A spicy margarita has got to be one of the best ways to enjoy any celebration-worthy moment! The delicious flavor of jalapeno and its mild spice are the perfect pairing with a margarita. The sweet, salty, and sour flavors are complemented so well with the vegetal, earthy, and spicy flavor of jalapeno.

Spicy Jalapeno margarita served with lime salt rimmed glass with a pickled jalapeno and lime garnish.

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This recipe for spicy margaritas made with jalapeno simple syrup is absolutely incredible and refreshing! Plus I share how to make a skinny spicy margarita without the simple syrup as well. So the recipe is super adaptable too.

Why I love this recipe

It’s a margarita! A well-made margarita is always my favorite cocktail, and this is no exception.
I love the lovely spicy kick you get from this sweet, sour, and refreshing drink! The balance of spice, salt, sweet, and sour is just *chefs kiss*.
It’s so easy to adapt this recipe with other flavors, so you can make many different variations.
This is made with a spicy jalapeno simple syrup, so the drink is very easy to assemble.
I share tips on how to make the drinks more spicy (if you choose to!).
If you don’t want to make the jalapeno syrup, then I also share how to make a spicy margarita without the jalapeno simple syrup (i.e. a skinny spicy margarita recipe version!).

An angled view of red chili spicy margarita served in a tajin rimmed rocks glass.

Margarita basics

A margarita is and will always be my cocktail of choice. The balance of sweet and sour flavors, with the salt and the kick from tequila are pure perfection.

The origins of the margarita are quite obscure, and there are many stories that claim to be about the beginnings of this cocktail. What is known however is that this is the most popular cocktail in the US.

The salt rim on the glass is very important, because the salt brings out and balances the sweet and sour flavors in the margarita. The salt also helps to mitigate any bitterness, PLUS it enhances the drinker’s ability to taste and savor all the flavors in the cocktail. That’s why tequila shots are usually enjoyed with a little lime and salt.

While there is a “classic margarita” version, what I love about margaritas the most is how incredibly flexible and adaptable they are. You can easily add different fruits to make the margaritas more interesting and flavorful.

This spicy margarita would be my absolute favorite variation of margaritas, because I love anything that’s a little spicy!

Ingredients for a spicy margarita recipe

Tequila

I make this particular spicy margarita with both tequila blanco and tequila reposado. They both make fantastic margaritas. Don’t shy away from using tequila reposado to make your margarita. More about the difference between them below.

Triple sec or cointreu

I only add a little bit of this ingredient. You can also leave it out and adjust the sweetness using the simple syrup instead. This will also increase the infused spicy flavor in the margarita.

Lime juice

Nothing better than freshly squeezed lime juice for a margarita.

Spicy jalapeno simple syrup

I shared the recipe for my absolutely amazing spicy jalapeno simple syrup. You can make this syrup as spicy as you like, and I provide tips on how to make a mild version, all the way to a super spicy version.

My favorite version is a little spicy, so that I can still feel the heat when it’s diluted in the margarita.

Lime salt or Tajin

This is for the rim. You can absolutely use regular sea salt to rim the glass. To make the spicy margarita even better, you can rim the glass with lime salt or Tajin (chili, lime, and salt).

Ice

To mix and to serve the cocktail.

Extra jalapeno or green chili slices, and lime wedges

This is to garnish the cocktail. However, the jalapeno slices can be used to add more chili flavor in the final cocktail as well.

Ingredients needed to make spicy margarita.

Ingredient substitutions

Tequila and Cointreu

There is no substitution for tequila here. However, if you want to make a non-alcoholic margarita, you can make this with your favorite non-alcoholic tequila. You can leave out the cointreu or use an equal amount of orange juice or mandarin juice instead.

Jalapeno simple syrup

This is how you add the jalapeno flavor to the spicy jalapeno margarita. If you do not have time to make the spicy jalapeno syrup, you can still enjoy a spicy margarita! Just use sliced fresh jalapenos. You can remove some of the seeds for a less spicy version.

Alternatively, you can make jalapeno infused tequila ahead of time as well. Pour some tequila into a jar and add some sliced jalapenos. Allow the jalapeno to infuse its flavor and spice into the tequila over 1 – 2 days (depending on how spicy or strong you want it to be).

Lime salt or Tajin

You can use regular salt instead to rim the margarita cocktail glasses.

Pouring jalapeno simple syrup into a cocktail mixer.

My favorite way to make any margarita

Honestly, there is no wrong way to make margarita (except if the margarita is watered down of course).

At home, there are two types of margaritas that I like to make, depending on what I have at hand and how strong I want my margarita to be. The classic margarita and the modified agave margarita.

