Passion Fruit Margarita

The weather outside might be frightful, but you can quickly transport yourself to a beachside cabana with this easy Passion Fruit Margarita recipe! Made with just 5 simple ingredients in only 5 minutes, this bright and fresh fruit margarita recipe is about to become your new favorite libation.

Jump to:

• ⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 
• 🍴Ingredients
• 📖 Step by Step Instructions
• ⏲️ Substitutions & Variations
• ❓ How to make Homemade Rim Salt
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips
• ❄️ Storage Instructions
• 💭 Recipe FAQs
• More Tropical Cocktail/Passion Fruit Recipes
• Passion Fruit Margarita
• 💬 Comments

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

After all the hullabaloo of the holidays, the true nature of winter (and the reality of Seasonal Affective Disorder a.k.a. SAD) seems to settle in. It’s cold, it’s dark, the twinkly lights are gone and the tree is down, and all that’s left to do is plan a tropical vacation and/or wait for the first buds of spring to arrive. 

Or rather, that’s what I used to think until I started making these passion fruit margaritas! It’s amazing what a simple adult beverage can do to lift my spirits and remind me of warmer times to come. When I made my first batch a few weeks ago, Calvin and I had a rough day and were in need of a win. 

Aside from being magical beacons of tropical hope, this slurp-worthy passionfruit margarita is also:

• Made With Only 5 Ingredients - Don’t you just love when things are simple? Me too.
• Bright & Refreshing - They honestly taste like a ray of sunshine from your favorite beach vacation. All that is missing are cocktail umbrellas and the coconutty smell of sunscreen.
• Quick & Simple - You only need 5 minutes to whip up a batch (15 if you’re making the passion fruit purée and passion fruit syrup from scratch), so you’ll be feeling hot-hot-hot in no time.

Looking for more passion fruit recipes to make? Try this refreshing passion fruit juice, passion fruit mojito, or this gin fizz passion fruit cocktail!

🍴Ingredients

As promised, you don’t need any crazy ingredients to make these fruity margaritas. Here’s the only ingredients you’ll want to grab:

• Tequila - I like using tequila blanco here for the cleanest, most neutral flavor. You’re welcome to use joven (golden), reposado tequila, or even añejo tequila if you prefer. Whatever you choose, make sure your tequila is made from 100% agave for the best flavor (and to help prevent hangovers).
• Triple Sec - Any orange liqueur will work here. I happen to like Cointreau and Grand Marnier, but use whichever you like. 
• Passion Fruit Purée or Passion Fruit Pulp - Making the passion fruit puree will result in a smoother drink, and it only takes a few extra minutes. You may also be able to find it premade in the frozen aisle of your nearest Latin grocery store. If you use straight passion fruit pulp, you may want to bust out a boba straw so you can slurp up all the bubbly seeds. 
• Fresh Lime Juice - Fresh is ALWAYS best when it comes to lemon and lime juice. If you absolutely must use bottled, I suggest opting for Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice because it tastes the closest to the real thing. Save a little lime wedge, lime slice or lime wheel for garnish if you'd like!
• Sour Mix OR Passion Fruit Simple Syrup - Sweetening a margarita with sweet and sour mix is pretty traditional, but you’re also welcome to use passion fruit-flavored syrup instead. Either way, opt for a homemade sweetener, or, at the very least, one made without any artificial ingredients.
• Fresh Passion Fruit & Salt Rim - Adding a halved passion fruit with fresh passion fruit pulp and a salt rim to your cocktail is an optional (but classy and beautiful) step.

📖 Step by Step Instructions

This might be the easiest of all the fruit margarita recipes I’ve tried over the years. It literally takes 5 minutes or less! Here’s how it’s done:

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

While I absolutely love the pure simplicity of these tropical margaritas, there is plenty of room for you to make them your own. Here are a few variations to consider:

• Spicy Passion Fruit Margarita - To add a little spice, infuse your passion fruit syrup with jalapeño or serrano peppers, use chili pepper infused tequila, and/or rim your cocktail glass with Tajin.
• Passion Fruit Frozen Margarita - Mix all ingredients together and freeze for a minimum of 8 hours. (It won’t freeze solid.) When you’re ready to serve, add the chilled mix to a blender with a scoop of ice and blitz until frothy and creamy. Yum!
• Non-Alcoholic Margarita - Whether you’re experimenting with Dry January, are sober curious, or don’t want to imbibe for any reason, you can still make a refreshingly stellar sipper. Simply swap the tequila for a non-alcoholic version like Ritual or Free Spirits and use orange juice in place of triple sec.

❓ How to make Homemade Rim Salt

Some of my favorite cocktails have salt rims - in most recipes salt acts as an ingredient that helps to amplify the flavors within the recipe. The same is for cocktails! Salt rims help allow the cocktail flavors to sing - particularly the sweet and sour flavors of fresh passionfruit.

Of course, there are so many rim salts you can purchase online, but why buy some when you can easily make and adjust the flavors to your liking?

I've been making my own rim salt recently as I live close to an incredible Mexican grocery store in Los Angeles with a vast assortment of dried chiles and chile powders. Here's my recipe in case you want to create your own - simply mix the ingredients below together and you have your own homemade rim salt to add to the rim of the glass for a delicious cocktail!

• 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• ½ tablespoon granulated sugar

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Use high-quality ingredients. That means tequila made from pure agave, the best triple sec you can afford, and sour mix or syrup that is free from artificial ingredients. 
• Batch if you want, but always shake to order. You’re welcome to stir together all the ingredients you need for multiple margaritas in a large pitcher, but don’t add any ice. Rather, keep an ice bucket and a shaker nearby so each cocktail comes out perfectly every time. Also, make sure to keep a bar spoon on hand so you can mix the contents of the pitcher before pouring it into your shaker.
• Shake it like you mean it. Shaking the margarita doesn’t just serve to chill it, it also helps to aerate it with tiny shards of ice. Make sure to shake with real gusto for a minimum of about 30-45 seconds for the best texture.

❄️ Storage Instructions

• Homemade passion fruit purée will last for up to 10 days in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer.
• Homemade passion fruit syrup will last for 1-2 weeks in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. 
• If you batched this as a pitcher cocktail, feel free to store the leftover mix in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just make sure that you don’t have any ice added to the pitcher or the margaritas will get too diluted when it melts.
• You can also freeze any leftover batched cocktails for up to 3 months (it won’t freeze solid as a result of the alcohol, but the extra cool temps will keep things in good shape).

💭 Recipe FAQs

More Tropical Cocktail/Passion Fruit Recipes

If you try this recipe for this Passion Fruit Margarita, please leave a 🌟 review and share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter! 📧