Thanksgiving Punch (Mocktail Or Cocktail)
Looking for the best drink to serve with Thanksgiving dinner? Let me introduce you to my easy, tried and true Thanksgiving Punch recipe! With just a few simple ingredients, you can whip up a delicious fall punch that everyone at the table will love whether they’re craving a cocktail or a mocktail. It’s been a hit at my Thanksgiving dinners, and both kids and adults will be coming back for seconds!
I first made this recipe YEARS ago and put it up on Thyme and JOY because it was such a hit for my Thanksgiving dinner in 2018. To this day, it remains to be one of the most visited recipes on this site and for good reason! Not only does this punch have super simple ingredients that are easy to find, but it also tastes delicious AND it can be made non alcoholic for both kids and adults to enjoy so everyone can join in on the fun!
I made this a week ago for Thanksgiving (11/25/21).I served the mocktail version with a few warm hors d’oeuvre when my family arrived and it was a big hit! So delicious! Thank you for posting! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the best punch!!!! Everyone that tried it raved about it. it’s a keeper and should be made for all fall parties! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shannon Thompson , Deb Peterson
✅This recipe has been featured on The Pioneer Woman, Reddy Ice, The Daily Mom, Parade, and more!
🍂Grab These Before You Make It
- Punch Dispenser: Punch Bowl Set, 2 Gallon Drink Jar (with stand), or this festive Pumpkin Tapping Keg Spout Kit!
- Drinkware: Drinking Mason Jars (with handle), Stemless Wine Glasses, or Disposable Thanksgiving Cups
- Serving: Thanksgiving Cocktail Napkins, Thanksgiving Themed Straws, Fake Fall Leaves for Table
- Ingredients: Pumpkin Pie Spice, Cinnamon Sticks, Apple Cider
🎃Ingredient Notes
- Apple Cider: This makes up the bulk of the punch and screams fall and Autumn. Purchase your favorite apple cider while apples are in season! Make sure you are not using spiced apple cider as you are adding in the spices.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: Whisking this flavor (nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, allspice) into apple cider brings this punch to a new level by adding the perfect amount of spice and warming flavors.
- Sliced Fruit: Red and green apple slices enhance the apple flavor while sliced oranges add a touch of fresh citrus flavor that complements the warming notes.
- Ginger Ale: If you would like to make a non-alcoholic Thanksgiving drink, add in your favorite ginger ale or ginger beer. This makes it the best kid-friendly drink for Thanksgiving while giving the punch a bit of natural spice.
- Fresh or Frozen Cranberries: Cranberries add a pop of color to this punch. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries.
- Champagne: If you’d like to make this an easy alcoholic Thanksgiving cocktail for adults, add in some champagne. You could also add a shot of your favorite vodka or whisky for a stronger punch.
- Cinnamon Sticks: Enhances the warmth in the punch while giving a true fall look to the garnishes.
🍹How To Make Thanksgiving Punch
- 1️⃣Dissolve the pumpkin pie spice: In a 2 gallon drink jar, or holiday punch bowl, add 2 cups apple cider. Whisk in pumpkin pie spice until any clumps are gone, then add the rest of the apple cider.
- 2️⃣For a cocktail: Pour in the champagne.
- 3️⃣For a mocktail: Pour in ginger ale.
- 4️⃣Add fruit: Slice up the fruit into thin pieces. Add apples, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cranberries (fresh or frozen) to the jar and stir gently.
- 5️⃣Chill and serve: Refrigerate for 2-3 hours in a large pitcher before serving thanksgiving alcoholic punch cold in garnished glasses.
👩🏻🍳Chef Val’s Tips
- No added sugar: Be sure to buy apple cider that doesn’t have any added sugar in it. The juice itself is sweet enough!
- Develop flavors: This punch is best after sitting in the fridge for about 2-3 hours before serving. This gives enough time for all the flavors to marry together.
- Dissolve dry spices: Make sure you whisk in the pumpkin pie spice with a small amount of cider first. This will make sure the spice separates so that nobody gets a big clump of pumpkin pie spice in their drink.
- Serve as a cocktail or mocktail at the same time: Kids love the non-alcoholic versions just as much as the adults. You can keep this a mocktail for the kids or non-drinking adults and have a bottle of champagne sitting on ice so that your guests can make their cocktails in whatever strength they’d like.
