Make This After-Christmas Cocktail Recipe with Your Leftover Cranberry Sauce

Anna Johnson
A pink drink garnished with rosemary and lemon on a white table

Too often, cranberry sauce lingers in the fridge long after the meal has ended. 

Thankfully, there are myriad ways to repurpose it. Here, we're exploring a surprising option: cocktails!

What can I do with my leftover cranberry sauce?

Thanks to ICE LA Restaurant and Culinary Management InstructorGarrett Mikell, your struggle to find a suitable use for leftover cranberry sauce is over. The Turkey's Last Call is a zingy cocktail that uses leftover cranberry sauce — and it's sure to be your new best-loved beverage.

"I know in my home we have leftover cranberry sauce, honey, herbs, lemon and citrus," Garrett says. "So I made something using all of those things."

The cocktail recipe is pretty basic. Simply mix some cranberry sauce with honey and hot water to create a cranberry-honey syrup, which you then combine with gin (or vodka or tequila) and lemon juice. To finish, shake the mixture and serve with ice and an herb and lemon garnish. If you've got leftover seltzer or sparkling cider, you can also add a splash on top of the finished drink for a zingy sip.

"This is a take on a Bee's Knees, which is classically gin, lemon and honey and what we've done is we've taken cranberry sauce, mixed it with honey and hot water and shaken it," Garrett says.

Related:Bar FAQs with ICE NY's Director of Spirits Education

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail Tips

One easy tip for elevating this drink is to roll your herb spring in your palms before using it as a garnish. According to Garrett, rolling the herbs helps express their oils, which makes them more aromatic.

"You're going to smell that when you lift the drink up to your face, which is the most important part," Garrett says. "Just like food, our noses usually come into play before we taste the drink."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Gobble, gobble. Here's how to make the drink at home.

Recipe

How to make a Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail

Makes 1 cocktail

A pink drink garnished with rosemary and lemon on a white table
  • 2 ounces gin (or vodka or tequila)
  • 1 ounce lemon juice
  • 3/4 ounces cranberry honey
  • *Optional* Splash of sparkling cider
  • Lemon wheels for garnish
  • Sprig of a fresh herb for garnish (thyme, rosemary or basil all work well)
  1. Combine all ingredients except herbs in a shaker with ice.
  2. Shake vigorously.
  3. Strain into rocks glass (over large ice cube if you have one).
  4. Add optional splash of sparkling cider.
  5. Garnish with fresh herb sprig and a lemon wheel.
Anna Johnson, a brunette woman in a dark green dress, smiles in front of a wall with pictures of plated food and bread on it

Anna Johnson is the Content Manager at the 51³Ô¹Ï Los Angeles as well as a current Plant-Based Culinary Arts student. She loves telling stories about anything food- and beverage-related, with a special interest in sustainability, accessibility and advocacy within the hospitality world. Follow her culinary school journey on social media at @.