Bring on the margaritas! Made popular from the Olive Garden, this Italian margarita with amaretto comes with the perfect sweet and sour balance for one refreshing cocktail. This easy margarita recipe takes just a few minutes to whip up, and you only need a handful of fresh ingredients.
Love a twist on a classic margarita? Same. And that's exactly why I'm bringing you this amaretto-spiked margarita.
We still get plenty of bright lime that we all know and love from our margaritas, but the amaretto adds a welcomed richness to make one unforgettable tequila cocktail. I find amaretto is one of those flavors that people love, but for whatever reason, it's rarely the first liqueur that comes to mind when mixing drinks.
So how about we put an end to that? People love margaritas, and people love amaretto. Let's flex those hosting skills and give the people what they want at our next gathering -- enter these ridiculously delicious amaretto Italian margaritas.
What Is Amaretto?
Amaretto is a sweet almond liqueur from Saronno, Italy, which gives this margarita its Italian flair. Not only is this liqueur delicious in cocktails, but it also adds a richness to desserts, such as my amaretto-strawberry-Nutella puff pastry tart. While you can pick up amaretto from different distillers, Disaronno is the top-shelf brand and my favorite choice.
Typically, I like to use an orange liqueur in my margaritas, but I skip it in this recipe. Matt and I tried this margarita with only amaretto and then a combination of amaretto and orange liqueur. We both preferred the amaretto-only version. To us, using only amaretto really allowed that delicious almond flavor to shine.
How to Make
Besides being ridiculously delicious and a guaranteed crowd favorite, I love serving margaritas when playing hostess because they’re super simple to make. If you can squeeze juice and pour liquor, you have all the mixology skills necessary to make one fine margarita.
To make this Italian margarita, we simply add tequila, lime juice, orange juice and amaretto to a cocktail shaker with ice. If you have a sweet tooth, feel free to add a smidge of simple syrup.
We pop on the top and give it a good shake. About 15-30 seconds generally works. And just like that, you have the tastiest Italian margarita you’ve ever tasted. See? Easy as can be.
Now let’s chat ingredients. I highly recommend freshly squeezed lime and orange juice. The stuff from a bottle just won’t taste the same in these margaritas. Squeezing fresh juice takes hardly any time and is simple with a handheld juicer.
For the tequila, I prefer reposado. Sure, you can use blanco, otherwise known as silver tequila, but I love the flavor of reposado over blanco, especially with out nutty amaretto. Reposado spends some time aging in oak barrels, which gives it a complexity that blanco lacks along with a hint of vanilla that's perfect with the almond.
Perfect Pairing
Amaretto gives these tequila cocktails a sweeter quality than your typical margarita, so I love pairing this drink with a dessert. The nutty, rich amaretto works especially well with chocolate, and cherries match beautifully to the vanilla and oak flavors that come from reposado. With that in mind, you’ll love pairing my frozen chocolate-cherry mousse pie or chocolate-covered cherry cheesecake with this Italian margarita.
When you need a sweet, delicious twist on a classic margarita, I hope you try this Italian margarita with amaretto. Please let me know how you enjoyed this recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers!
Looking for More Margarita Recipes?
- Jalapeno-mango margarita
- Blood orange margarita
- Raspberry-peach margarita
- Coconut margarita
- Roasted strawberry margarita
Italian Margarita
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
Description
Bring on the margaritas! Made popular from the Olive Garden, this Italian margarita with amaretto comes with the perfect sweet and sour balance for one refreshing cocktail. This easy margarita recipe takes just a few minutes to whip up, and you only need a handful of fresh ingredients.
Ingredients
2 ounces tequila, preferably reposado
1 ounce amaretto
1 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
1 lime, juiced
Ice
½ ounce simple syrup, optional
Lime slices, for garnish, optional
Coarse sea salt, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, add the tequila, amaretto, orange juice, lime juice and ice. Put the top on and shake vigorously for 15-30 seconds. Taste. If you'd like additional sweetener, add the simple syrup. Otherwise, leave as is.
- Run a lime slice along the rim of your serving glass. Pour coarse sea salt onto a small plate and swirl the moistened rim in the salt. Add ice to the glass.
- Strain into serving glass. Garnish with an additional lime slice if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- For a pitcher serving 16, use 4 cups tequila, 2 cups amaretto, 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice and 16 limes.
- You can buy simple syrup or make your own. To make your own, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup white sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Beverages
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Mexican-Italian Fusion
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 drink
- Calories: 235
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 6
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 17
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: Italian margarita
Ooh this looks delicious. Perfect for drinking in the hot sunny weather.
★★★★★
Absolutely! It's super refreshing.
Mmmm yes please with extra ice! This sounds so refreshing on a hot summer day! I can see these for our next cookout or served by the pool!
★★★★★
That would be the perfect occasion for this margarita!
Thirsty just looking at these margaritas! It's my favourite cocktail ever, but never tried it mixing with Amaretto! The taste must be incredible, I've got my best friend coming over to visit tomorrow and was going to make my frozen pineapple margaritas, but now I think I will make these instead!
★★★★★
That sounds so fun! Hope you both love it!
Your drinks always amaze me! I always come to your blog to see what's new and start my Happy Hour! This margarita was the chosen one yesterday and is my new favorite, I love it!
★★★★★
Awww, yay! I'm so glad to hear that.
I need this drink right now! It's perfectly refreshing for a hot day like today! Making it tonight!
★★★★★
I hope you loved it, Veronika!
This sounds wonderful and looks so beautiful too! I love your twist on this! Cheers ^_^
★★★★★
Thanks, Tammy!
Quality margarita recipes are just never enough, that's for sure. I love this recipe because it also makes making this drink quick and easy... And the result is absolutely fantastic!
★★★★★
So glad you loved it!
I have never used amaretto in a margarita before. What a game changer. So good.
★★★★★
Yay! Happy to hear you enjoyed.
What a fun, summer drink to try! This would be so great to serve at a summer gathering with friends.
★★★★★
For sure!
Very similar to what I have been making. Love that this recipe didn’t make the orange juice the main ingredient. As saw one using 3 oz to 2 oz tequila and 1 oz amaretto. I used a splash of bottled oj in my version to keep the tequila and amaretto front and center. 1/2 lime juiced. But when I have oranges to squeeze, I know this is the recipe to use exactly as written. I would only use 3 oz oj (bottled) if doing brunch or a luncheon. But for evening, let the tequila and amaretto shine. I only used 1/2 lime squeezed because all I had on hand. Usually 1 lime squeezed per any cocktail. I rated it 4 stars here bc I know the oj is not the shining taste. But once I make it. I know it will be 5 stars.
★★★★
Thanks, Penny! I can't wait for you to try it with the freshly squeezed orange juice and am glad you enjoyed it so far!