beer margarita recipe

Can’t decide between an ice cold beer or a classic margarita? Get the best of both worlds with this three ingredient beer margarita recipe!

We have a few other cocktails we love, love, love making at home too…like a Raspberry Gin Seltzer, Frozen Gin and Tonics, Peach Whiskey Smash, Blackberry Basil Gin Fizz, Watermelon Frozen Rose, and Whiskey Apple Cider Cocktails.

I haven’t blogged in a while.

My last posts, a homemade spicy Bloody Mary mix recipe and a guide to the best tent camping in North Carolina, I wrote in January. It’s almost May now.

What happened?

We had a baby!

We became a family of three (humans, that is because you know the cats and Bodie are family too) in mid-January! We are happy and sleep-deprived and have been soaking up all the snuggles since.

While we navigated newborn life, I was on maternity leave from work and took a step away from the blog.  I went back to my full time job as a public defender in early April, and I’ve missed writing, so I’m thrilled to be back to blogging too (it’s still going to be sporadic but I hope I can get in a semi consistent routine soon…we will see!)

I feel like the best way to bring the blog back is with a cocktail of course!

If you’ve been here a while, you know that margaritas are one of my favorite cocktails. So whenI was assigned to make one of Jennifer’s recipes from her blog Take Two Tapas for Freaky Friday, and I saw that she had a few delicious margarita recipes on her website, I knew exactly what I wanted to make! 

WHAT IS FREAKY FRIDAY?

Freaky Friday is a good old-fashioned blog hop.

What’s a blog hop?

A blog hop is where a group of bloggers get together and make each others’ recipes! Michaela, from An Affair from the Heart, organizes this virtual event 5 times a year…she secretly assigns each of us another blog to cook from…we make the recipes, take photos, write our blog posts, and then on the same Friday, we all reveal our recipes. 

This is my fourth time participating (last year I joined in on three Freaky Fridays and made extra crispy air fryer chicken wings, grilled vegan guacamole, and fresh garden salsa). I’m so excited to not only be blogging again but dusting off the ol’ blog with a Freaky Friday post!  My favorite thing about Freaky Friday is seeing what everyone made…it’s so fun to hop from blog to blog looking at everyone’s posts.

And for our readers, there’s a collection of seasonal recipes all in one place, and a great way for y’all to meet some new bloggers!

See all of our 2022 Freaky Friday Spring Edition Recipes

Hosted by – An Affair from the Heart

1. An Affair from the Heart – Blueberry Lemon Pull-Apart Bread
2. Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Baked Asparagus with Parmesan
3. The Carefree Kitchen – Carrot Cake
4. The Culinary Compass – Dunkaroo Dip Recipe
5. Devour Dinner –Fruit Charcuterie Board
6. Family Around the Table – Fresh Strawberry Milkshake 
7. Feast + West – Frozen Grasshopper Martini
8. Home Cooked Harvest – Rocky Road Brownies
9. Hostess at Heart – Honey Bun Cake
10. Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog –Homemade Sour Cream Funfetti Cupcakes
11. Off the Eaten Path –  Beer Margarita Recipe
12. The Speckled Palate – Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon and Walnuts
13. Sue Bee Homemaker – No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
14. Take Two Tapas – Crab Dip
15. The Wimpy Vegetarian – Texas Trash Dip Warm Bean Dip

LET’S MEET JENNIFER!

Jennifer is a boy mom (like me!) who says feeding people makes her soul happy (I love that!) 

When she eats, she would rather “sample many different dishes instead of trying to make the traditional plate with a meat, vegetable and starch,” which is how her blog, Take Two Tapas was born.

Her blog features a variety of different recipes that can be served as a light snack, an appetizer, or even a meal when combined with other small plates. And let me say, I just LOVED browsing her site! There are so many mouth watering recipes (including appetizers, sweets and cocktails) that it was so hard for me to pick just one to make.

We have loved using our air fryer, so did I want to make easy bacon wrapped shrimp, pizza rolls, or fried pickles? (We LOVE fried pickles!) Or, since we recently hosted some family at our house, did I want to make a dip like whipped feta dip or creamy corn dip for everyone to snack on?

But at the end of the day, I kept coming back to her cocktails. You guys know I love a cold drink, so I just couldn’t say no to a pineapple bourbon lemonade, a mango passion fruit wine slushie, or even a skinny Bahama Mama. But, I ended up going with her margarita beer shandy because I love a traditional margarita, beer and easy cocktail recipes! Plus Cinco de Mayo is next week, and this would be the perfect cocktail to celebrate!

WHAT IS A MARGARITA WITH BEER IN IT CALLED?

