Feeling Festive with a Cranberry Margarita

If you know anything about me, you know that I love my margaritas. I’m a sucker for the traditional one (made with lime juice, not necessarily sweet and sour mix). However, I am always game to try some new flavors. Now that it is the Christmas season, I have to go for a cranberry margarita.

This recipe is designed for one serving, but you can easily adapt it to make extras to share, or even an entire pitcher of cranberry margaritas for holiday fun. It only takes a few minutes to prepare! And honestly, the garnish is going to take up the most time.

Ingredients:

3 oz. tequila (I would go for a more clear or silver one than gold, but that is personal preference.)
2 oz. Cointreau (or other orange liqueur)
2 oz. cranberry juice
3 T. fresh lime juice

Garnish:

  • fresh rosemary sprigs
  • fresh cranberries
  • fresh lime wedges


To make garnish for cranberry margaritas:

Cut rosemary sprigs to about 2″-3″ in length. Remove the bottom leaves of the sturdier stems so that you can carefully thread three fresh cranberries onto them. Set them aside as you make the margaritas.

To easily make a cranberry margarita: 

Fill your cocktail shaker with ice. Add tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and cranberry juice. Shake well and strain into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with your cranberry-strung rosemary sprigs. Some may also like to add lime wedges, which are a classic margarita garnish. Serve immediately.


This cranberry margarita is designed to be a perfect compliment to your Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, especially with this rosemary sprig garnish. But you can easily serve it at Thanksgiving, as well, because cranberry goes well with turkey. Just thread the cranberries on a little sword if you don’t want to give it that Christmas-y look with the rosemary. Or simply do the lime garnish instead. It’s really up to you. And honestly, I am one of those people who doesn’t really care what the drink looks like, as long as it tastes good.

What is your favorite kind of margarita or other holiday cocktail?

2 thoughts on “Feeling Festive with a Cranberry Margarita”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: