This Christmas punch is a blend of pomegranate, lime and cranberry, all mixed together into a fizzy beverage that’s perfect for any holiday party. A festive and refreshing drink that can easily be turned into a cocktail for the adults!
I like to serve some fun drinks when I entertaining during the holidays – for a hot drink, I opt for slow cooker apple cider or homemade hot chocolate. For a cold drink, I serve this easy Christmas punch, and it always gets rave reviews. If you’re entertaining adults, don’t forget to also offer some festive Jello shots!
Every holiday party could benefit from some seasonal drink offerings! This super simple Christmas punch is cheery, refreshing and the perfect balance of sweet and tart. It takes about 5 minutes to put together and looks so pretty on your table.
Move over eggnog, this punch is one of my favorite drink recipes for Christmas parties. While you enjoy this cool beverage, why not snack on some appetizers like cheese ball bites, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers or pigs in a blanket.
Table of Contents
Christmas Punch Ingredients
To make Christmas punch, make sure you have pomegranate-cranberry juice, frozen limeade concentrate, lime flavored sparkling water, fresh cranberries, lime slices and mint sprigs.
How Do You Make Christmas Punch?
To make this Christmas punch recipe, first place the pomegranate-cranberry juice in a large pitcher along with a can of frozen limeade concentrate. Stir the mixture until well combined. Pour in some sparkling water and stir. Garnish the pitcher with sliced limes, fresh cranberries and mint. Serve right away, or refrigerate for later use.
Tips For The Perfect Drink
- I use a pomegranate-cranberry juice blend. This drink contains sugar and other fruit juices which makes it sweet and pleasant to drink. Do not try to use plain unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juices, they’ll be much too tart.
- I use a lime flavored sparkling water with no added sugar.
- You can serve this drink either in a pitcher, drink dispenser or a punch bowl, whichever is more convenient.
- Freeze your cranberries before you add them to the drink. They will serve as ice cubes – the drink will stay cold but won’t get watered down! You can also make ice cubes with cranberries or lime wedges in them, or even a festive ice ring if you’re using a punch bowl.
- You can double this recipe to make a big-batch of punch for all your guests. Just make sure you have a big container. You can also make multiple batches during the holiday season.
Quick Tip
Can’t find a pomegranate-cranberry juice blend? Try a cranberry juice cocktail instead.
Recipe FAQs
Christmas punch is typically made with a blend of fruit juice, citrus and a sparkling drink. Champagne or liquor can also be added for an alcoholic offering.
This drink is best served right after it’s made, as the carbonated water will start to go flat within a few hours of being added to the punch. Luckily this punch takes just minutes to make, so it’s easy to whip up at the last second. If you run out of time, you can mix the pomegranate-cranberry juice and limeade together up to 8 hours in advance. Store the mixture in the fridge, and add the sparkling water at the last minute.
The top contenders for the most Christmassy drink are eggnog, apple cider, hot chocolate and cool and refreshing Christmas punch. When you try this punch, you may have a new favorite.
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Flavor Variations
This non-alcoholic Christmas punch is light and refreshing as-is; however, you can modify this holiday punch recipe to suit your own taste:
- Sparkling Water: Instead of lime flavored sparking water you could use plain sparkling water, or the lemon or orange flavors. My store even has a seasonal cranberry orange flavor which would be delicious!
- Garnish: Fresh pomegranate seeds make a nice garnish if cranberries aren’t available. You could also use blackberries or cherries.
- Orange: You could make an orange version of this drink with orange juice concentrate instead of lime juice concentrate and a few orange slices.
- Spiced: Try a winter spice version of this punch by adding a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of allspice and a quarter teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Sweeter: If you want a sweeter taste you can add a little ginger ale, lemon-lime soda, white grape juice or pineapple juice to the holiday punch.
AlcoholIc Christmas Punch
You can turn this Christmas punch into an alcoholic beverage with the addition of any of the following
- Champagne (add 2 cups)
- Prosecco (add 2 cups)
- Red Wine (add 2 cups)
- Rum (add 1 cup)
- Brandy (add 1 cup)
- Vodka (add 1 cup)
I’ve listed my recommended alcohol amounts above, but you can always add a bit more for a stronger drink.
