Spicy Passion Fruit Margarita

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This Passion Fruit Margarita is the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and tangy. An exotic version of a classic recipe, but super easy to make!

glass of passion fruit margarita on cutting board with kitchen towel and second margarita glass and lime in background

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Why Make This Recipe
🥗 Ingredients
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Passion Fruit Margarita
👩‍🍳 Expert Tips
Other Delicious Cocktail Recipes
📖 Recipe
More About Molly
Comments

Margaritas are a bit of a passion for me—they are easily one of my favorite cocktails (always on the rocks with salt, please and thank you). I will never turn away a good old fashioned lime margarita, but I love to experiment with other flavors too, like with my Blood Orange Margarita, my Hibiscus Margarita, and now this new Passion Fruit Margarita.

Why Make This Recipe

Traditional with a twist! This spicy, fruity margarita recipe adds a bit of fun to your classic lime margarita.
Beautiful color: The peach color of this drink is pretty and beachy—perfect for a party!
Easy to make: No simple syrup, no scraping out passion fruit flesh. In 5 minutes, you can have this drink in your hand!

🥗 Ingredients

tequila, agave nectar, orange liqueur, passion fruit puree, jalapeño pepper, limes, and bowl of salt and chili pepper

Grand Marnier: This is a type of triple sec, which is an orange liqueur made from dried orange peels. Feel free to use a different triple sec, like Cointreau, in this recipe instead.
Passion Fruit Purée: Fresh passion fruits can be hard to find (and more work to prepare), so I prefer this passion fruit purée. But you could absolutely use fresh passion fruit pulp instead. You might also try passion fruit nectar or passion fruit juice, but look for ones with no extra sugar or additional ingredients.
Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice is the only way to go with margaritas. Squeeze your own, and taste the difference! A lemon/lime squeezer makes this quick and easy.
Jalapeño Pepper: For a spicier version, try using a Serrano pepper instead. For a less spicy version, remove the seeds from the jalapeño before crushing.
Chili Powder: Any kind will work here: ancho, chipotle, etc. You could also replace with smoked paprika or piment d’espelette.
Agave Nectar: This nectar has a low glycemic index and is often sustainably sourced. You could replace it with simple syrup or maple syrup.

🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions

Slice jalapeño into circles. If you like to salt the rim of your glass, combine a ½ teaspoon of chili powder with a couple of teaspoons of kosher salt and add to a saucer wider than your glasses. Make a rough circle with the spices.

Prepare two cocktail glasses by running a lime wedge around the rim of the glasses, then dipping the rims into the chili salt mixture.

process shots for making a passion fruit margarita from putting salt on the rims of glasses to pouring drink into glass from shaker

Fill glasses with ice. Add all but 4 jalapeño slices to the bottom of a cocktail shaker, and use a muddler to crush them gently. Then fill shaker with ice, and add 3 ounces tequila, 1 ounce grand marnier, 2 ounces passion fruit purée, 1.5 ounces lime juice, and .25 ounce agave nectar. Shake well so that the outside of the shaker becomes quite cold, then strain into the prepared glasses.

Serve each drink with a slice or two of jalapeño on top.

passion fruit margarita with jalapeno slice on top sitting on cutting board with more jalapeno slices and kitchen towel next to it

🧐 Recipe FAQs for Passion Fruit Margarita

Can you make these passion fruit margaritas in a pitcher?

Yes, if you are looking to serve these for a party, you can easily double or triple the ingredients for this recipe. That won’t all fit in a shaker, so my recommendation is to still muddle the jalapeño slices in a shaker, but then pour into a large pitcher before adding the rest of the ingredients and stirring well. Either strain out the jalapeños at that point and pour into a clean pitcher, or just leave them there (this will let them infuse into the mixture more too!). Make in advance so the margarita mix has time to chill in the refrigerator. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve (don’t add ice to the pitcher—wait and add ice to individual glasses when serving).

Can you make a frozen passion fruit margarita?

Yes! If you want to turn this passion fruit margarita on the rocks into a frozen version, just add all of the liquid ingredients to a blender along with a handful or two of ice (depending on how thick you’d like it). Add in only a slice or two of jalapeño, since that will be blended directly into the drink rather than being strained out. Taste and add additional jalapeño if you’d like it spicier.

Is passion fruit citrus?

Passion fruit has a citrus-like flavor, as its flesh is quite sour, but it is not technically a citrus fruit. Like citrus fruits, passion fruits are also high in vitamin C.

How is passion fruit grown?

Passion fruit grows on vines, and works well on trellises and wire fences. It grows in tropical regions, though some passion fruits are also grown in the U.S. in Florida, Hawaii, and California. Passion fruit thrives in humid locations, and grows best in full sun. You can usually find passion fruit in U.S. grocery stores during the summer months.

