatever you like to drink! I'd recommend using something of decent to good quality.

🔗 Other margarita recipes

Looking for more margarita recipes? Click on any of the photos or links below to be taken to the recipes! This Mistletoe Margarita is another fun option!

  • two short glasses rimmed with sugar and salt, full of white christmas margarita.
    White Christmas Margarita
  • a black margarita in a halloween wine glass.
    Black Magic Margarita
  • two short glasses filled with blood orange margaritas
    Blood Orange Margarita
  • a pitcher of margaritas
    Margarita Pitcher Recipe
  • Strawberry Margaritas from A Flavor Journal
  • Passionfruit Margaritas from The Gourmet Bon Vivant
two glasses of cranberry margaritas

I'd love to know what you thought of this recipe! Don't forget to leave a comment and ⭐️ star rating below!

✨ Recipe

two glasses of cranberry margaritas

Cranberry Margaritas

Lauren Pacek
This Cranberry Margarita is beautiful and festive, sweet-tart, and delicious. It requires only a handful of ingredients, and comes together in a snap!
No ratings yet!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes mins
Cook Time 0 minutes mins
Additional Time 0 minutes mins
Total Time 2 minutes mins
Course Margaritas
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 1 cocktail
Calories 396 kcal

Equipment

  • Cocktail jigger
  • Boston shaker
  • Hawthorne strainer
  • Rocks glasses

Ingredients
  

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½ ounces tequila
  • ¾ ounces triple sec
  • 3 ounces cranberry juice see notes
  • juice of ½ lime
  • lime slices and cranberries, for garnish (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Moisten the rim of a rocks glass with water or lime juice. Turn the glass upside down into a small plate filled with kosher salt. Rim the glass with the salt. Carefully add ice cubes to the glass. Set aside.
  • Add all of the ingredients (minus the garnish) to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until very cold.
  • Strain into the prepared glass and garnish with lime slices and fresh cranberries, if desired.

Notes

  • Use pure cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail, according to your preference. Cranberry juice cocktail will obviously be sweeter, so keep this in mind (this is what I used).

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 396kcalCarbohydrates: 70gProtein: 2gSodium: 2480mgFiber: 7gSugar: 49g

Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Delicious Margarita Recipes

  • two glasses of italian margaritas, rimmed with sugar
    Italian Margarita
  • 45 degree angle view of 2 glasses of pineapple margaritas
    Pineapple Margarita
  • 2 golden margaritas on a pink and green tile background
    Golden Margarita
  • three margaritas on a dark wooden background, a dish of lime wedges in the left rear
    Cadillac Margarita

I love it when you share my recipes!

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Joanne

    December 17, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Hello from another nerd food blogger, and thank you for sharing my Negroni! Happy cranberry-filled holidays!

    Reply
    • laurenpacek

      December 18, 2022 at 3:02 pm

      Thank you, Joanne! Same to you! <3

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Lauren! I'm the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at A Nerd Cooks. I'm a 30-something wife, mom, and scientist with a passion for mixing cocktails, brewing buzzy coffee drinks, and making other delicious beverages at home.

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