Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

Please drink responsibly. 🙂

When I was in college, I fondly remember being a broke college student, and spending $7 on a chicken caesar pita & $4 on a frozen margarita (since they were 2 for 1 and my friends and I would pay half of $8 for the price of 1) when I went to Chili’s. They were crazy sweet, tasted like a popsicle and I’m fairly certain the calories were just absolutely bananas. However, those frozen margaritas introduced me to one of my favorite drinks. I just love a good, fruity margarita, and sadly, until last year, I only made margaritas out of a bottled mix (I know…calories..).

So, when my husband and I splurged on a new blender, I decided to try to make them from scratch. Completely from scratch, featuring frozen local strawberries. Oh my gosh…do you SEE how red that margarita is, y’all? There’s no dye in that…that’s just the berries. And the flavor? Y’all. Just put the bottled mix down, and try these. You will not regret it! It’s still sweet, but not tooth pain sweet. 😛

Even though this recipe is from Cooking Light, I have to admit that this is still a splurge to me. I prefer not to drink my calories (unless it’s in the a healthy smoothie), but if I do, knowing that I’ve reduced the sugar/calories a good bit makes me feel a little better about enjoying 1 or 2 of these. 🙂

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas
Source: slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups crushed ice
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup Triple Sec (or other orange-flavored liqueur)
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Optional: Coarse salt (or sugar, if you prefer)/sliced limes or strawberries for garnish

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients, except for the salt/sliced limes meant for the garnish, in a blender. Blend the mixture until the ice is crushed, and everything is thoroughly blended. To garnish, wipe lime juice from a lime slice around the rim of your serving glasses, and then dip the rims in coarse salt (or sugar). Garnish the rim with another sliced lime and/or a sliced strawberry as well. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.