What is the best tequila for margaritas?

Tequilas that are 100% agave are the highest quality, so look for those. As for the different types of tequila, I usually prefer a silver or blanco tequila in my margaritas. Silver tequila has a strong, pure flavor and clear color as it has only been aging in oak barrels for up to two months. Gold tequila, on the other hand, develops a golden color and oaky flavor as it ages longer. A reposado tequila is aged between 2 months and a year, which lends it a smoother flavor than most silver tequilas. It is also a good fit for a margarita, especially this one where the golden color of the tequila will complement the yellow/orange of the passion fruit. Gold tequilas that have been aged over one year (añejo and extra añejo) are quite expensive and are made to be sipped neat, so you may not want to waste yours on a cocktail!

👩‍🍳 Expert Tips

If you’d prefer to serve your cocktail straight up (without ice), make sure you shake for at least 15-30 seconds so that your cocktail is quite cold. Also, depending on the size of the glass you use, you may need to double the recipe in order to fill your cocktail glass without ice.

If you want to use fresh passion fruit instead of the purée, just cut the passion fruit(s) in half. The seeds and pulp on the inside is what you’ll use to make your drink. One passion fruit should give you the equivalent of about one ounce of passion fruit purée. Add the passion fruit pulp to the jalapeño slices and muddle together, then proceed with the rest of the recipe—because you strain this cocktail, you won’t get seeds in your drink.

Note that jalapeño peppers really vary in spice level. Try a small piece of yours before adding to the shaker—you can then adjust how many slices you want to add. (That said, don’t be afraid to add quite a few slices to your shaker—they are only infusing the drink for a short period of time so they do not make the drink super spicy.)

Want to double down on the spice? Try making this Jalapeno Tequila and using that for the tequila in this cocktail. Super spicy and tasty!

Wondering what to serve with this drink? There’s nothing I love more than a nice cocktail paired with a delicious appetizer. Here are a few favorites that would be perfect with this spicy Passion Fruit Margarita, or check out my entire Appetizers archive.

overhead shot of two passion fruit margarita glasses next to two squeezed limes and sliced jalapenos

Other Delicious Cocktail Recipes

I love coming up with fun and creative cocktail recipes. If you do too, you might want to check out some of my other favorites:

And, if you love to play around with interesting fruits in your cocktails, check out this Prickly Pear Margarita from our friends at Joyfully Mad.

If you try this easy Passion Fruit Margarita recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.

And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!

📖 Recipe

Passion Fruit Margarita

Yield: Serves 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

This Passion Fruit Margarita is the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and tangy. An exotic version of a classic recipe, but super easy to make!

Ingredients

1 jalapeño pepper
3 ounces tequila
1 ounce grand marnier
2 ounces passion fruit purée
1 ½ ounces lime juice
¼ ounce agave nectar
Lime wedge, for salting glasses (if desired)
Chili powder and kosher salt, for salting glasses (if desired)

Instructions

Slice jalapeño into circles.
If you like to salt the rim of your glass, combine a ½ teaspoon of chili powder with a couple of teaspoons of kosher salt and add to a saucer wider than your glasses. Make a rough circle with the spices.
Prepare your cocktail glasses by running a lime wedge around the rim of the glasses, then dipping the rims into the chili salt mixture. Fill glasses with ice.
Add all but 4 jalapeño slices to the bottom of a cocktail shaker, and use a muddler to crush them gently.
Then fill shaker with ice, and add tequila, grand marnier, passion fruit purée, lime juice, and agave nectar.
Shake well so that the outside of the shaker becomes quite cold, then strain into the prepared glasses.
Serve each drink with a slice or two of jalapeño on top.

Notes

Serving Straight Up:
If you’d prefer to serve your cocktail straight up (without ice), make sure you shake for at least 15-30 seconds so that your cocktail is quite cold. Also, depending on the size of the glass you use, you may need to double the recipe in order to fill your cocktail glass without ice.

Making a Pitcher:
Double or triple the ingredients for this recipe, depending on how many people you want to serve. Muddle the jalapeño slices in a shaker, then pour into a large pitcher before adding the rest of the ingredients and stirring well. Either strain out the jalapeños at that point and pour into a clean pitcher, or just leave them there (this will let them infuse into the mixture more too!). Make in advance so the margarita mix has time to chill in the refrigerator. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve (don’t add ice to the pitcher—wait and add ice to individual glasses when serving).

Making Frozen Margaritas:
If you want to turn this passion fruit margarita on the rocks into a frozen version, just add all of the liquid ingredients to a blender along with a handful or two of ice (depending on how thick you’d like it). Add in only a slice or two of jalapeño, since that will be blended directly into the drink rather than being strained out. Taste and add additional jalapeño if you’d like it spicier.

More About Molly

Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!

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