This Thanksgiving Margarita is the perfect cocktail to serve at your next holiday party. Full of warm, citrusy fall flavors and beautiful fall colors, they really set the mood for a festive get together!
The Thanksgiving Tequila Cocktail
Not sure what cocktail to serve for Thanksgiving this year? Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered! Your guests will be swooning over this sweet and smooth Thanksgiving Margarita!
For a Fall Margarita you need is some apple cider, tequila, triple sec, and club soda. They’ll combine together to create a warm, citrusy drink with a little fizz. Add a little honey and salt to the rim and garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and fresh herbs for the ultimate holiday cocktail!
In addition to the exquisite taste, these drinks are gorgeous! Full of rich fall colors, it really sets the mood and add to your holiday spread. Prepare these margaritas in less than 15 minutes and enjoy!
And while you’re here, also check out this Crown Apple Slush, Cranberry Whiskey Sour, Pomegranate Champagne Punch, or this Thanksgiving Sangria for festive sipping, too!
Featured Comment
– Sara
Recipe Ingredients
- Honey: I used Mike’s Hot Honey, but you could use regular honey.
- Salt: I used Truffle Honey Salt, but you could use regular salt.
- Tequila: Use your favorite kind here! I used silver tequila for my Thanksgiving Margarita.
- Triple Sec: This will add some sweet, fruity flavor!
- Apple Cider: The perfect Fall Margarita mixer!
- Club Soda: Who doesn’t love a little fizz? You can use regular or flavored club soda.
- Garnish: Try cinnamon sticks, fresh sage leaves, fresh thyme, cranberries, or apple slices. Garnishes are any easy element to add to a cocktail to really make them look sophisticated.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Cider: Instead, you could try something tart like a cranberry or diet cran-raspberry juice. A little more fancy and harder to find is pomegranate kombucha, but it would be AMAZING in this fall margarita!
Tequila: This Thanksgiving Margarita can easily be made without tequila. I suggest swapping it for either vodka or gin which will both complement the rest of the ingredients in this cocktail nicely.
Club Soda: If you’re looking for another flavor element, use flavored sparkling water. Orange or Razz-Cranberry La Croix would be tasty.
How to Make This Recipe
1. First, let’s line the rims of our glasses with honey and salt. Pour honey and salt on two separate flat plates. Dip the rim of the glass in the honey. Then, immediately after, dip it in the salt. You can also use sugar or cinnamon sugar if you’d like! Then, fill the rimmed glasses with ice and set to the side.
2. Add ice, tequila, triple sec, and apple cider into a cocktail shaker (or a pitcher). Shake/Stir it up and pour the mixture evenly into glasses!
3. Then, top each glass with club soda. If you’re making it in a pitcher, feel free to add it to the pitcher too!
4. Garnish each Thanksgiving Margarita how you please. It’s up to you how seasonal you want to get! I used apple slices, cranberries, and fresh thyme.
And for more mixologist tips and tricks, check out this blog post.
What kind of Tequila do you recommend?
Typically, I recommend using a tequila that you can enjoy on its own too. The smoother the tequila, the smoother the cocktail is to drink. For this recipe, you can use any silver or gold tequila as the apple cider will taint the color of the drink.
I have these brands on my bar cart: Espolon Blanco, Olmeca Plata Tequila, and Jose Cuervo. Feel free to try an infused tequila in this recipe. It will emphasize the fall flavors throughout!
Other Festive Fall Flavors
Apple Cider is the main juice of this fall cocktail, but doesn’t mean you can’t get creative. Feel free to add a splash of orange juice, lime juice (for more acid), or even pear juice! It adds a unique twist to the margarita.
Serving suggestions
Start your Thanksgiving morning with a delicious (and low carb) Crustless Spinach Feta Quiche. As the day goes on, nibble on a butterscotch muffin while you wait for Homemade Apple Pie after dinner!
Recipe FAQs
Refrigerate the cider / liquor mixture for up to 3 days without the club soda. You will need to re-shake the cocktail prior to drinking to ensure that it’s mixed up. The cinnamon sticks and star of anise will give the cocktail a really lovely infused flavor throughout.
Adding the club soda just before enjoying will ensure you still get some of the bubbles in your finished product.
As shown in the photos, you can also make this Thanksgiving Margarita in a pitcher if you’ve got a lot of guests coming over and don’t want to be making drinks over and over all night. Add your garnishes right to the pitcher and it can also serve as an eye pleasing center piece.
Some ways to make this Thanksgiving Margarita sweeter:
– Instead of club soda, use something with more sugar Sprite, Squirt, or Ginger Ale
– Add simple syrup
– Use more Triple Sec and less tequila
more of our favorite Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes…
More Recipes You’ll Love
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and comment in the recipe card below. Thanks for visiting!
Thanksgiving Margarita
Equipment
- Cocktail shaker
- Shot glass
- Cocktail glasses
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Flat plates
Ingredients
For the cocktail
- 4 tsp honey
- ¼ cup salt
- 8 oz tequila
- 4 oz triple sec
- 8 oz apple cider
- 8 oz club soda
- ice
For garnish
- cinnamon sticks
- fresh sage or thyme
- cranberries
- apple slices
Instructions
- First, let's line the rims of our glasses with honey and salt. Pour honey and salt on two separate flat plates. Dip the rim of the glass in the honey. Then, immediately after, dip it in the salt. You can also use sugar or cinnamon sugar if you'd like! Then, fill the rimmed glasses with ice and set to the side.
- Add ice, tequila, triple sec, and apple cider into a cocktail shaker (or a pitcher). Shake/Stir it up and pour the mixture evenly into 4 glasses!
- Then, top each glass with club soda. If you're making it in a pitcher, feel free to add it to the pitcher too!
- Garnish each Thanksgiving Margarita how you please. It's up to you how seasonal you want to get! I used apple slices, star of anise, and cinnamon sticks.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find THANKSGIVING MARGARITA calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
NOTE: this is counting the alcohol as strictly carbs – remember, if you are counting your macros & alcohol, this is a good reference: Macrostax | How To Calculate Alcohol for Macro Counting
TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS A CARBOHYDRATE: Use the total number of calories in a drink divided by 4 (Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 132 calories/4 = 33g Carbs. TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS A FAT: Use the total number of calories in a drink divided by 9 (Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 132 calories/9 = 15g Fat) TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS BOTH A CARBOHYDRATE AND A FAT: Use the a portion of the total number of calories in a drink divided by 4 Use the remainder of the total number of calories in a drink divided by 9. Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 66 calories/4 = 16.5g Carbs 66 calories/9 = 7g Fat
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
my family makes these every single year (thanksgiving and christmas and just through the winter months). Refreshing, but also so many cozy flavors!
Jack and I love making these margaritas – especially with fresh Michigan Cider!! Fun fact: tequila pairs better with orange/cinnamon than it does with salt/lime.
These were delicious! A great recipe you can make sweeter for those that prefer a sugary rim or more of a traditional margarita with salt! 10/10 will be using for this holiday season
So yummy! The honey rim is perfect with the cider.
Even the beer drinkers loved it!
1/4 cup salt? For 4 drinks? Is this excessive?
Hey Alli! The salt is just for rimming the glass, not all of it is used. We have found it much easier to rim the glass with extra salt on the plate and then discarding the extra.
SOOO GOOD