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Nothing says “vacation” quite like relaxing somewhere sunny, warm, and sandy with a margarita in hand. With your own margarita machine (and a little imagination), you can bring the vacation straight to your home — sans the beach and high temps. While you can whip up a frozen marg with a good blender for frozen drinks, one of the best margarita machines will make the process so much more seamless and reminiscent of a tropical trip.
That’s where we come in. To find the best margarita machines, Meggan and I pulled out all the stops to research what makes a home margarita machine great, from blender capacity to how it blends. We also made sure to include one pick that Meggan uses in her own kitchen and absolutely loves. Below, find the best home margarita machines that make every day feel like a vacation.
Table of Contents
Our Top Picks
- What’s in Meggan’s Kitchen: Margaritaville Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker – $209.99 at Amazon
- Best Value: Nostalgia Frozen Beverage Station – $39.99 at Amazon
- Best Upgrade: Margaritaville Key West Frozen Concoction Maker – $279.99 at Amazon
- Best for Entertaining: Margaritaville Tahiti Margarita Machine – $405.99 at Amazon
Reviews of The Best Margarita Machines
1. What’s in Meggan’s Kitchen: Margaritaville Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that Margaritaville — as in Jimmy Buffet’s chill margarita empire — makes one of the best frozen drink machines in the game. Meggan has had the Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker for about 3 years, and it’s still going strong. “I love it because it makes margarita-making a breeze — fun and simple,” she says. The frozen slush it creates is also far superior to that of a traditional blender.
First, it shaves the ice in the reservoir up top, then drops it into the blender below to mix it with the margarita components. “There’s something about it that makes drinks just like in a restaurant: super consistent, high-quality, and really smooth. It’s amazing!” she says.
One thing Meggan especially loves about the Bahamas machine is its “no-brainer” mixing cup. The cup has clearly marked ingredient measurements to make the perfect margarita, daiquiri, or piña colada. You could also use it to make her famous Strawberry Margarita. It also allows you to customize the drink consistency with manual and automatic settings to blend only, shave only, or shave and blend the ice.
You don’t have to remove the lid to serve — simply pick it up and tip it over for smooth, mess-free pours. Best of all, most of its parts are dishwasher-safe, so it’s easy to tidy up when the party’s over.
The Specs:
- Size: 36-ounce pitcher
- Dimensions: 14 x 9 x 18 inches
- Power: 400 watts
The Pros:
- Dishwasher-safe parts make for easy cleanup
- Provides excellent drink consistency
- Durable
The Cons:
- Takes up more counter space than a regular blender
What Others are Saying:
The Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker is the top pick in Allrecipe’s margarita machine roundup and earned the best value pick and best for easy cleanup superlatives in Best Products’ and The Spruce Eats’ roundups. It also has a 4.7-star rating out of more than 2,700 Amazon reviews.
Buy the Margaritaville Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker:
2. Best Value: Nostalgia Frozen Beverage Station
This tomato-red, retro-style frozen cocktail maker is an easy choice for anyone who wants to make frozen margaritas on a budget. It has two automatic settings that create “snow” or “slush” ice and a large pitcher with a wide handle and easy-pour spout.
The machine is relatively simple to use — all you have to do is put ice cubes in the reservoir at the top, the mix in the blender, and let it whirl. They also love the just-right size of crushed ice it makes, whether you go for snow or slush. The machine can be noisy and has relatively low power (about 15 watts), which means it sometimes takes a while to fully shave the ice. But you can’t do much better for a cheap margarita machine than this frozen beverage gadget.
- Size: 40-ounce pitcher
- Dimensions: 9.25 x 7.5 x 12 inches
- Power: 15 watts
The Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Easy to use and clean
The Cons:
- Loud
What Others are Saying:
The Nostalgia Frozen Beverage Station is named the best budget pick by The Spruce Eats. It also has a solid 3.8-star rating out of more than 2,400 reviews on Amazon.
Buy the Nostalgia Frozen Beverage Station:
3. Best Upgrade: Margaritaville Key West Frozen Concoction Maker
Another winner from Jimmy Buffet! The Key West Frozen Concoction Maker looks a lot like the Bahamas machine, with a 36-ounce pitcher and Margaritaville’s classic branding on the front. The key differences are its extra-large ice reservoir, which lets you make up to 2.5 margarita pitchers without having to refill the ice, higher wattage for more power, and its 4 pre-programmed settings that make shaved ice into the ideal consistency for your drink of choice. (It also has a manual setting, should you want to get creative with your ice-shaving!)