To make a classic margarita, you only require,

Tequila
Triple sec or Cointreu (or an orange liqueur)
Lime juice
Salt

I make this when I have triple sec or cointreu at home (I don’t always have it, PLUS it can be more expensive, so I save it for “special occasion margaritas”).

For agave margarita, I use,

Tequila
Agave or simple syrup
Lime juice
Salt

This is what I make more often at home, because I prefer using sugar or simple syrup or agave to sweeten the margarita, where I can reduce the alcohol added to the cocktails. Plus I can use flavored simple syrups too, like my spicy jalapeno simple syrup to make this spicy margarita recipe. If you love the flavor of orange liqueur in your margarita, you can also add a smaller amount of it to your cocktail if you like.

An image of two jalapeno slices falling into a cocktail mixing glass, with the liquid splashing, with bottles of tequila in the background.

How to make spicy jalapeno margaritas

Cut up some lime for garnishing and to rim your serving glasses. Use a wedge or slice of lime and rub the rim of your glass with it. While classic margaritas are served in margarita glasses, you can also use a rocks glass as well.

In a small plate or saucer, place the lime salt or tajin. If you do not have either of these, you can use regular salt. You can also make some lime salt at home by mixing finely minced lime zest with sea salt / kosher salt or margarita salt.

Brush the rim of the serving glasses in the salt mix, and make sure to coat the entire rim of your glass with the salt. Set aside until needed.

To add more chili flavor to your margarita – Add some de-seeded jalapeno slices or green chili in your cocktail mixing glass. If you want to add more spice, you can leave the seeds too. Use a cocktail muddler and gently muddle the slices of jalapeno. About 2 – 3 slices per drink would be more than enough.

In the cocktail mixing glass, place the tequila (blanco or reposado) and freshly squeezed lime juice. Add a little cointreu if you’re using it as well. Add the spicy jalapeno syrup. Stir or shake your cocktail with a generous amount of ice. Add more syrup (to your taste) and stir to mix it well.

Fill your salted rocks glass (or margarita glass) with some ice cubes or crushed ice. Strain the cocktail into your serving glasses. Garnish with a lime wedge or lime slice and a pickled jalapeno (optional – but delicious!).

Two glasses of spicy margaritas, made with spicy simple syrup, with slices jalapeno and lime in the foreground.

How to adapt this recipe without the jalapeno simple syrup

You can either replace the tequila with jalapeno infused tequila, OR you can muddle extra jalapeno slices in your cocktail mixing glass (with some of the seeds), to add the flavor and spice from jalapenos.

By muddling the flavor and spice of jalapenos directly into the cocktail, you can reduce the sugar that is added to the margarita. This is how you adapt to make a skinny spicy margarita recipe.

Muddle jalapeno slices (red or green jalapeno)
Add tequila (jalapeno infused tequila, or regular tequila), and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Optional – add some orange juice.
Add sugar or agave to taste.
Stir or shake to mix, and strain into a serving glass, and serve.

Pouring tequila into the cocktail mixing glass to make spicy margarita.

Pouring red chili simple syrup to make a cocktail.

Spicy margarita recipe variations

This recipe is for spicy jalapeno margaritas. But you can add more flavor and adapt this recipe to make so many variations!

Red jalapeno spicy margarita = Red jalapeno simple syrup + Tequila reposado + Tajin

Make the simple syrup with red jalapenos or red chili peppers. The red chili version is a little more fruity and smooth than the vegetal green jalapeno simple syrup. While you can make this margarita with tequila blanco or tequila reposado, I feel that the red chili pairs so well with tequila reposado! Which is what you see in the image below and elsewhere in this post.

Spicy Red Jalapeno margarita served in a glass with green jalapeno margarita in the background.

Spicy paloma recipe with jalapeno

Make a classic paloma with tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and club soda. But instead of sugar, sweeten the drink with the jalapeno infused spicy simple syrup.

Spicy pineapple jalapeno margarita

Add 1 oz of pineapple juice to your margarita to make a delicious pineapple jalapeno margarita! I made a similar margarita previously as well – this pink peppercorn and pineapple margarita shandy! Absolutely delicious, spicy, and perfect for summer!

Spicy mango jalapeno margarita

This version of spicy margarita is amazing! You can easily make a frozen mango jalapeno margarita by following my recipe. Instead of the agave, add extra spicy jalapeno simple syrup to sweeten the frozen drink. Remember that the frozen cocktail will dull the sweetness and spice, so you will need to add more syrup, and make it a little extra spicy too (but not too spicy!).

Alternatively, add 1 oz of mango puree to your cocktail mixing glass to make a spicy mango jalapeno margarita.

You can make any flavored / fruit margarita a little spicy with this delicious jalapeno simple syrup! Here are more examples,