Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail
This Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail is a festive drink to sip during the wintertime. If you’re looking for recipes using cranberry sauce, this 5-ingredient Cranberry Christmas Cocktail is a delicious, easy recipe to mix.
Why I love this recipe:
Cranberry sauce is that one required side dish at Thanksgiving, and I don’t know about your family, but in my house, it’s always the one that has the most leftovers.
So the question always becomes—what do we do with it?
I love using it in sandwiches, topping pancakes, using it on baked brie and more, but this year, I made Cachaça Cranberry Sauce, and the results were so awesome that I decided I needed to use the rest to mix festive cranberry cocktails.
It’s such a fun recipe if you’re into holiday drinks. Cranberry Old Fashioned, Cranberry Bourbon Smash, and Sparkling Ginger Cranberry Mocktail are other great sippers to try during this time of the year!
Of course, my Cachaça Cranberry Sauce is perfect for it, but you can use any leftover cranberry sauce you’ve got on hand.
I also highly encourage you to purchase cachaça to make this drink because the grassy flavor works marvelously with the sweetness of the cranberry sauce.
I love to garnish this festive drink with sugared rosemary sprigs, and if I’m feeling extra sassy, I’ll throw in some edible glitter, as well!
This quick and easy Cranberry Christmas Cocktail is perfect for mixing and sharing throughout the holiday season! It’s sweet tart and strikes the best kind of balance for any drink AND can be made for a crowd when you double, triple or quadruple the recipe!
Beijinhos & Saúde xx
Ingredients
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- Leftover cranberry sauce—my Cachaça Cranberry Sauce is perfect for this because it already has cachaça in it, but any other homemade cranberry sauce will work, too. You could also use canned cranberry sauce, if that’s your thing.
- Cachaça—this is my booze of choice. If you don’t already have it at home, this is your time to go buy it, ha! There’s no real substitute I recommend. But if you must, white rum or vodka would work in a pinch, though you won’t get the lovely grassy notes from the cachaça.
- Triple sec—this adds a little sweetness and some orange oomph. You could use Grand Marnier or Cointreau if you’re feeling fancy.
- Fresh ginger—it adds pizzaz and some spice to the drink.
- Club soda—this bubbly soda helps level everything out. Otherwise, the cocktail can be too strong and too sweet, and just too everything…
- Ice
Be sure to scroll all the way down to get the measurements for the cocktail ingredients.
You’ll also need…
- Cocktail shaker or cocktail Mixing Glass
- Muddler
- Jigger
- Cocktail spoon
- Cocktail strainer
- Edible glitter
How to make a Cranberry Cocktail with Leftover Cranberry Sauce
First and foremost, mince the ginger with a sharp knife.
This will help release more of the flavors. Also, if you like biting into the pieces of ginger, you can pour the bits into your drink, too.
Add the minced ginger and the leftover cranberry sauce into a cocktail cup (or a cocktail shaker.) Muddle it to smash the ginger and any bigger chunks of cranberry your leftover sauce may have…
Pour in the cachaça, the triple sec and a handful of ice.
Stir for about 1-2 minutes to cool the drink.
How to make rosemary cocktail garnish:
This is optional, but if you so chose, you can also prepare your little rosemary sugar trees for garnish.
To do this, just dip the rosemary in water, then immediately dip it in granulated sugar.
You can do this ahead of time, or just right before using—you don’t necessarily need to let them dry.
How to finish the cocktail:
Strain your drink into a coup glass, and top with chilled club soda to your taste.
At the very end, if you want to make it even more festive, you can add some edible glitter, too. It’s the holidays, do everything!!!
Just give it a little stir to make it sparkly and fun!
This is optional, but it makes me very happy 🙂
Frequently Asked Questions
That depends on you and your people! This Cranberry Sauce Cocktail is one my faves and I love because it’s quick and easy while also wonderfully festive.
A cocktail that has a main cranberry component such as cranberry juice, cranberry concentrate etc. In this cranberry cocktail recipe, we’re using leftover cranberry sauce as our cranberry component. It’s sweet and puts leftover cranberry sauce to a great use!
As I mentioned above, I love using cranberry sauce in sandwiches with other Thanksgiving leftovers (like this Dry Brine Spatchcock Turkey), baked brie and pancakes, but the world is your oyster. Leftover cranberry sauce works in wraps, tacos and more!
Other festive cocktails you’ll love:
- Brazilian Hot Chocolate
- Quentão – Brazilian Grog Cocktail
- Cranberry Moscow Mule (Vodka Cranberry Cocktail)
- Cranberry Mimosa
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Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of leftover cachaça cranberry sauce or any other cranberry sauce you have
- 2 ounces of cachaça 2.5 ounces if you like it strong
- 1 ounce of triple sec
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
- club soda to top
- ice
Instructions
- In a cocktail cup, muddle the minced ginger and the cranberry sauce.
- Add the cachaça and the triple sec, as well as the ice to the cup and stir to cool.
- Pour/strain into a coup glass and top with cold club soda.
- Garnish with sugar rosemary sprigs and/or cranberries, and edible glitter for a festive look!