Like our other Margaritaville pick, people love the machine’s quality, dishwasher-safe components, and ease of use. All you have to do is mix your ingredients together, add ice to the hopper, and let it spin.
The Specs:
- Size: 36-ounce pitcher
- Dimension: 9 x 14 x 19 inches
- Power: 550 watts
The Pros:
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean
- Big ice reservoir
The Cons:
- Expensive
What Others are Saying:
The Key West Frozen Concoction Maker is the top overall pick in Liquor.com and The Spruce Eats’ margarita machine roundups. It’s also earned a 4.7-star rating out of more than 3,500 reviews on Amazon.
Buy the Margaritaville Key West Frozen Concoction Maker:
4. Best for Entertaining: Margaritaville Tahiti Frozen Drink Machine
Hosting a frozen drink-fueled gathering? Let the Margaritaville Tahiti Frozen Concoction Maker do the fueling. This impressive feat of engineering contains three separate blending stations and a rotating ice chute, allowing you to make and serve three different types of frozen cocktails at once. It also has 6 automatic settings that allow you to flip a switch for your drink of choice: margaritas, daiquiris, mojitos, coladas, mudslides, and smoothies. No need to worry about overflow — when one pitcher fills up, the chute automatically moves to the next pitcher!
Like other Margaritaville frozen drink machines, the Tahiti’s blending components are dishwasher-safe. Beyond that, it boasts a luxe-looking bamboo wood base, which helps elevate the look when it’s sitting out in your kitchen or in your bar cart
The Specs:
- Size: 3 24-ounce pitchers (72 ounces total)
- Dimensions: 19.53 x 19.53 x 19.37 inches
- Power: 700 watts
The Pros:
- Can make 3 different types of drinks at once
- 6 different drink settings
The Cons:
- Takes up a lot of counter space
- Pricier than other
What Others are Saying:
The Margaritaville Tahiti was named “best for crowds” in Allrecipes’ margarita machine roundup and “best for groups” in Liquor.com’s roundup. It also earned the “best for multiple flavors” superlative in The Spruce Eats’ roundup and is featured in HGTV’s product list. On Amazon, it has 4.7 stars out of more than 1,500 reviews.
Buy the Margaritaville Tahiti Frozen Drink Machine:
Other Margarita Machines to Consider
Margaritaville Bali Frozen Concoction Maker
The main thing that sets the Bali Frozen Concoction Maker apart from its other Margaritaville counterparts is that it has a spigot that allows for on-demand drink pours with the tap of a hand. Its reservoir also holds 60 ounces of ice, which is more than the Bahamas and Key West margarita machines. However, it’s the least popular of all the Margaritaville products on Amazon, so we recommend the other models instead. The Margaritaville Bali Frozen Concoction Maker is available at Amazon for $292.33.
Margarita Girl Frozen Drink Machine
For a margarita machine that’s truly reminiscent of the taco joint down the block, try the large capacity Margarita Girl Frozen Drink machine. This professional-grade frozen margarita machine uses compression to blend ice and margarita ingredients, creating slushy frozen treats every time. It’s not as versatile as other options on the list, it takes up a lot of storage space, and it’s quite expensive. But when you need large commercial-size batches of margs, it’s your best bet. The Margarita Girl Frozen Drink Machine is available at Amazon for $699.
Nostalgia Taco Tuesday Citrus Juicer Machine
When you’re just looking for a simple, non-frozen margarita, Nostalgia’s juicer does the trick. The top portion juices limes (or any other citrus of your choice), making it easy to mix in the 32-ounce margarita blender below. It’s cheap and does the bare minimum, and its plastic lid doubles as a salt and sugar rimmer. The Nostalgia Taco Tuesday Juicer is available at Amazon for $20.09.
Why You Can Trust Us
Hi, I’m Sara! I’ve been testing, reviewing, and writing about products for more than 4 four years. I know how to cut through advertising fluff to find great, high-quality items for all kinds of lifestyles and budgets — particularly lifestyle and food prep items. I’m also an enthusiastic margarita drinker and maker.
To find the best margarita machines, Meggan and I worked together to determine the factors that all great margarita makers should have — like ease of use, how easy it was to clean, ice-blending capability, and mixing power — and how they stack up among some of the most popular margarita machines on the market. We dove into user reviews and other publications’ roundups to compare and contrast the offerings against Meggan’s own personal favorite, Margaritaville’s Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker. We also leaned on Meggan’s culinary expertise throughout the process, especially her experience developing margarita recipes.
