Wow, big shocker here, a skinny margarita recipe! If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen that I’ve been posting…a lot…about margaritas. It’s kind of my new thing. I feel like 2017 is the year of tequila? Yes? I know I’m the vodka-loving dietitian but variety is the spice of life, or something.

Anyways.

I HATE ordering ‘traditional’ (although there is nothing traditional about it) margaritas at restaurants. They’re either filled with sour mix, which is an ulta sugary mixer with more sugar than a soda, or they’ll have a generous squeeze of agave or simple syrup to sweeten. Now, the latter is definitely your better option because you’re only having to worry about pure sugar vs all the weird ingredients that I can only imagine comes in an economy sized jug of sour mix.

Sugar is sugar. 

But sugar is sugar, and agave is no more ‘healthy’ than the pure white stuff. Both options are going to mess with your blood sugar, both options are adding tons of unnecessary sugar and carbs and both options are probably going to give you “gut rock” a few hours later.

Did you know that a REAL, traditional margarita doesn’t even have added sugar? Yeah, we f*cked that up. Because #America. So while I named this a Skinny Pink Grapefruit Margarita, it’s really just a Pink Grapefruit Margarita. And it is GLORIOUS.

A quick confession – while it normally takes me a few tries to get a recipe just right, I nailed this on the first go. I’m not sure what this says about me.

My secret ingredient: Salt.

I’ve sweetened this marg by adding a touch of orange liquor (Cointreau is my FAVORITE) and freshly squeeze grapefruit juice. Your typical margarita you get at your local Mexican joint can have up to 85 g of sugar….no, that’s not a typo. That’s real life. This margarita only has 12 g of sugar!

And I’ve got a secret ingredient in there – a pinch of salt. Salt and tequila go together like peanut butter and jelly, and the pinch of salt really brings out the flavors of the grapefruit juice. You don’t have to line your glass with salt if that’s not your thing (I like a BOAT LOAD of salt on mine), but give the pinch of salt a try.

You don’t have to completely cut out alcohol to live a healthy lifestyle. Get all the details on how I feel about boozin’ here.

Skinny Pink Grapefruit Margarita

Author: Megan Hansen, RDN, DL

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

A super fresh, subtly sweet margarita with NO added sugar, but with all the delicious flavors of a traditional margarita.

Ingredients

• 2 oz silver 100% agave tequila

• 3/4 oz orange liqueur (recommended: Cointreau)

• 1 1/2 oz freshly squeeze grapefruit juice

• pinch of salt

• splash of club soda – optional

Instructions

1. Pour margarita, kosher or sea salt onto a plate. Rub a glass rim with grapefruit juice, then set it rim side down on the salt. Fill glass with ice.

2. Fill a shaker with ice. Add tequila, orange liqueur, grapefruit juice and salt.

3. Shake vigorously, and strain over ice. Add a splash (no more than 1-2 Tbsp) of club soda and serve with grapefruit slices.

Serving size: 1 drink

Fat: 0

Carbohydrates: 12

Sugar: 12

Fiber: 0

Protein: 0

Notes: If you like a little fizz in your drinks, add a splash of club soda. But just a splash – you don’t want to dilute the drink.