Juice Leftover Limes Into An Ice Cube Tray For Easy Future Margaritas

Did you buy too many limes at the grocery store last weekend? Wait a second before you throw them out. Instead, juice them into an ice cube tray, freeze it, and save the frosty citrus nuggets for your next margarita.

Every basic margarita recipe incorporates lime juice, but sometimes the small green citrus can slip your mind and not end up on your grocery list or in your cart. By freezing their juice into ice cubes, you'll always have the ingredient on hand when you want to whip up the drinks. You could keep the lime juice frozen as is and let the cubes melt into your margarita, or you could defrost a cube or two and add the juice as usual to round out your recipe. Although ice cube tray sizes vary, a margarita typically calls for around an ounce of lime juice, so keep that in mind when adding the cubes to your cup.

These citrus cubes are the perfect addition to a traditional margarita, but they also come in handy when you want to make the frozen version, which uses the same core ingredients — tequila, lime juice, (sometimes) triple sec, and a sweetener. We've all experienced our drinks getting watered down by ice, and the same can happen with frozen cocktails. Instead of using traditional water-based ice for a frozen margarita, blending with lime ice cubes allows you to infuse the drink with citrus flavor and achieve a slushy consistency without it getting diluted.

If you have your frozen lime juice chunks but there's not a blender in sight, don't fret. One of the easiest ways to make frozen margaritas without a blender is to mix all the ingredients together (minus the alcohol) and leave it in the freezer in a plastic bag. Once it's frozen, just mash it up a bit and add your tequila — having pre-frozen lime juice makes this process even simpler.

Besides being a key ingredient in your next margarita, frozen lime juice cubes have plenty of other uses. A major social media trend, and a popular pairing for limes, is cola. Videos of users crafting their perfect Diet Coke with lime abound on the internet, with some even resorting to lime-flavored packets to add that citrus zest — although the real thing is arguably superior. These frozen citrus cubes will also prevent your drink from being diluted as they melt, similar to their effect in a margarita.

Beyond margaritas, the simple mojito is another classic cocktail that features lime. But instead of just juicing limes and freezing the juice, you could create more visually appealing cubes that also incorporate the cocktail's mint flavors. Use lime juice as the base for the cube, add some mint leaves, and include the remnants of the lime wedge as well. Once solidified, you'll have a beautiful addition to your mojito that enhances the drink with mint and lime flavors as it melts.