Everything to Know Before Buying a Margarita Machine
What to Consider Before Buying a Margarita Machine
Thinking about bringing a margarita machine into your home? First, consider these factors:
Blender vs. margarita machine: Determine whether or not you need a specific machine dedicated to margarita-making. A regular blender doesn’t provide the same taste or slush-like consistency as a margarita machine, but it can suffice — especially for those working with limited kitchen space. A margarita maker is best for someone who can’t live without restaurant-quality frozen margs and feels confident that a machine will enable them to make them frequently at home.
Blending power: The key thing that sets margarita machines apart from regular blenders is the specific way they pulverize ice into a delicious slurry — so you want to make sure you get a machine that’s powerful enough to do that. For a great margarita maker, look for a machine with at least 400 watts.
Capacity: Think about how you’ll use your margarita machine. Will it mainly be for date nights at home? Or are you planning to serve up non-stop frozen drinks at a house party? Pick a machine with a pitcher size that aligns with your intentions. Of course, the machine’s capacity also impacts its size — and how you can store it. If you go for a bigger option, make sure you have a storage place in mind. (Or like the idea of keeping it on the counter.)
Ease of use: You should be able to figure out how to use your margarita machine by looking over the instructions. Most are fairly simple and only require the flip of a switch to use.
Ease of cleaning: No one wants to spend the morning after a night of chugging frozen margs scrubbing various parts of a complicated machine. Look for a machine that’s machine-washable — or, at least, is primarily made up of machine-washable parts.
Versatility: Our favorite margarita machines have more than one ice-shaving setting, which allows you to create different types of drinks (aside from margaritas) with the flip of a switch. (Real parrot heads know that the ice consistency for a creamy piña colada is very different from that of a slushy margarita.) Look for a machine with these preset settings — and maybe a manual option that allows you to get creative.
How Do You Use a Margarita Machine?
Before making your first marg, always check the manufacturer’s instructions. But functionally, most margarita machines are pretty simple to use. First, gather your ingredients. For a margarita, this will include some variation of tequila, triple sec, ice, lime juice, and simple syrup. Then, place the ice in the reservoir and the other ingredients in the blender part. Switch the blender to your desired setting and let it whirl. (Just make sure the lid is closed first!)
If you can, clean the machine as soon as possible. This prevents rust and helps ensure that it stays in good working condition for a long time.
How Do You Clean a Margarita Machine?
Before cleaning your margarita machine, take a good look at the instructions to see which parts are dishwasher safe and which parts are not. Based on the margarita machines on this list, most interior parts of the margarita machines should be able to go in the dishwasher.
To clean the external portion, use a warm, damp cloth or sponge to gently wipe the exterior of the machine. Then, let it dry. Avoid harsh cleansers or solvents, which may degrade the machine’s quality.
How Much Tequila Do You Put in a Margarita Machine?
The best part of owning your own margarita machine? You can use as much (or as little) tequila as you want when you make margaritas! However, most recipes — including Meggan’s — call for about 8 ounces of tequila (and 8 ounces of triple sec) to make four 8-ounce servings. You can adjust this number based on your machine’s capacity and your strength preference. Some margarita machines also feature fill lines to indicate how much liquor you should use.
Can You Make Wine Slushies in a Margarita Machine?
Margarita machines aren’t just for margaritas. You can definitely make wine slushies in your margarita maker of choice. Meggan likes to use hers to make her Strawberry Peach Frose recipe!
You also don’t have to reserve these machines for the summer. Even when the weather is chilly, Meggan uses hers to make Brandy Apple Cider Slush and other chilled holiday drinks, which are always a big hit.
The Best Margarita Recipes
Once you get your margarita machine, have some fun with it! Here are some of Meggan’s most popular margarita and frozen drink recipes you can use in it. But if you’re still waiting for your margarita-making machine to arrive, bide your time with this Margarita Slush recipe — no blending required.
Cocktail Recipes
Margarita
Cocktail Recipes
Strawberry Margarita
Cocktail Recipes
Piña Colada
Cocktail Recipes
Brandy Slush Recipe
Cocktail Recipes
Strawberry Peach Frosé
Prices were accurate at time of publication.
Sara Hendricks is an experienced editor, writer, and product reviewer. She's passionate about all kinds of products, from fitness to fashion to food supplies. You can find her work in Reviewed/USA Today, Refinery29, Insider, and more.