Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita recipe with a hot salt and pepper rim, full of sweet, sour and spicy flavours. This is the drink to spice up your life!

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim
Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita

I had to do it.

Over the years, I’ve used tomatillos in so many different ways, given the generous bounty every summer right into autumn. However, apart from the salsa verde, they’ve all been of the throw-in-some-tomatillos variety. This is the first season that I’m giving some thought to the actual recipes and making “proper” ones.

A couple of days ago, I posted the recipe for Mexican Salsa Verde the way I make it, sautéeing the salsa after chopping everything up; as opposed to blanching the vegetables first. And I have about a handful more recipes using tomatillos, starting with today’s Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim.

This margarita started out with a thought: given the tomatillo’s tart nature, I wondered if it could replace the lime juice in a regular margarita. So I went with that, using the exact proportions for a regular margarita, as in here.

Tomatillo
Tomatillo

First Try

  • 2 parts tequila
  • 1 part Cointreau
  • instead of lime juice, 1 portion tomatillo juice (made with 3 medium sized tomatillos)
  • simple syrup to sweeten to taste (I like ’em sweet)

It was ok, nothing to write home about. I reckon it needed lime juice; after all, lime juice makes almost everything better! Rather like cheese, in a different way, of course!

Second Try

  • 2 parts tequila
  • 1 part Cointreau
  • 1 portion tomatillo juice
  • 1 part fresh lime juice
  • simple syrup

It was pretty good. As I was setting up for the shoot, I went to get some fresh tomatillos from the plant. And what sits next to the tomatillo in the conservatory? My jalapeño plant! A lightbulb moment later, we had Take 3, with the chilli added to the tomatillos for juice.

As I was doing the salt rim for the glass, lightbulb moment number 2 happened, and some freshly ground black pepper got added to the salt for a salt & pepper rim. And that, folks, was the Final Take! To quote Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith,

“Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?”

As usual, I give you the recipe needed to make 1 serving. Multiply as required. If you are making a huge batch and have an easy clean slow juicer, you can just juice your tomatillos and jalapeño/s. Add the lime juice later.

No Tomatillos? No Sweat!

Make it with green tomatoes if you have access to them. If not, make one of my other 3 margarita recipes or look for a cocktail you fancy on the Drinks Page!

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So now you know how our Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim came about! Next time you fancy spicing up your weekend, and indeed your guests, try this out!

For all of you celebrating Labour Day, have a superb weekend, grilling away! And you know what to drink along with all that food, don’t you?

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita recipe with a hot salt and pepper rim. This is the drink to spice up your life!
4.96 from 24 votes
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mexican (kind of!)
Keyword: cocktails, margarita, summer
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 135.7kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 60 ml (2 parts) tequila
  • 30 ml (1 part) Cointreau or Triple Sec
  • 1 portion tomatillo and jalapeño juice see below
  • simple sugar syrup to taste recipe below
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper sprinkled on a saucer
  • ice cubes

Tomatillo and Jalapeño Juice (makes 1 portion)

  • 3 medium-sized tomatillos
  • ½ jalapeño
  • 1 part lime juice keep the lime for the glass

Simple Sugar Syrup

  • 200 g (1 cup) white sugar
  • 125 ml (½ cup) water

A cocktail shaker would be great, if not, just stir it all up well in a glass/jug.

    Instructions

    Simple Syrup

    • Place the water and sugar into a small pan and bring to a boil.
    • Simmer for 10 minutes on the lowest heat to allow the syrup to thicken.
    • Leave to cool, no need to place in the fridge, but you can if you like. Will keep in the fridge, covered, for 2 weeks.

    Tomatillo and Jalapeño Juice

    • Place everything into a chopper and chop to a fine paste.
    • Strain into a clean cup/small jug.

    Let’s Make the Margarita

    • Run a lime slice all around the rim of a glass.
    • Dip the glass rim into the salt and pepper, coating well.
    • Place everything into a shaker and shake to mix and chill. Start with 1/2 part simple syrup.
    • Taste and add more syrup if you like it sweeter. I do.
    • Pour into the glass, minus the ice cubes.

    Notes

    Total time does not include the making and chilling of the simple syrup.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 135.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.2g | Sugar: 15.6g
    Did you make this recipe?Mention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!
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    28 thoughts on “Tomatillo and Jalapeño Margarita with Salt & Pepper Rim”

    1. Lin, I just have to say how much I love the sound of this cocktail. 🙂 My family and my boys (grown men now!) have all been rather partial to jalapenos since FOREVER and fortunately my daughters-in-law are the same. So the next time we all meet up guess what the adults will be having as we watch the sunset and contemplate the littlies being in bed soon…. zzzz………………. _/ < < < That's a big tick from me on behalf of their mums [in advance] in anticipation of a well earned rest………………) 🙂 Caz and Crew.

      1. Haha, thank you, I rather like this one myself! I rather like my margaritas sweet, so the spice in here was quite interesting. I look forward to seeing pictures of your sunset!

    2. Tomatillo in a margarita?! Genius! I love that you added jalapeno. I’m in love with your photography too. That margarita is showing off 🙂

    3. I LOVE a spicy margarita. My favorite is a habanero and (fresh) cherry or strawberry margarita. I learned to like them in Mexico though so I do NOT like them sweet lol. I may omit or cut back on the simple syrup, but this is gorgeous and a great idea for Labor Day weekend!

    4. Oh yeah, this is really cool. I love those shots with chili in them, so I am definitely going to try it this Labor Day weekend. Tomatillos are very easy to come by here. Thank you, Azlin!

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