- Make a large batch: If you’re feeding a crowd for the holiday, feel free to double or triple the recipe. Simply multiply the ingredients by the number of gallons you want to make. Serve it in a punch bowl for a festive look!
🦃Perfect Pairings
Appetizers
- Cranberry Orange Chicken Meatballs
- Air Fryer Baked Brie
- Air Fryer Goat Cheese Balls
- Air Fryer Sausage Balls
- Air Fryer Cocktail Franks
- Instant Pot Steamed Shrimp
- Antipasto Skewers
Main Course & Side Dishes
- Red Lobster Brussels Sprouts
- Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers
- Dutch Oven Turkey Breast
- Air Fryer Mashed Potatoes
- Air Fryer Chicken Meatloaf
- Sous Vide Duck Breast
Dessert
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Spiced Apple Cider Muffins
- 3 Ingredient Nutella Brownies
- Pumpkin Panna Cotta
- Air Fryer Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
🍊Flavor Variations
- Fresh Fruit: Feel free to add other fruits to the mix like pears, plums, sliced lemon, fresh cranberries, blood orange or grapes.
- Juice: Add a cup of cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice to add flavor and additional sweetness.
- Fresh Herbs: Give it a light bold herb flavor by infusing with some rosemary sprigs or fresh thyme sprigs.
- Wine: If you want to make this more like spiced wine, add in some red wine instead of champagne.
- Glass Garnish: If you want an extra decadent touch, rim the glasses with raw or granulated sugar before adding the punch.
- Ginger: The ginger flavor is essential to this recipe. You can use ginger ale, or ginger beer to add flavor.
- Strong Booze (My husband’s pro tip): add a shot or 2 of Jack Daniels Honey Whisky to your glass for an extra boozy drink. Or add whisky, rum, vodka, or your favorite alcohol to taste.
🦃More Thanksgiving Drink Ideas
What’s the most popular Thanksgiving drink? I can’t choose, so I’ve made other drinks that are just as delicious as this punch! No more wondering what to drink on Thanksgiving. And don’t worry, they can all be made non alcoholic!
- Thanksgiving Margarita
- Thanksgiving Moscow Mule
- Thanksgiving Mimosa
- Thanksgiving Mojito
- and don’t forget Christmas Punch!
❔FAQ
This thanksgiving cocktail punch can be made 8 hours in advance if the champagne (or ginger ale is poured in). You can also make the mixture without the fizzy component for up to 48 hours. When ready to serve, pour in the champagne or ginger ale. Any leftover punch can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days in a large pitcher or jar with a lid. Freezing is not recommended.
This drink can be served warm, however, I would not use champagne. Instead, pour in your favorite alcohol or add a shot of whisky, vodka, or rum to taste. If you want it non-alcoholic, heat up the apple cider on the stove or crockpot and pour in some ginger ale when ready to serve.
You can add champagne, ginger ale, or sparkling cider along with the alcohol if you like the fizz and flavor. However, champagne may clash with the taste of hard alcohol.
A 750ml bottle will fill 12 glasses. If you want to make a larger batch, use a magnum (1.5L) bottle or double the recipe.
Thanksgiving Punch Recipe (with non alcoholic option!)
Equipment
- 1 2 Gallon Drink Jar or punch bowl
Ingredients
MOCKTAIL OPTION
- 1 Gallon Apple Cider
- 48 oz Ginger Ale
- 1 Red Apple sliced thin
- 1 Green Apple sliced thin
- 1 Navel Orange sliced thin
- 1 cup Frozen Cranberries
- 1 tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 5 Cinnamon Sticks for garnish and flavor
COCKTAIL OPTION
- Replace Ginger Ale with one bottle of your favorite champagne (750ml)
- Feel free to add your desired amount of Vodka or Whisky for a stronger punch
Instructions
- In a 2 gallon drink jar, add 2 cups apple cider.
- Whisk in pumpkin pie spice until any clumps are gone, then add the rest of the apple cider.
- Add in your ginger ale or champagne. (you can add both, one or the other, or half and half)
- Add apples, oranges, and cranberries and cinnamon sticks to the jar and stir gently.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving cold in garnished glasses.
- Will keep for 3-4 days in fridge in airtight container.
Video
Notes
Want More Easy Thanksgiving Cocktails?
