This Strawberry Ginger Paloma is incredibly refreshing and made with simple ingredients like grapefruit juice, strawberry simple syrup, ginger beer and tequila. It’s bound to be your new favorite summertime cocktail! 

Say hello to my favorite (and your new favorite) cocktail: this strawberry paloma! 

As you probably know by now, my skinny margarita is my go-to drink when I want to sip on something at home, but this strawberry paloma cocktail just replaced that drink as my new favorite (I’m not joking, it’s that good).

What is a Paloma, exactly? Essentially, it’s a cocktail made with tequila and grapefruit soda or fresh grapefruit juice. For this recipe, I opted to use freshly squeezed grapefruit juice because fresh is better and it takes all of 30 seconds to squeeze juice out of a grapefruit. Minimal effort and it tastes better—yes please!

Recipe features

• A mix of three drinks in one: a margarita, a Mexican mule and a Paloma!
• Made with fresh ingredients like strawberries, grapefruit and lime juice.
• Would also be delicious as a mocktail! 

Ingredients

Strawberries – I opted for fresh strawberries, but frozen strawberries will work too, since the strawberries are used for the strawberry simple syrup. 

Sugar – Necessary for the simple syrup; I don’t recommend omitting it. I also would not use any “lighter” sugar option like honey or maple syrup, as that will take away from the strawberry flavor. 

Tequila – Use your favorite kind! I almost always opt for blanco tequila. 

Grapefruit – Fresh grapefruit juice is the way to go! 

Ginger beer – A little bit goes a long way. I personally love Fever-Tree brand, but any kind will work.

Lime juice – Again, opt for freshly squeezed lime juice, rather than the kind in a bottle. 

Instructions

Step 1: Make the strawberry simple syrup. Begin by adding the strawberries, sugar and water to a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes, using a wooden spoon to help break down the strawberries. Then, pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to strain the strawberries and refrigerate the simple syrup. 

Step 2: Prep the ingredients. When you’re ready to make this cocktail, have all your supplies ready. A grapefruit, lime, ginger beer, tequila, and the simple syrup from the fridge. At this time you should also run a lime wedge along the rim of a glass and dip it in salt or sugar.

Step 3: Make the cocktail. Add ice to a cocktail shaker, along with all of the cocktail ingredients then shake well. Fill the salted cocktail glass with ice, then pour the paloma overtop. Garnish with a lime slice and enjoy! 

Tips and tricks

• Lighten up: If you want a lighter option, simply use less simple syrup in your drink. The recipe calls for one ounce of syrup, but you could use half an ounce to make it less sweet.
• Frozen variation: Follow the exact same steps, but instead of adding everything to a cocktail shaker, add the ingredients to a blender, along with a handful of ice and blend! 

More cocktail recipes

• Mango Margarita
• Cinnamon Tequila Sour
• Lavender Moscow Mule 

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks! 

UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in May 2017. It was updated with new text and photos in June 2024.