A beer margarita in it is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a spin on the traditional lime margarita, with the addition of a cold beer! The result is a refreshing cocktail perfect for Cinco de Mayo celebrations, a taco bar party, or a hot summer day.

Ok so now we know what it is, what is a margarita with beer in it called? I’ve heard these beer based margaritas called by a variety of different names:

• Beerita
• Beergarita
• Mexican Bulldog
• Iceberg Margarita or Iceberg Drink
• Margarita Beer Shandy
• Coronarita (you know the ones, with the Coronita beer upside down into a slushy, frozen margarita with the mouth of the bottle at the bottom of a margarita glass) or Dos-A-Rita (these two names are brand specific and made with the popular Mexican lagers, Corona Extra and Dos Equis)

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE A BEER MARGARITA

When it comes to tools to make beer margaritas, the list is short:

• A beer or margarita glass (I love making cocktails in our vintage cactus margarita glasses but a pint glass or a beer mug is perfect for this recipe)
• A bottle opener (to open your beer!)
• A sharp knife (to cut limes)
• A blender (if you are going to make the frozen version of this cocktail)

While my classic margarita recipe or a delicious cadillac margarita recipe, includes traditional ingredients like triple sec and orange liqueur, this beerita recipe is just a three ingredient cocktail!

• Blanco tequila (Jennifer recommends Blanco tequila but says you can use Reposado if that’s what you have on hand…typically Blanco tequilas are a clear tequila in their color)
• Limeade or limeade concentrate (Jennifer uses limeade rather than fresh squeezed lime juice a lot in her cocktails because she says it already combines the components of fresh lime juice and simple syrup a lot of cocktails call for!)
• A 12 ounce bottle of beer
• Lime (optional, for garnish)
• Ice cubes (optional, to make a frozen beerita)
• Salt rim (optional)

HOW TO MAKE A BEERITA

It takes less than 5 minutes to make yourself a beerita.

In a glass, mix a shot of  tequila and limeade together (you don’t even need a cocktail shaker for this step…just a spoon).

Top with beer. Make sure your beer is cold (you can also add ice to make the drink colder).

Garnish with a lime wedge or lime wheel (Jennifer recommends serving the lime in the beergarita glass so the lime juice can add slow and subtle flavor to your beer margarita.)

WHAT TYPE OF BEER SHOULD GO IN A BEER MARGARITA?

What I love about this recipe is that there are a few different styles of beer that you can use to make a beergarita. I would recommend:

A Mexican style lager beer, like Corona beer, Dos Equis, Tecate or Modelo. After all, some of these brands have incorporated their brands into a beer margarita cocktail name like Coronarita or Dos-A-Rita, and a Mexican lager seems like a classic choice for a margarita recipe.

No Mexican lager? No problem. Light beers, like a light lager or light ale, will also do the trick. You’re looking for something that is not going to take away from the flavor of the drink, so nothing too heavy or overpowering (stay far, far away from darker beers like stouts, porters or a brown ale). Jennifer even recommends that you could use a citrus shandy beer, like Leinenkugel or similar beer to enhance the citrus flavor in the beer cocktail.

If you wanted to go a little bolder than a lager or a blonde ale, a hoppy IPA would also work, just make sure you pick one with citrus notes in order to match rather than overpower the classic flavors of a margarita.

CAN YOU MAKE A FROZEN BEERGARITA?

While Jennifer’s original recipe is not for a frozen margarita, she did suggest in her post that a beerita can be made frozen, especially if it’s a particularly hot day or you are a slower drinker (having a frozen base that slowly melts into your beer will keep your cocktail cooler for longer). In order to make a frozen beerita, you can freeze your limeade tequila mixture ahead of time, or you can blend the tequila and limeade with one to two cups of ice. Do not blend the beer! (Blenders and carbonation are not a good combination). Add the beer later to the frozen tequila and limeade mixture, like the pictures in this post show! 

beer margarita recipe

Print Recipe

Can’t decide between an ice cold beer or a classic margarita? Get the best of both worlds with this three ingredient beer margarita recipe!

Course cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 ounce tequila Blanco or Repasado
• 2 ounces limeade
• 12 ounces beer
• 1 lime slices for garnish

Instructions

• In a margarita glass or pint glass, mix the tequila and limeade.
• Top with beer.
• Garnish with lime wheel or wedge.

Notes

You can make a frozen beergarita by mixing the tequila and limeade together and freezing it ahead of time, or by combining the tequila and limeade in a blender with one to two cups of ice. Pour beer over frozen tequila limeade mixture and enjoy!