Christmas Punch Recipe

How to Make Christmas Punch

This is just a brief overview of how simple this recipe is. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Gather all of your ingredients. Ensure that all of your ingredients are very cold. Read more about each ingredient below.
2. Ensure that all of your ingredients are very cold. We aren’t adding ice to this punch because we don’t want to dilute it. Read an alternative below.
3. Combine everything in a punch bowl. You want to do this right before your party starts. It will take about 5 minutes to whip this up, so it is the perfect thing to do last minute.
4. Garnish the punch. I like to float orange slices and fresh cranberries in it. If you can find a pomegranate or pomegranate seeds, those are great too!

Christmas Punch Ingredients

• Vodka: I recommend using a mid to high level vodka with this. My favorite mid level is Titos and my favorite high level is Gray Goose. If you are looking for something more budget friendly, get Kirkland’s vodka. It wins against top shelf vodka in blind taste tests.
• Pomegranate Liqueur: A lot of grocery stores carry this, but if you can’t find it, head to a liquor store. The brand I always buy is Pama. We have a few recipes linked below for other ways to use this great liqueur.
• Cranberry Juice Cocktail: Be sure to buy the cocktail and not plain cranberry juice. The regular juice is bitter, but the cocktail variety has a subtle sweetness that works much better in this.
• Lemon Lime Soda: Sprite and 7UP both work very well in this recipe.
• Pineapple Juice
• Ginger Ale

Non Alcoholic Christmas Punch

Do you love this idea but have a lot of kids coming to your Christmas party? You can make my Non Alcoholic Holiday Punch. You can leave some alcohol next to the punch. I love putting out some vodka, rum, and a bottle of champagne on the side, so adult guests can doctor up their drink however they see fit!

Keeping Christmas Punch Cold

A very easy way to keep this punch cold is to start with very cold ingredients. Here are two alternatives:

• Use frozen cranberries. They will make the punch look pretty and they will keep it nice and cold without it diluting the punch. Frozen cranberries are easy to come by in the frozen section of most grocery stores.
• Make a pretty floating ice ring. Pour some extra pineapple and cranberry juice in a bundt pan (no need to fill it more than a few inches). And add in some fruit to that. Pop it into the punch bowl at party time and it will keep the punch cold without diluting it with water.

Different Batch Sizes

This recipe is easy to make in different sizes. The batch that you see in the recipe card will easily serve 36 people.

If you would like to make smaller batches though, I’ve adjusted the measurements to make it really easy.

Single Batch Christmas Punch Recipe

This is for one cocktail, but it is really easy to double so you can share one by the fire with someone you love.

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 ounce pomegranate liqueur
• 2 ounces cranberry juice cocktail
• 2 ounces Sprite or other lemon lime soda
• 2 ounces pineapple juice
• 1.5 ounces ginger ale

Medium Batch Christmas Punch

This batch will serve 15 to 20 people.

• 16 ounces vodka (2 cups)
• 16 ounces pomegranate liqueur
• 32 ounces cranberry juice cocktail (4 cups)
• 32 ounces Sprite
• 24 ounces pineapple juice (3 cups)
• 24 ounces ginger ale (3 cups)

Substitutions and Variations

One of the things that makes this the best Christmas punch recipe is that it is pretty forgiving, so you can play with it a little and see what you like best. Here are some ideas.

• If you don’t want to spring for the pomegranate liqueur, buy some pomegranate juice instead. (Just swap it one for one.)
• If you are not a big fan of pineapple juice, I happen to know that lemonade is also very delicious in this recipe. (Just swap it one for one.)
• Like I mentioned, you could make this recipe family friendly by using pomegranate juice and leaving out the vodka or setting it out to the side and topping it with some orange sherbet.
• If you don’t like ginger ale, skip it! I loved the taste of the punch as is, and then added in some ginger ale at the end because I’m a fan. It is great with or without it.
• Add in some champagne! I like swapping the soda for champagne completely, but it is also delicious to fill a glass half with champagne and half with punch.