The Unexpected Ingredient That Will Majorly Upgrade Your Strawberry Margarita

A strawberry margarita can be a nice refreshing summer drink if you're looking for a fruity alternative to the traditional margarita. While you can always seek out a local bar or restaurant to make you this delicious cocktail, crafting batches of it at home not only saves you money but also gives you the satisfaction of honing your mixology skills.

If you want to impress guests at your next party, gather the ingredients and get to work perfecting your strawberry margarita technique. Typically, all you'll need for a frozen strawberry margarita is a lime wedge, coarse salt, a bag of frozen strawberries, silver tequila, and some triple sec.

For those who prefer an even higher fruit quotient, you can garnish the rim with more limes and strawberries. But recipe developer Jaime Bachtell-Shelbert, RDN, suggests adding a less-common ingredient to upgrade the drink's flavor in her Mashed-exclusive frozen strawberry margarita recipe.

The surprising ingredient that can take your frozen strawberry margarita recipe to the next level is a can of frozen limeade concentrate. Recipe developer Jaime Bachtell-Shelbert, RDN, explains that limeade concentrate saves time without compromising on taste. "Frozen limeade is a shortcut ingredient in this recipe. No juicing of limes required," Shelbert says. "The result is a sweet, slushy margarita that is restaurant-quality."

When you're ready to play entertainer, simply add the strawberries, limeade, silver tequila, and triple sec to a blender, crank it up for a minute, then add ice and blend until smooth. Add more ice for a thicker consistency and less for liquid-y margaritas.

Bachtell-Shelbert also offers some ideas about what occasions might be best suited for preparing the frozen drinks. "These would be a hit served up at a Cinco de Mayo party alongside a taco bar," she says. "Or host a summer happy hour with chips, salsa, queso, and guacamole."