Simple Halloween Margarita Recipe

With the fall holidays just around the corner, it's natural to want to add a bit of a spark to your usual repertoire. While your meals might feature seasonal squash, warm soups, and hearty pie slices, your experimentation shouldn't be limited to food. If your go-to drink to imbibe is the same brand of beer or hard seltzer you've been drinking all summer, it's time you switched it up.

Mashed recipe developer Christina Musgrave shares a simple Halloween margarita recipe that is sure to get any party started — yes, including the one attended by you and your bestie in your kitchen. This cocktail stays true to a classic margarita recipe with its tequila, Cointreau, and lime base, but Musgrave has some fun with the extras. Blue and red food dye turn this drink into a ghastly sight that's perfect for your Halloween celebrations or everyday dark side. Add some candy corn to garnish, and the spooky vibes are served.

For this recipe, you'll need tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice to make the margarita base. Next, get blue and red food coloring to dye the cocktail a deep hue. If desired, Musgrave suggests adding candy corn to garnish.

Add the tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker.

Add ice.

Put the lid on the shaker and shake well for 15 seconds.

Strain the liquid into two glasses.

Add 1 teaspoon each of red and blue food coloring to each glass. Stir to turn the liquid black.

Add ice and optionally garnish with candy corn.

Serve and enjoy.

Considering its jet-black hue and candy corn garnish, this cocktail is perfect for Halloween or other spooky festivities. Musgrave comments, "This would be great at a Halloween party or for enjoying while passing out Halloween candy." Why shouldn't the grown-ups have fun while the kids frolic about in costumes scooping up treats at every door? 

If you're hosting a Halloween party, look for fun cups to complement this drink's eerie allure. See-through cups allow your guests to see the dark contents, or surprise them as they lean in to take a sip. While Musgrave opts for candy corn as a garnish for the margarita, you can swap in your favorite Halloween candy to add a sweet or tart touch. Sour gummy worms or Twizzlers are a good place to start — or just keep it simple by serving the cocktail straight without an extra candy adornment.

Considering this spooky margarita has all the makings of a Halloween party, it's worth looking into ways to increase the cocktail's portion size. If you're hanging around with your favorite plus one, there's no problem making these two at a time. However, if you want to serve this to a crowd, it's a different story. 

While you can easily double or triple the measurements, Musgrave highlights an important point to ensure your cocktail pitcher is equally delicious. "Since this has citrus juice, you want to make sure it's shaken, or else the flavors won't blend together correctly," she says. You could simply shake the contents in a cocktail shaker and pour them into a pitcher or bowl to serve. 

Once you've decided on your desired portion size, you can even plan to make this simple Halloween margarita recipe ahead of time. For optimal success, Musgrave instructs to "just give it a good stir and add ice right before serving."

To keep this simple Halloween margarita nicely chilled, you will need to use some ice. Cubed ice works well for this purpose since it doesn't melt as quickly. Bonus points if you have a fun Halloween-inspired ice cube tray! 

For starters, you'll need to shake the cocktail components with ice in a cocktail shaker to properly chill the drink. For this step, Musgrave recommends using ½ cup of ice. Of course, a margarita isn't complete without a couple of cubes of ice either. Split about 1 cup of ice between the two glasses once you're ready to serve.

If you're planning to make the margarita ahead of time, be sure to only add the ice to the drink once you are ready to serve it. Shaking it with ice is fine, but you don't want to leave any cubes sitting too long in the drink or it will quickly become watered down.