I’m all about Thanksgiving cocktails! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! This one is my favorite so far!
MAde this for my family and they loved it!
I made this last year and will make it again this year… SO good!
Thanks, Dominique!!
Can this be made hot?
Hello! I haven’t made it hot however doing so may take the slight carbonation out from the ginger ale or champagne so it would be best trying it that way if you were adding whisky or vodka.
Hello! I’m a little confused about the amount of cider in the recipe. In the ingredients it lists one gallon of cider, but in the instructions it says only 2 cups of cider. That doesn’t seem like enough? Or is it?
Thank you for pointing that out! I recently updated the post and made a mistake in the instructions. Initially you add 2 cups so you can whisk in the spice and then you add the rest. The post instructions are now updated.
Great! Thanks so much for replying! I can’t wait to make this this week!
Why is there cinnamon sticks listed in the ingredients but never mentioned in the instructions or video
I think you just put a few in the glass to garnish, but I’m not 100% sure.
Would sparkling cider be a good replacement for champagne? I’m not a huge fan of ginger ale and thought that might be good. Just not sure if it would be too much with the regular apple cider.
That sounds like it would work perfectly!
When you add whiskey or vodka, do you also add the champagne? Or just the hard liquor?
you add vodka if you would like a stronger kick, champagne if you want it milder 🙂
I’m wanting to make this for Thanksgiving this year but a bit confused on one point–Where do the cinnamon sticks listed in the ingredients come into play? There’s no mention of them in your recipe instructions nor in the video???
cinnamon sticks are for garnishment only 🙂
When using vodka, do you still add the champagne?
vodka if you want the drink to be stronger, champagne if you want it milder
Just made this today, will let you know how it goes over with the family. It looks so good!
Hi, Kim! Circling back to this. How did it go? -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
Do you add champagne and whiskey?
You can replace the ginger ale with champagne. I like adding shots of whiskey to individual glasses of punch. Hope that helps! -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
Can this be made the night before or does it have to be 2-3 hrs before serving?
Yup! This is a good one to make the night before! -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
Made this for Thanksgiving dinner. Left out the pumpkin spice. Had champagne on the side. Very refreshing! Lots of compliments.
Do you put champagne AND vodka in the punch?
Up to you! I like replacing the ginger ale with champagne and then serving vodka on the side, so guests have the option to add as little or as much extra booze as they like. -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
What ounces of champagne would I need because there different size bottles
Good question. You’ll need a 750 ML standard-size bottle of champagne. -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
If I make this ahead won’t the ginger ale do flat? Also, how much whiskey would you add to an 8 oz glass of punch. TIA!😉
Hi, Cait! When I’ve made this punch a few hours ahead of time, the ginger ale still had plenty of bubbles. If you’re making it the night before, you can combine all of the ingredients except for the ginger ale and then add it into the punch right before serving. 1.25 ounces of whiskey (2.5 tablespoons) is a good place to start for an 8-ounce glass of punch. Give it a taste and more to your liking! -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
Two questions:
Where do I use the cinnamon sticks?
The store didn’t have any frozen cranberries so I got fresh ones. Do I need to do anything to soften them a bit or just substitute as is?
The cinnamon sticks are for garnish, but if you want to throw a couple into your batch to infuse more flavor, go for it! 🙂 And you can throw the fresh cranberries in as-is. They’ll soften while the drink is refrigerated. -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve always wanted a spiked punch for thanksgiving, and decided to give it a try. Hope my family loves it!
Hi, Brooke! How did it go? I hope your family loved it! -Krista (Team Thyme & JOY)
I made this a week ago for Thanksgiving (11/25/21).I served the mocktail version with a few warm hors d’oeuvre when my family arrived and it was a big hit! So delicious! Thank you for posting!
If I want to make the mocktail but I want the cocktail as an option. Would you have to make a separate batch without the ginger ale or can you just add in the champagne with the ginger ale? The punch bowl will have the gingerale already.
If I was wanting to use only vodka with this recipe how much vodka do I put in it? It’s for a group of nine people
This was delicious! Made as is (with gingerale) and it was perfect. Sweet but not overly so. Thank you for the great recipe, it will be a regular addition to Thanksgiving in my house 🙂
This is the bomb punch!!!! Everyone that tried it raved about it. it’s a keeper and should be made for all fall parties!
Thanks, Deb!
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!