Whether you're recognizing a recent accomplishment or simply enjoying a night in with the family, a refreshing blended cocktail is a perfect way to celebrate your time together. For a perfectly chilled boozy smoothie, a blender is the only required equipment. With many flavors to choose from, you can make a large batch of your favorite drink or set out ingredients for everyone to create their own.

Luckily, blended cocktails are simple to make from scratch, with most only requiring a few ingredients—liquor, fruit, juice, and ice are essential. While it may take a few tries to blend your drink to perfection, once you've mastered the recipe, it's sure to become a family favorite. So make your next gathering a memorable one, and enjoy one of these delicious blended cocktails. 

Margarita

The margarita is the perfect blended drink, no matter the occasion. Whether you're throwing a formal gathering or sitting poolside, sipping on a margarita is always in style. That being said, margarita's are often ordered on the rocks. However, blended margaritas are a fun and unique way to enjoy this one-of-a-kind drink. When making any blended drink, it's as if you're packing them with a bunch of tiny snowflakes. While this may taste great while sipping on it, it also means that a frozen cocktail will melt faster than one on the rocks.

So, how can you keep your frozen margarita colder for longer? For starters, you'll want to make the drink with cold ingredients. This will keep the ice from melting as a result of cooling down the beverage. Secondly, always use a straw. Because air melts ice faster than liquid does, using a straw will keep the ice crystals submerged, causing them to melt more slowly. Stirring with a straw is also an excellent way to keep the heat of the drink evenly distributed.

How to Make A Blended Margarita

Ready to make a great-tasting frozen margarita? Follow the steps below to create a restaurant-worthy cocktail.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• ½ cup tequila
• ½ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup triple sec
• 1 tablespoon of agave syrup
• 3 cups of ice
• Large grain salt for the rim

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into the refrigerator, allowing them to chill beforehand.
2. Slide a lime wedge around the rim of each margarita glass. Next dip the edged of the glass in coarse salt.
3. Combine lime juice, triple sec, agave syrup, tequila, and ice into a blender. Blend on high until the drink becomes slushy.
4. Pour the blended drink into the prepared margarita glasses and serve. 

Daquiri

When most think of a blended daiquiri, they immediately think of a sweet frozen drink to be enjoyed on vacation. However, true bartenders know that the Daiquiri, like many other cocktails, has a unique and exciting history. During the late 1930s, when blenders became readily available in restaurants and bars, blended daiquiris became a staple on every drink menu. But how and when was the Daiquiri born? When the owners of a Ruston Louisiana package store could not sell bottles of tequila sunrise mix, they opted to combine the mixture with shaved ice and offered it to customers checking out at the register. Needless to say, customers loved this new creation, and the Daiquiri began to generate substantial local and regional business that eventually gained national attention. Since then, the drink's popularity has continued to grow to make it one of the most popular blended cocktails around.

A traditional daiquiri recipe is simple and requires three common ingredients—rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. It's a refreshingly sweet cocktail recipe that everyone should try at least once. For the best tasting daiquiri, use quality and fresh ingredients, as well as homemade syrup. Though this may seem like a bit of work, the simple syrup can be made at home in minutes and makes a massive difference in how your drink tastes. Additionally, by making ingredients at home, you can adjust the sweet and sour flavors in the Daiquiri to your taste preferences, creating a drink that everyone will enjoy.

How to Make A Blended Daiquiri

Ingredients

• 4 ounces light or white rum
• 3 ounces lime juice
• 2 ounces simple syrup
• 2 ½ cups ice

Instructions

1. Begin with chilled ingredients.
2. Combine all of the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until the mixture is smooth and all the ice has been blended.
3. Serve immediately and garnish with a citrus wheel of your choice—lime is the most often used garnish.

Pina Colada

The true summertime drink, a blended pina colada, is the perfect way to take your taste buds on a tropical vacation. Creamy, refreshing, and smoothie-like, the best pina coladas contain just a few simple ingredients.

Unfortunately, it's pretty easy to get a pina colada recipe wrong, turning it into a watered-down version of its former self. A true creamy and frosty pina colada will possess the perfect balance of coconut, pineapple, and rum. Created at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, decades ago, this boozy smoothie can now be made quickly at home due to its easy-to-find ingredients. There is only one rule when following a pina colada recipe—measure the elements out with precision. Do this, and you'll end up with a perfectly delicious drink.

How to Make A Blended Pina Colada

Ingredients

3 oz coconut cream

6 oz pineapple juice

1 1/2 oz white rum

1-2 cups crushed ice

Instructions

1. Chill ingredients before mixing.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in a blender until the mixture is smooth and icy.
3. Pour the blender components into a large glass.
4. Garnish with a pineapple slice and cherry, and enjoy!

Frozen Banana Split

Bring back your favorite childhood treat by turning it into a frothy blended cocktail recipe. A widely loved dessert, the banana split is the perfect inspiration for a sweet cocktail. Indulgent and delicious, the many sweet flavors in this recipe balance each other out, making each sip dessert-like. While the ice cream, pineapple, and frozen banana add sweetness to this blended cocktail, the taste is truly taken to the next level when chocolate and strawberry-flavored vodka is added. While you may not be able to find this drink on the menu of every restaurant, you can easily make it at home.

Plus, because this drink can be made with or without alcohol, it's the ideal recipe to make if you're expecting guests of different ages. Leave the vodka out and top with fun garnishes like maraschino cherries for a virgin version of this drink.

How to Make A Frozen Banana Split

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces chocolate vodka
• 1 ounce strawberry vodka
• 1 medium frozen banana, sliced
• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) milk
• 1/2 ounce pineapple juice
• Whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and maraschino cherries (optional garnish)

Instructions 

1. Gather chilled ingredients.
2. Add the chocolate and strawberry vodka, banana slices, milk, ice cream, and pineapple juice into a blender.
3. Blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour into a chilled, tall glass.
5. Garnish with toppings of your choice and enjoy immediately.

Frozen Sangria

Take party-goers on a quick trip to Spain by making frozen Sangria. For centuries, Romans enjoyed drinking red wine from Spain. So much so that they began creating wine-based punches, eventually naming them Sangria. More than a century after Sangria was first enjoyed, it started to rise in popularity in Europe, with French Bordeaux serving as a boozy base. While there are many different versions of Sangria, frozen Sangria tops our list of favorites. Loved by cocktail enthusiasts and wine drinkers, frozen Sangria can be made quickly with just a few ingredients. In addition, the many flavors in Sangria make it a drink that nearly everyone loves. Whether you create frozen Sangria from scratch or purchase A Ready-to-Drink Sangria like our Spiced Sangria or Rosé Sangria, it can quickly be combined with ice to create a boozy blended cocktail bound to become your new favorite.

How to Make Frozen Sangria

Ingredients

• 12 ounces clementine oranges, frozen
• 10 ounces frozen mixed berries
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 orange for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. If using fresh clementines, peel the oranges the night before and place them in the freezer, allowing them to freeze fully.
2. Once the oranges have frozen, combine them with the berries, red wine, and honey.
3. Blend the ingredients until they create a smooth, slushy-like consistency.
4. Serve in a tall glass and garnish with fresh orange slices.

Making blended cocktails is simple. For beginner bartenders, starting with ready-to-drink cocktails is an excellent way to dip your toes into the blended cocktail scene. By just adding ice, you can create a tasty, blended, and boozy drink in minutes. That being said, some bartenders may want to create these drinks from scratch. If that's the case, follow the instructions above to craft great-tasting blended cocktails that you can make by the batch. We're confident that your next drink will be the best yet.