How Many Calories in a Margarita?
Just tequila and a squeeze of lime, so it hardly counts? A classic margarita is about 183 calories per 150 ml glass — 122 kcal per 100 ml — because the triple sec doubles the alcohol and brings liqueur sugar with it. How many calories in a margarita comes down to the second bottle, not the first.
You'd need to walk about 37 minutes to burn the 183 calories in a 150 ml glass.
How long does it take to burn off a margarita?
A 150 ml glass is 183 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb ml
| Activity | Time to burn 183 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 37 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 23 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 26 min |
| Jogging | 22 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 41 min |
Times are for a 154 lb (11 st) adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (150 ml); change it to what you actually drank. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
Alt: Margarita in a coupe glass with a salted rim - 183 calories per 150 ml serving
On this page
- Quick facts
- Margarita sizes and servings
- Frozen and skinny margaritas
- How does a margarita compare?
- Margarita strength and units
- Most popular margarita brands
- FAQ
Quick facts
| Per 100 ml | Amount | % RI* |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 122 kcal (510 kJ) | 6% |
| Protein | 0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrates | 7 g | 3% |
| — of which sugars | 6.5 g | 7% |
| Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Fibre | 0 g | — |
| Salt | 0 g (before the salted rim) | 0% |
*RI = reference intake of an average adult (8,400 kJ / 2,000 kcal). Salt shown in grams, UK label style.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from CoFID, the UK government’s Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified August 2026. How we verify our data →
Margarita sizes and servings
The glass decides most of it. A classic shaken margarita in a cocktail glass runs to roughly 150 ml and 183 kcal; frozen and "large" serves stretch to 250 ml and 305 kcal before anyone has added extra syrup.
| Serving | Size | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Classic margarita | ~150 ml | 183 kcal |
| Frozen or large margarita | ~250 ml | 305 kcal |
| Homemade double | 50 ml tequila build | ~215 kcal |
| Skinny margarita | tequila, lime, soda | ~110 kcal |
Build one at home and the arithmetic is blunt. Tequila, 50 ml: 105 kcal. Triple sec, 25 ml: about 80 kcal — orange liqueurs sit around 330 kcal per 100 ml on the label, which is why bartenders call them "liquid sugar". Fresh lime plus a touch of syrup adds roughly 30 more. Total: about 215 kcal for a proper double.
Alt: BodyPal app scanning a margarita showing calories and macros
Frozen and skinny margaritas
Frozen margaritas start from the same 122 kcal per 100 ml, then two things move against you: the serve gets bigger and the blend usually gets sweeter. Once syrup and fruit purée go into the blender, you are holding a dessert with a straw.
The skinny margarita goes the other way. Tequila, fresh lime, soda water: about 110 kcal, and it still tastes like the real thing because the tequila and lime were always the point. The salted rim, for the record, costs nothing — salt has no calories. What it adds is salt, so the rim is a taste decision, not a calorie one.
Alt: Margarita variants calories comparison - classic 183, frozen 305, skinny 110 kcal
How does a margarita compare?
| Drink | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Margarita | 150 ml glass | 183 kcal |
| Wine | 175 ml glass | 133 kcal |
| Gin and tonic | single | 100 kcal |
| Tequila | single shot | 53 kcal |
| Vodka | single shot | 53 kcal |
The verdict: among mixed drinks the margarita sits near the top of the scale, because it stacks two alcohols and a sugar source in one glass. If you want the lightest order, a single spirit with a calorie-free mixer wins at around 53 kcal; a G&T at 100 splits the difference.
Margarita strength and units
A margarita has no tonic, soda or juice diluting it — the glass is essentially all alcohol plus citrus. That is why one cocktail typically carries more units of alcohol than a single-spirit drink of the same size, though the exact figure depends entirely on the pour. The NHS unit calculator is the quickest way to check a specific recipe, and UK guidance is to keep to no more than 14 units a week. The NHS also publishes typical calories in alcohol for common drinks, which makes the margarita's position on the list easy to see.
Most popular margarita brands in the United Kingdom
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United Kingdom, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each label. Bottled ready-to-serve mixes; a bar-made double comes out stronger and higher.
| Product | Calories (per 100 ml) |
|---|---|
| Jose Cuervo Lime Margarita (ready-to-serve) | 97 kcal |
| Jose Cuervo Strawberry Lime Margarita | 97 kcal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels.
FAQ
How many calories in a frozen margarita?
About 305 kcal for a typical 250 ml frozen serve, from the same 122 kcal per 100 ml base. Blended versions made with syrup or fruit purée go higher still — the blender hides sugar better than a shaker does.
How many calories in a skinny margarita?
Around 110 kcal. The skinny build keeps the tequila and fresh lime but swaps the triple sec and syrup for soda water. Since the liqueur alone contributes roughly 80 kcal, dropping it removes most of the gap between a cocktail and a plain spirit and mixer.
How much sugar is in a margarita?
About 10 g in a 150 ml classic margarita, from 6.5 g of sugar per 100 ml. Most of it comes from the orange liqueur and any added syrup, not the lime. For scale, the NHS advises keeping free sugars under 30 g a day for adults.
How many calories in a homemade margarita?
About 215 kcal for a standard homemade double: 50 ml of tequila (105 kcal), 25 ml of triple sec (about 80 kcal) and lime with a little syrup (roughly 30 kcal). Home pours tend to be generous, which is why the homemade number beats the bar's 150 ml glass.
How strong is a margarita?
Stronger than its size suggests — the glass contains two alcoholic ingredients and no long mixer, so a single cocktail usually carries more units than a G&T. The exact strength depends on the pour; the NHS unit calculator will give you a figure for any recipe.
Margarita vs mojito — which has fewer calories?
They usually land in the same territory. Both are spirit-plus-sugar builds: the margarita gets its sugar from orange liqueur, the mojito from sugar syrup, topped with soda. Neither is the light choice on the cocktail list — that remains a single spirit with a calorie-free mixer.
Is a margarita more calorific than a gin and tonic?
Yes — 183 kcal for a 150 ml margarita against about 100 kcal for a single G&T. The difference is the second alcohol: triple sec adds both spirit and sugar, while tonic only adds sugar. Swap to a skinny margarita (~110 kcal) and the two drinks are level.
Does the salt rim add calories?
No — salt contains 0 calories, so the rim costs nothing on that front. It does add salt itself, which is worth knowing if you are watching intake against the NHS guideline of under 6 g a day, but the calorie load of a margarita sits entirely in the alcohol and sugar.
Similar foods
- Rosé wine — 138 kcal a 175 ml glass
- Wine — 133 kcal a 175 ml glass
- Pinot Grigio — 131 kcal a 175 ml glass
- Gin and tonic — 100 kcal a single G&T
- Corona — 139 kcal a bottle
- Cider — 205 kcal a pint of dry
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