I make Christmas punch for every winter gathering, and I always make a big pitcher of it on Christmas Day for everyone to enjoy while we’re relaxing around the house. It’s pleasantly sweet, but not overly so, and you can never go wrong with a little bit of fizz!
More Holiday Entertaining Recipes
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Christmas Wreath Cookies
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Stained Glass Cookies
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Christmas Punch Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Christmas Punch
Ingredients
- 6 cups pomegranate-cranberry juice
- 1 can frozen limeade concentrate
- 6 cups lime flavored sparkling water
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 2 limes sliced
- 4 sprigs mint
- Optional addition: rum, champagne or vodka in quantity of your choice.
Instructions
- Place the pomegranate-cranberry juice and limeade concentrate in a pitcher. Stir until combined.
- Add the sparkling water and stir until well combined.
- Garnish with cranberries, limes and mint, then serve.
Notes
- I use a pomegranate-cranberry juice blend. This drink contains sugar and other fruit juices which makes it sweet and pleasant to drink. Do not try to use plain unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juices, they’ll be much too tart.
- Can’t find a pomegranate-cranberry juice blend? Try a cranberry juice cocktail instead.
- Use a lime flavored sparkling water with no added sugar.
Hi if we cant find limeade can with what can we substitute it?? or we can simply omit this part??
Are you having trouble finding the frozen limeade concentrate? You can also find limeade in the refrigerated juice section near the orange juice. If you use refrigerated limeade, just cut the amount of sparkling water in half.
We had this for our 50th Wedding Celebration this year and it was marvelous and easy. Everyone enjoyed it!!!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
My Favorite punch for Christmas. Make it with vodka & use ginger ale instead of water. Awesome!
So glad you enjoyed it, Merry Christmas!
We served this at my daughter’s wedding December 15th, multiplied for 150 people! We received so many compliments! It is beautiful and tastes amazing! I’m definitely making it a Christmas tradition!
Wow I’m so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed it! Happy Holidays!
I saw you mentioned yhst you use champagne. However, what type of vodka would you recommend?
You could use your favorite brand of plain vodka (I like Ketel One or Grey Goose), or a cranberry flavored vodka (Smirnoff makes one)!
Awesome. Thanks! Happy Holidays!
What do you need to do with the Cranberries
You put them in the drink as a festive garnish!
How much champagne did you use same as vodka/rum? Which tastes better rum/vodka or Champagne?
You could use a bottle of champagne instead of the sparkling water! That would be a really great option. I find that the drink is a little lighter tasting with the champagne versus the hard liquor, so I tend to do that, but it really just depends on your taste preferences.
Can’t drink carbonated beverages. Any ideas for sparkling water replacement?
The cranberry juice/limeade mixture is fairly sweet on its own which is why I dilute it with sparkling water. You can just use regular flat water, but start with half the amount, then taste the punch and add more water if you think it’s too sweet.
Can this be leftover for how long?
It will keep for a few hours, but after that it will start to lose its carbonation!
Can you use a Lime soda instead of the sparkling water?
Yes 7-UP or Sprite will work but the drink will be sweeter that way!
Sounds Delightful
Do you still use the water with the booze you use? This sounds like what I need for a Christmas party!
I do, the sparkling water cuts the sweetness of the juices!
Sounds delicious, what size can of limeade did you use?
12 ounce can!
this sounds pretty good! i’ll have to try it for the holidays!
this looks oh so good. will be trying this recipe that you got for us.
This looks sooo good!!! Thanks for putting this together and sharing!!
I absolutely love this. It is perfect to have for setting up the tree or while baking with my girlfriends. It has just the right flavors to bring back all of those magical holiday memories.
Beyond excited to try this!! It sounds and looks absolutely delicious.
Cheers to this lovely recipe!
That sounds so good! This is the perfect beverage for the holidays. I love all the flavors, and the color is wonderful!
mmm I feel like this could easily become an adult’s drink with some added booze in the mix! great recipe 😊
Annick | annicklau.com
How much booze would you add?
1 1/2 – 2 cups!
I love how festive this is–it’s so perfect for the holidays! :]!