The 14 Best Frozen Margarita Machines for At-Home Drinks

Award-winning Barbadian mixologist Phillip “Casanova” Antoine knows how to craft the ultimate tropical drink—the cocktail pro has whipped up concoctions for everyone from rapper Drake to Jamaican dancehall star Popcaan.

“The perfect frozen margarita should contain tequila, triple sec, simple syrup—something sweet is needed to get the perfect, balanced taste—and one freshly squeezed lime,” says Antoine. He prefers the classic margarita on the rocks, but concedes frozen margaritas are the best for hot summer days. “You need a powerful blender that will get the ice to a smooth consistency, so there are no chunks,” he says. “This is very important so the frozen margarita can be smooth and refreshing.” This option from Margaritaville has a separate ice reservoir and shaves the ice down before blending for a super-smooth cocktail.

“Margaritas are the quintessential summer escape cocktail,” explains Martin Hoffstein, the founder of JAJA Tequila, “whether you are poolside or inside, margaritas take you to a special place.” Hoffstein recommends the Magic Bullet personal blender, which can be taken (almost) anywhere and is ideal for whipping up small batches. “Once you take a sip, you’re far away from the stress of life and ready to chill.”

“A 1,000-watt blender would be ideal for any frozen drink,” says Kevin Altamura, beverage director at Le Chick in Miami. This compact model from Beast comes in right at 1,000 watts, and it’s the rare kitchen workhorse that gets equally high marks for both form and function. It’s got a reputation for being surprisingly quiet—that’s in spite of a powerful motor that whips the blades around at 18,000 rpm and makes quick work of ice cubes. Just don’t add too many too fast, says Altamura.

“At home, most people over-dilute the drink by adding too much ice,” Altamura explains. “Start by adding only a handful of ice cubes, then work your way up until you get the consistency you desire.”

Chris Bostick, beverage director of De Nada Cantina in Austin, finds Blendtec machines hit the mark for horsepower: “For the home bartender, you need blending power if you’re going to achieve that classic texture, so Vitamix and Blendtec are your best options,” he says. One key tip: “Be mindful of the ice you use. Smaller starting chunks that are fully frozen and not starting to melt produce much better results,” Bostick explains.

The trade-off for hitting the pro-recommended 1,000 watts is that higher power often means a deafening noise. For apartment dwellers, new parents and anyone who wants maximum power for minimal roar, we like Blendtec’s Professional 800 Blender. This machine has an 1800-watt motor that will slice through ice cubes with ease, and the sealed enclosure dampens sound, so your party guests won’t be shouting over the din of an ever-present motor.

“Using great tequila is going to make a huge difference,” says Erin Hayes, beverage director at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. She prefers the bright, vegetal taste of Lalo Tequila. “Or try mezcal for a more earthy and smoky play on a traditional margarita,” she says. The right amount of ice, about 20 to 25 percent of the drink’s total water content, is key to the blend as a whole, Hayes explains. And always use fresh lime juice, which will “make you question everything you drank in college.” She recommends agave syrup as a sweetener.

“You can also measure and freeze the lime juice, agave syrup and water into ice cube trays and then just add to the blender with the tequila and Cointreau for a quick and easy frozen marg,” she adds. Hayes owns and loves the Breville Boss, a tank of a blender that’s (tragically!) no longer available, but the 1800-watt Q is a similarly powerful machine that retails for half the price.

“I have made midnight runs to the 24-hour Walmart when a blender died,” says Greg Randle, beverage master of Louisiana-based 2 Dine 4 Hospitality Group. If you find yourself in similar straits, this Ninja Twisti was the highest wattage machine we found on offer at Walmart, with 1,500 watts of blending power.

If your drink contains both fruit and tequila, who are we to decide if it’s a margarita or a nice, nutritious smoothie? “As a Mexican, I like to use fresh fruits and mix them with botanical elements from the region,” says Eduardo Guerrero, head mixologist at Etéreo, Auberge Resorts Collection in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. “In the Yucatan Peninsula, we have ingredients that can replace the acidity of lemon, such as sour orange,” which Guerrero likes to pair with pineapple, cilantro and a burnt-tortilla salt rim spiked with pasilla chile. “The elements that give a twist to your drink are using fresh and local ingredients,” Guerrero explains. “The better your raw material, the better your drink.”

