During summer, there’s nothing quite like cooling down with an ice-cold margarita at the end of the day. While I love the classic, warm-weather produce always inspires me to branch out with my margarita flavors. I’ve channeled my love for this cocktail into a no-bake strawberry margarita pie. It’s the perfect dessert when you’re looking to feed a crowd with an unexpected sweet treat that captures all of summer’s favorite flavors.

Booze is often hard to detect in desserts. Here, I add Cointreau and tequila to the strawberry filling to bring out the flavor of both while mimicking the taste of a margarita. For that extra bit of margarita flavor, I slip some into the whipped cream as well. Since it sets up in the freezer, this is a great option when you’re looking to make dessert ahead of time or simply want to avoid turning on your oven.

Why you’ll love it

This pie brings all the joy of a strawberry margarita without the hangover. There’s only a quarter cup of alcohol in this pie, which is split up between eight to 10 servings. The easy filling comes together in a food processor. Instead of tediously folding whipped cream into a strawberry mixture, I call for whipping heavy cream in the food processor first, then adding the rest of the filling ingredients and blending just until combined. Seriously, that’s it!

Key ingredients

Strawberries: Fresh strawberries contribute to the signature pink color of this pie — along with a burst of strawberry flavor.

Alcohol: Both tequila and Cointreau are used here to macerate the strawberries and mimic the flavor of a margarita.

Lime: Lime zest brings all the flavors of lime found in a margarita without adding any more liquid to the filling.

Heavy cream: It acts as the filling of this pie, adding stability and airiness.

Graham crackers: Grab a 10-inch graham cracker crust from the store for ease. You can also make your own, too, if you’re up for it.