This margarita, made with tequila reposado, orange liqueur, fresh Mandarin juice, jalapeño chiles, and grilled limes, is slightly spicy, a little bit smoky, and totally refreshing.
Plus, the glass for this margarita is rimmed with Tajín, rather than just salt and lime.
Tajín is a delicious chile, salt, and lime seasoning mix from Mexico that you can easily find in the U.S. My grocery store stocks several versions in the produce section, the cut fruit section, and the international food aisle. It's great sprinkled on Mexican fruit salads, fries, micheladas or bloody Marys, corn, pineapple salsa, and Chex Mix.
I always keep a shaker on hand to sprinkle on pineapple, cantaloupe, or watermelon.... or a watermelon martini.
I used the Clásico version. You can buy it in a shaker for sprinkling or in a dish specially made for rimming margarita glasses.
I sprinkled in on a plate, ran a lime around the rim of my glass, and spun the glass rim through the Tajín.
What I love about this margarita is the smokey flavor. This cocktail gets some smokiness from grilled lime halves that you char on a grill pan. If you want extra smokiness, you can also substitute agave for the tequila. For even more, you could grill or broil the jalapeño.
I discovered this cocktail in the book, Muy Bueno Fiestas by Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack of the blog Muy Bueno Cooking (I received promotional copy of the book via Melissa's Produce).
The book includes over 100 recipes for a year of Mexican and American holidays (with a Mexican-American twist). Each chapter also includes a guide for crafts related to each holiday. You can also follow Yvette on Instagram.
Chapters include Lent, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Mexican Independence Day, Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Epiphany, along with Family Fiestas.
.jpeg)
I'm looking forward to trying the chipotle sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving and the Biscochos and Polvorones for Christmas. Oh... and the Mexican hot chocolate!
Ingredients in this Margarita:
Tajín and lime for coating the glass rim.
Two limes, one grilled and halved, and the juice of the other one.
The juice of two Mandarin oranges.
Jalapeños, one to mash with the grilled lime for the cocktail and one to slice and add as a garnish to the cocktail.
Tequila Reposada and Orange Liqueur. For the orange liqueur, I used Patrón to keep with the theme, but Grand Marnier or Cointreau would be great too.
To add smoky flavor to this cocktail, you grill lime halves on a grill pan until they are charred. Then, you muddle them, along with a jalapeño, until extract the flavors.
Of course, if it's summer you can grill the limes when your grill is fired up. Your guests will love it.
Muddle the lime with some jalapeños before adding the tequila, orange liqueur, additional lime juice, and Mandarin juice and shaking it all together.
More Margarita Recipes You May Also Enjoy:
Sunday Funday Mandarin Orange Recipes:
- Blender Whole Orange Bundt Cake from Sneha's Recipe
- Candied Citrus Peel from Culinary Cam
- Clementine Cheesecake from Mayuri's Jikoni
- Fruit Cup Turkeys from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
- Jalapeño Mandarin Margarita from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Pig Pickin' Cake from Palatable Pastime
- Pork and Mandarin Orange Tacos from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Sizzler with Orange Sauce (Vegetables, Tofu and Quinoa) from Cook with Renu
Jalapeño Mandarin Margarita
Ingredients
- Tajín and a lime wedge for rimming the glasses
- 1 large lime, halved
- 1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded
- 4 ounces tequila reposado
- 2 ounces orange liqueur
- Juice of 1 lime
- Juice of 2 Mandarin oranges
- Ice cubes
- Mandarin and jalapeño slices for garnish
Instructions
- Add some Tajín to a plate and rub lime juice along the edges of two rocks glasses. Set aside.
- On a grill pan, grill the lime halves over medium-high heat until charred on the cut side and the rind, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the charred lime halves and the jalapeño to a cocktail shaker and muddle the ingredients with a muddler. Add about a cup of ice cubes, the tequila, the liqueur, lime juice, and Mandarin juice, and top with the cocktail shaker lid. Shake vigorously.
- Add ice cubes to both glasses and strain the margarita mixture into the two glasses. Garnish with Mandarin and jalapeño slices and serve.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
280Fat (grams)
0 gSat. Fat (grams)
0 gCarbs (grams)
26 gFiber (grams)
3 gNet carbs
23 gSugar (grams)
19 gProtein (grams)
1 gCholesterol (grams)
0 mg
That sounds like a fun cookbook and a fantastic Margarita!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a totally fun cookbook, and the marg was delicious!
DeleteTequila and I are not friends, but Jake loves tequila. I can't wait to try this for him.
ReplyDeleteI'm normally not a reposado person, but the smokiness of this marg was delicious. Cheers to Jake!
DeleteLove the color of the drink!
ReplyDeleteThis margarita was a hit with my friends. We love the Tajin around the rim instead of the typical salt. The mandarin and jalapeno are delicious together.
ReplyDelete