For small servings, he says, “processors like the Nutribullet can be of great help for making frozen cocktails, using natural frozen fruit instead of conventional ice, with alcohol as a diluting agent.” This NutriBullet PRIME fits the bill, punching far above its weight with a 1,000-watt motor in a compact package. If you do use ice, he says, be mindful of the size of your cubes: “The smaller the power of your blender, the smaller the ice has to be.”

“If you can afford to splurge,” says Hayes, “a Vitamix is the way to go.” Vitamix has tons of options to choose from, but this A3500 comes with five automated settings, an easy-clean touchscreen and 10-year warranty. And most importantly, this model packs a whopping 2.2 horsepower motor—that’s over 1,600 watts—that will turn cubes to slush in no time.

If a top-of-the-line machine isn’t in the budget, an entry-level Vitamix still packs a major punch for the price. “For long-term use I would recommend getting a Vitamix,” says Altamura. “It’s worth the investment.”

Randle concurs. “Get Vitamix for the power,” he says. “At home, one is better off in general with a high-powered blender rather than purchasing a residential-grade branded margarita machine.” If you don’t need a ton of bells and whistles, this Vitamix 5300 offers a basic dial and a 2.2 horsepower motor for a fraction of the cost of other machines from the brand.

“Our secret is making all ingredients from scratch and using fresh juices—you can tell the difference between bottled and fresh squeezed lime juice—and simple but fresh ingredients,” says David Vendley, co-founder of Calexico, a Mexican restaurant and margarita mecca in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “You can never go wrong with 100% agave tequila, fresh lime juice and simple syrup in the right proportion.”

Calexico uses a commercial-grade Taylor blender to whip up hundreds of frozen margaritas each week. For home use, the Margaritaville Tahiti Margarita Machine, made for margaritas, smoothies and other frozen drinks, allows ambitious hosts to create up to three 24-ounce pitchers of margaritas at once to keep the party going no matter the season.

The original margarita machine was just a repurposed soft serve machine—and that’ll still do the job well. “If you have a home ice cream maker, you can go that route—dump your margarita in the ice cream maker and it will work,” says Nick Farrell, spirits director of Brewery Saint X and Devil Moon BBQ in New Orleans. “High-quality ice cream machines do a great job at texture because everything’s constantly in motion and staying very cold, so you don’t have that formation of larger ice crystals.”

“When it comes to frozen margaritas, I like to use a good reposado tequila, rather than a blanco,” says Tyler Pierson, bartender at rooftop bar Peregrin atop the Perry Lane Hotel in Savannah, Georgia. “Due to how cold the margarita is, once we take a sip, we tend not to swallow the cocktail as quickly. Therefore, [we can] taste it more and [appreciate] the flavors of the aged tequila.” For a twist on the classic, Pierson recommends adding Crème de Cassis or Crème de Mure. “It is a great way to incorporate berry flavors, plus it adds a nice color to your frozen margaritas,” he says. Pierson prefers to use a Ninja at home, which helps to create a quality consistency, critical to frozen drinks.

“The wonderful thing about the margarita is that it’s a crowd-pleaser that can be made to your personal preferences,” says a representative from the mixology team at the Ojai Valley Inn’s Wallace Neff Heritage Bar. “If you use a high-quality tequila and fresh citrus juice, you’re guaranteed a winner, the rest is up to you. From jalapeños and tajin to fresh fruit, the list of ways to create your own ‘perfect’ margarita is endless.”

Neff recommends a small splash of orange juice to finish alongside an agave sweetener or simple syrup instead of Cointreau or Triple Sec. “The lime’s freshness and the agave’s complexity give the cocktail a well-rounded, yet fresh and not-to-sweet flavor.”

“A great go-to blender for making margaritas at home is the Ninja Professional Blender,” he continues. “It quickly crushes the ice and results in a smooth, well-blended margarita. Plus, it’s on the larger side and is great for making larger batches.”

Maybe you’re opening a restaurant, maybe Taco Tuesday is your personal religion, maybe you’re merely spending enough on frozen cocktails to justify going pro at home—we’re not here to judge. Whatever your reason, if appliances made for home cooks just aren’t cutting it, the pros all seem to sing the praises of industrial models from Spaceman.

“At our restaurants and bars, we use big, heavy-duty equipment for our frozens. Think Spaceman, Frosty Factory and Taylor,” says Bostick. “These machines keep up with the volume and produce that classic frozen texture.”

Mike Vasko, operations director of Austin margarita hotspot Taco Flats, also name-checked the brand. “We have used Spaceman for many years now. For this kind of equipment, it’s hard to beat. Easily maintained, extremely high quality and generally very good with customer service.”