Cucumber-Jalapeño Margarita With Fresh Ginger

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Make happy hour pop with this spicy cucumber-jalapeño margarita! Made with a fresh ginger simple syrup and cooling cucumber juice, this margarita comes with the perfect spice kick for one irresistible sipper. Grab a spot on the patio and sit back with this refreshing margarita for a relaxing evening.

Two cucumber-jalapeño margaritas on a white serving board with purple flowers in the background.

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Why You Need to Make This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
Looking for More Margarita Recipes?
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Why You Need to Make This Recipe

Whenever I'm in the mood for a unique cocktail and see a spicy cucumber margarita on the menu, I can't help but order one on the side of my tacos. If you've tried my mango-jalapeño margarita or Mexican martini, you can already imagine why it's such a tasty margarita, and I'm super excited to finally share this new spicy margarita recipe with you.

While the jalapeño certainly gives us a jolt of spice, it isn't the kind of heat that will set your tongue on fire. Rather, the cocktail delivers a complex chile flavor, and then the fresh ginger syrup adds a wonderful additional warmth.

But it's not all spice. The cucumber gives us a refreshing, cooling effect that makes this margarita perfect for those warm nights. When you bring these ingredients all together, it makes for one unforgettable, unique margarita you'll want to drink over and over again.

Ingredients

For the tequila, I much prefer reposado for my margaritas than blanco, or white, tequila. Reposado tequila spends time aging in oak barrels, giving it a richer, more nuanced flavor. While you can certainly use blanco, reposado tequila is my recommendation.

When it comes to the orange liqueur, we have plenty of options. Triple sec works and is common in your house margaritas, but for a top-shelf margarita, Grand Marnier or Cointreau are my favorites.

You'll also notice we use a fresh ginger simple syrup to give this margarita an extra layer of spice with the right touch of sweetness. For this, we need fresh ginger, water and sugar. While you can buy ginger simple syrup, you can't beat the flavor of homemade, and it's ridiculously easy to prepare.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Let’s start by making our fresh ginger simple syrup. For this step, we add equal parts water and sugar along with a cup of chopped fresh ginger to a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. We turn off the heat, steep, blend until smooth and strain.

That’s it. Easy, huh? As long as you keep the ginger syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it should last several weeks.

Bonus: If you’d like another cocktail recipe for this homemade simple syrup, my sparkling cranberry-ginger margarita is a delight.

Step 2: And now to juice our cucumber. For this step, we throw in some chopped cucumbers into a blender with a splash of water (photo 1) and blend.

Once it all turns to a purée (photo 2), we place a bowl underneath a fine-mesh sieve in the sink and pour the cucumber purée into the sieve (photo 3). This collects the excess pulp and leaves us with smooth, fresh cucumber juice (photo 4).

A collage showing the process of making the cucumber juice.

Like the simple syrup, you can prepare this step ahead of time for easy entertaining. The juice should last in your refrigerator for two to three days.

Step 3: With our fresh ginger simple syrup and cucumber juice prepared, we’re now ready to start on our spicy margarita. We grab a cocktail shaker and add a few fresh jalapeño slices with our lime juice and and muddle to extract that Chile heat (photo 5).

Muddling the jalapeno slices in a crystal cocktail shaker.

Step 4: Now we add our tequila, orange liqueur, cucumber juice, ginger simple syrup and ice (photo 6). We put on the top and give it a good shake.

Pouring the cucumber juice into a crystal cocktail shaker.

Step 5: For an extra pretty presentation, I like to pour some coarse sea salt on a small plate and run a lime slice along the rim of a serving glass. Dip the glass into the salt (photo 7) and we have ourselves a lovely salted rim. This is optional, but it adds a nice touch to our cucumber-jalapeño margarita.

Swirling the serving glass into a plate of sea salt for garnish.

Step 6: All that’s left is to strain this cucumber-jalapeño margarita into an ice-filled glass and then sip, enjoy and repeat.

Related: For more favorite tequila sippers, try my tequila sour and passion fruit margarita.

Recipe FAQs

Do I need to use freshly squeezed lime juice?

I highly recommend freshly squeezed lime juice over bottled lime juice. Although you can certainly use bottled lime juice, especially if you're making a large batch, you can't beat the bright flavor of freshly squeezed lime juice. Since lime is the backbone of margaritas, this isn’t the time to skimp.

How do you peel ginger?

This may come as a surprise, but a spoon is the best utensil for peeling ginger. You simply run the side of a spoon down the ginger, and the peel comes off easily. Check out this video tutorial if you'd like to see the process in action.

Can you make this in a pitcher?

What's a party without a pitcher of margaritas? You can absolutely make this pitcher style, and I included the proportions below. The pitcher recipe is for 12, but if you'd like to customize your servings for a party, the conversion formula is simple, and I say that as someone who doesn't excel at punching numbers.

Multiply the ounces for each ingredient by the number of servings you'd like, and then divide that number by eight, which will give you the measurements in cups. Cocktails are traditionally measured in ounces, but cups are much easier if you need to make a big pitcher.

One lime generally yields 1 ounce of juice, which is enough for a single cucumber-jalapeño margarita, so you can pick up the same number of limes as servings with maybe a few extra to be safe.

Expert Tips

When picking limes for juicing, grab those that have some give when you press into them. If they’re hard, they’re dried out.
Before juicing the lime, firmly roll it on the counter to help release the juice. I also recommend a handheld citrus juicer to get every drop.
If you don’t have a very strong blender, you may find it’s easier to start out with a small amount of cucumber and add more as it purées. When there isn’t much liquid, some blenders may have a hard time initially, which is why we add the water, but once it gets going, you can blend a large amount of cucumbers without a problem.
I like peeling the cucumber before juicing. It gives this cucumber-jalapeño margarita a pretty light green hue, but you can throw the cucumber peel in there if you’d like. Just know that you’ll get a much darker color, and the peel results in a thicker purée.
Want to add a sparkly kick and extra punch of ginger? Top with a little ginger beer before serving.
If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, a mason jar with a solid lid makes a great replacement. A sturdy wooden spoon can also take the place of a muddler if needed.
Have extra cucumber juice? It freezes beautifully or add it to your daily water with lemon for a refreshing flavor boost. You can also use it in my mint-cucumber lemonade, cucumber-lavender gin fizz and blackberry-cucumber vodka spritzer.

Perfect Pairing

Margaritas obviously call for tacos, and it just so happens that I have the perfect option -- these Greek lamb tacos. Served with a Mediterranean-inspired cucumber pico de gallo, the flavors in these tacos perfectly mimic our cucumber-jalapeño margarita for one well-matched combination.

When the night calls for a refreshing cocktail, I hope you try this cucumber-jalapeño margarita with fresh ginger simple syrup. I know you will love every sip.

Cheers!

Looking down on two cucumber-jalapeño margaritas with purple flowers to the side.

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5 from 138 votes (119 ratings without comment)