This drink makeover takes a classic margarita recipe and makes it into a virgin margarita with a secret ingredient that makes it over the top delicious! Margaritas are really the perfect party drink and offering a non-alcoholic option makes a fun drink for everyone to enjoy!
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It seems like the margarita is the quintessential party drink… or at least it is if you are from Texas like me! You can find them at anything from a backyard barbeque to a bridal shower or holiday party. The cocktail is casual and tasty and I am not sure if I have ever met anyone who didn’t like them. This made the margarita the perfect candidate for my next cocktail to mocktail makeover.
There are several levels of margaritas you can find. On one hand you can have a really exquisite top shelf hand crafted margarita, and on the other you can scoop it out of a bucket. The quality definitely shows through in the taste, and so when I made this non-alcoholic version I wanted to really capture all that a margarita can be when it is made beautifully.
I was never a bartender or waitress, but I do love to eat and really appreciate the difference in flavors. When I traveled often I got into a conversation once with a bartender about the fact that I was from Texas. He was a wealth of knowledge on everything behind the bar and gave me the best lesson I have ever had on margaritas. He told me that when you make them Texas style they always have a splash of orange juice and that has been my secret ingredient ever since.
Naturally that transitioned over to the virgin margarita recipe and gives the drink the distinct balance and depth of flavor you hope for in a really good margarita. I feel like I have used a lot of big fancy words to describe this but the fact is if I am making it you can can count on two things. 1. It will be easy. and 2. It will be delicious! This recipe meets both.
To make the cocktail you will only need a few ingredients. First, orange juice and limeaide, which you can find in the freezer section. You will want to prepare it per the directions on the can. You can also use fresh lime juice and simple syrup, but that makes things a little more involved so I just stick with the limeaide. They also usually sell a margarita concentrate in the frozen section but I find that it is usually similar just more expensive so I stick to limeaide.
You will also need two varieties of Dasani Sparkling Water, lemon and lime. I did the Whole 30 food challenge a while back and really fell in love with flavored sparkling water. The beauty of it is that you get the bite of carbonation with zero calories, unsweetened, zero artificial colors, and it’s caffeine-free. I especially love that it adds great flavor and body to this recipe while cutting the calories in half! You can grab these at Walmart in a 12 pack of 12 oz cans.
I designed this recipe to make one 10 ounce glass of the beverage. You can scale the recipe up proportionally for as many as you would like to serve. So if you want 10 glasses, multiply each ingredient by 10. So for example, 5 cups of limeaide instead of 1/2 cup.
To start combine the prepared limeaide and orange juice in a pitcher. Gently mix in the Dasani sparkling water until everything is combined.
If you would like to rim the glasses with salt (this gives it a more authentic taste!) grab two small plates. Put water on one and salt on the other. Dip the rim evenly into the water and then into the salt.
Next fill each glass up about 2/3 full with ice. Pour the virgin margarita mix over the ice and garnish with fresh lime or lemon.
And that’s all folks! Everything you need to know for how to make a non-alcoholic margarita. Quick, easy and delicious as promised! Stay tuned for one more classic cocktail turned mocktail tomorrow!
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Virgin Margarita Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup limeaide
- 1/4 cup lemon flavored Dasani Sparking Water
- 1/4 cup lime flavored Dasani Sparkling Water
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- ice
- Optional: salt & lime to garnish
Instructions
- Pour limeaide, lemon Dasani sparkling water, lime Dasani Sparkling water and orange juice into a pitcher and mix.
- Rim glass with salt if desired by turning glass upside down and dipping it into water then salt.
- Fill glass 2/3 full with ice, then pour the margarita over the top.
- Garnish with lime.
- Note: This makes 1 10 oz drink, scale the recipe up (1:1) to make your desired amount of drinks.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Jenn - a traveling Wife says
Wow, that looks good. I am a sucker for a good margarita!!
Kimber says
Me too Jenn, me too! I love that this has the same awesome flavors but you can drink it anytime!
JC3Hawaii says
AWESOME! Just fired up this margarita recipe for an office Cinco da Mayo. Perfect! Going to try it later as an adult beverage. Aloha from Hawaii!
dadwhiskers says
Has anyone at thepinningmama been to the site late!y? I know it’s a money thing, but that vertical sharing bar, or wbatever it is called, along the left edge of the page, all but ruins the usability of the page. I can’t even see all of the text fields as i type this. It may render differently on a desktop. I’m using an android tablet.
Just sayin’.
Kimber says
So sorry you had troubles, it is supposed to be mobile responsive so it looks as though something may not be working correctly. I will look into it.
Debbie says
If you want to make the virgin margarita frozen, how much ice do you add to the 10 oz. mixture?
Merium says
Hi,
Im planning to use your recipe for a baby shower this weekend, and relieved to see simple list of ingredients and instructions. Just want to confirm, the frozen orange juice and limeaid will need to be prepared as per the instructions (i.e., mixed with 3 cans of water), and then 1/2 cup of the diluted limeade used for the recipe?