Italian Margarita

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This Italian Margarita is a fun, sweet twist on the classic margarita cocktail. The addition of Amaretto gives this marg a rich rich sweetness.

The Italian Margarita was made famous by the ubiquitous Italian-ish chain restaurant: Olive Garden. Italian Margaritas require only a handful of ingredients and take just a couple of minutes to shake up. If you love margaritas and Amaretto liqueur, you'll love these drinks.

Looking for more margarita recipes? Try my Blood Orange Margaritas and Golden Margaritas!

two glasses of italian margaritas, rimmed with sugar

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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
💭 What is an Italian Margarita?
📝 Ingredients
👩🏻‍🍳 How to make an Italian Margarita
❓ FAQs/Tips and tricks
🔗 Other margarita recipes
🔗 Other Italian cocktail recipes
✨ Recipe

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's a delicious spin on a classic. Amaretto is a really tasty addition to the classic margarita.
It's easy to make. If you can shake up a few ingredients and strain them into a glass, you can make this drink.
It tastes like the drink from the Olive Garden. The Italian Margarita was popularized by Olive Garden - and this one tastes just like theirs!

💭 What is an Italian Margarita?

An Italian Margarita is a fun, sweet twist on the classic margarita cocktail. However, instead of (or in addition to, as is the case with this recipe) orange liqueur, Amaretto liqueur is used.

📝 Ingredients

Tequila: I used reposado tequila, but use whatever variety you prefer.
Amaretto: Amaretto is an Italian liqueur that can be made from almonds, apricot pits, peach stones, or bitter almonds, depending upon the brand. I used Disaronno, which, interestingly, tastes like almonds, but isn't actually made from almonds.
Orange liqueur: Use whatever orange liqueur you prefer. I used triple sec for this drink, as it's what I had on hand.
Juice: This recipe calls for both lime and lemon juices. Freshly squeezed only, please.
Garnishes: I rimmed my glasses with granulated sugar and dropped a fresh lime wheel into the drink.

👩🏻‍🍳 How to make an Italian Margarita

You'll start out by rimming a rocks (or margarita) glass with granulated sugar. To do this, just run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass before running the rim through some sugar.

Plunk a nice big ice cube (or several smaller ice cubes) into the glass. Be careful not to knock any of the sugar off of the rim.

two empty glasses, with large ice cubes, rimmed with salt

After that, add the tequila, Amaretto, and juices to a cocktail shaker with ice. Give everything a good shake until it's very cold.

Strain the marg into your prepared glass, again being careful to not dislodge any of the sugary rim.

italian margarita being strained into a glass rimmed with sugar

From there, all you have to do is garnish everything with a fresh lime wheel! Enjoy your Italian Margarita!

❓ FAQs/Tips and tricks

Can I make a bigger batch of these margaritas?

Sure! Just scale up the ingredients as needed.

Do I have to use freshly squeezed juice?

I mean, not technically. But I will say that you just can't beat freshly squeezed juice. The flavor is just so much better than anything you'll find pre-squeezed in the store.

What is Amaretto?

Amaretto is an Italian liqueur that's sometimes made from almonds, apricot pits, peach stones, or bitter almonds, depending on the brand of Amaretto in question.

What should I do with the rest of my Amaretto?

Aside from making more of these margaritas, you mean? This Amaretto Pound Cake is a good place to start!