This Low-Carb Margarita Sorbet recipe makes a cooling summer dessert. It can be made with or without alcohol and works for low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Atkins, ketogenic, or Banting diets.
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I’m a bit of a pack rat when it comes to old cooking magazines. I have every Bon Appetit magazine starting in 1992. I don’t store them in the attic or in a storage room. These are my treasures and I keep them where I have easy access. I use these magazines all the time. I love looking at food photos and recipes. Paging through them fills me inspiration with my own cooking.
This recipe for Low-Carb Margarita Sorbet was inspired by an article in one of these magazines. In Bon Appetit’s August 1996 issue, there was an article entitled “When the Cocktail becomes Dessert” by Sarah Tenaglia. One of the featured recipes was Lime Margarita Sorbet. She had me at margarita.
Of course, this recipe was far from low-carb and contained lots of sugar and triple sec, so I needed to make a bunch of adjustments to lower the carb content. The first problem was the triple sec. This orange flavored liquor contains carbs, so I wanted to find a substitute. I had just been drooling over a low-carb margarita recipe from Step Away From the Carbs, so I checked out her ingredients to see how she handled the triple sec substitution. She used orange extract.to get that orange taste without added sugars. I decided to follow her lead.
The second issue was the quantity of sugar in the recipe. I substituted out the sugar with my favorite low-carb sweetener which has a sweetness twice that of sugar. This decreased the amount I used which was concerning because the texture of a sorbet is dependent on the amount of sugar.
To make up for the decreased sweetener quantity I knew I would need to have a stabilizer of some sort–otherwise the texture would be too grainy and icy. I decided to try some gelatin. I had no idea if this would work and how successful it would be, but I had used it in a few of my popsicle recipes with good results.
So I put my margarita concoction together and poured it in the ice-cream maker and turned it on. One thing I love about this ice-cream maker (I have an older model) is that it has an opening at the top so I can easily see what’s going on inside and spoon out a taste of the developing frozen concoction as I see fit (i.e.. frequently).
I watched the paddle move around for a while and the clear liquid began to look a bit slushy. I wasn’t thrilled with what I was seeing, but I figured that at the very least, I would have a margarita slushy at the end of it all. I went off to do something else while the ice-cream maker did its job. When I checked on it a while later, the margarita slush had turned into a smooth, creamy textured frozen confection. It had transformed into exactly what I wanted.
This Low-Carb Margarita Sorbet recipe makes a smooth sweet-tart frozen dessert that tastes just like a margarita. If desired, for serving, rub the edge of a slice of lime over the rim of a glass and dip it in a saucer of margarita salt. This sorbet is the perfect dessert to follow our Low-Carb Crustless Taco Pie or our Low-Carb Quesadillas. Really, though, it makes a perfect ending to any summer meal or as a special treat for winding down on a hot day. Enjoy!
-Annissa
This Low-Carb Margarita Sorbet recipe makes a cooling summer dessert. It can be made with or without alcohol and works for low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Atkins, ketogenic, or Banting diets.
Low-Carb Margarita Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated stevia/erythritol blend
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 2 cups cold water (quantity divided)
- 2/3 cup lime juice freshly sqeezed
- 6 tablespoons tequila (substitute water if you prefer a non-alcohol version)
- 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Instructions
In a 2 quart saucepan, whisk together the granulated stevia/erythritol blend and the unflavored gelatin. Pour in one cup of cold water and let sit for one minute.
Slowly heat gelatin mixture over medium-low heat, while stirring occasionally, until sweetener and gelatin are completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
Stir in the second cup of cold water and lime juice. Add tequila, lime zest, and orange extract and stir.
- Cover mixture and refrigerate for about 1 1/2 hours. Process according to your ice-cream maker manufacturer's instructions.
Spoon into a freezer-safe container and freeze 2-3 hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/6th of the recipe
Per serving:
Calories: 51
Fat (g): 0
Total carbs (g): 2
Fiber (g): 0
Protein (g): 1
Net carbs (g): 2
About to make this and SO excited!!!
I’m jealous! I love this recipe!
You are a genius! I just finished making this and had to make myself stop eating it. I have missed sorbet more than just about any other dessert and this is almost an exact replica of Baskin Robins Daquiri Ice. Yummmm!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!I love this sorbet and have been thinking about branching out to try some others. It’s crazy hot here, so any kind of sorbet sounds good to me!
-Annissa
Is there anything that you can use in substitute for gelatin?
Agar Agar, Pectin, and Carrageenan can be used as alternative to gelatin. In this recipe, the gelatin is used to help prevent the mixture from turning into a brick when frozen. If you make the version with alcohol and plan to eat it the same day, you may be okay to leave out the gelatin. Hope this helps!
Annissa
Hi, I made this according to the recipe and the flavor is wonderful! I made it without alcohol. Coming right from the ice machine it was a little slush-y so I put it in the freezer. Now it is a solid frozen block. When I left it out for a while it went back to slush-y but I was not able to make a nice ice scoop bal out of it. Can you help me? What did I do wrong?
Thanks!
It sounds like you didn’t have it in the ice-cream machine long enough. It needs to be sorbet consistency before you put it in the freezer. Be sure ice cream machine freezer bowl is completely frozen before starting. Also, don’t try to skip the cool-down time in the refrigerator. The colder the mixture is to start with, the faster it will freeze.
It is a challenge to make ice creams and sorbets that don’t get super hard after they are frozen. In this recipe, the gelatin helps with that, as well as the alcohol (in the alcohol version). The non-alcohol version tends to get harder if it is left in the freezer for a while. Also, if you skipped the gelatin, it will be harder. I usually try to eat homemade ice creams fairly soon after they are made.
As for your slush you have now–I wonder what would happen if you defrosted it and put it back in the ice-cream maker. I’m not sure if this would be safe from a food safety standpoint (freezing, then defrosting and refreezing), so I guess I can’t recommend that.
I’m glad you liked the flavor of this recipe. I think if you had kept it in the ice cream machine a bit longer, you would have liked the consistency more.
-Annissa
Must this recipe be made in an ice cream maker, or is there an alternative method? Thanks for answering
You really need an ice cream maker for this one.
-Annissa
I usually make changes any time I construct a recipe, even that first time. But I’d never really made ice cream or sorbet, so I followed this one exactly.
I cannot rave enough about how good it is. I can’t imagine how to make it any better ( except substituting more tequila for some of the water 🙂
For a keto newbie, this is a godsend.
Mmmmm! More tequila sounds wonderful! Glad you enjoyed it. The one thing I might do if I were to rewrite the recipe would be to add a teaspoon of glycerin to it to help keep it softer in the freezer. A little more tequila might accomplish the same objective.
-Annissa