This frozen cranberry margarita mocktail is one of my favorite ways to use up leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Blended with orange juice, lime juice, and a little salt, it has all the tart, festive flavor of a margarita without any of the alcohol.
This is an easy drink to make for a holiday party since it comes together in the blender in just 5 minutes, and it's a gluten free option everyone can enjoy, whether or not they're drinking.
It's also a great, crowd friendly choice for anyone who wants a festive drink without the alcohol.
If you are looking for other mocktail options you might also enjoy my Pina Colada Mocktail, this Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktails, my Classic Margarita Mocktail, this Non Alcoholic Spiced Apple Fizz Drink or my Homemade Blueberry Lemonade made with Frozen Blueberries recipes.
You can find all of my drink recipes here: Gluten Free Drink Recipes
You can find all of my Christmas recipes here: Gluten Free Christmas Recipes
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- A festive, non alcoholic drink everyone at the party can enjoy
- A smart way to use up leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving or Christmas
- Ready in 5 minutes with just a blender and a handful of ingredients
- Easy to make a big batch for a crowd
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Whole berry cranberry sauce gives this mocktail its thick, frozen texture, but my Gluten Free Cranberry Jam works beautifully here too if you have some on hand. Fresh squeezed lime and orange juice will give you the brightest flavor, though bottled juice works in a pinch. If you'd like a slightly sweeter, bubblier drink, swap the soda water for ginger ale.
How to Make This a Cocktail
If you're serving a mixed crowd, this recipe is easy to turn into a real margarita for the adults at the party. Simply add 1 ½ to 2 ounces of tequila per serving to the blender along with the other ingredients, and blend as usual. It's an easy way to serve one drink that works for everyone at your holiday gathering.
Tips for Serving a Crowd
This recipe doubles or triples easily for a party, just blend it in batches so your blender doesn't get too full. For a festive touch, garnish each glass with a few fresh or sugared cranberries and a sprig of rosemary. Since this mocktail is best served immediately, plan to blend it in smaller batches throughout your party rather than making it all at once ahead of time.
Storage
This frozen cranberry margarita mocktail doesn't store well after it has been made.
To speed up the process of making them fresh you could premeasure the cranberry sauce, orange juice, lime juice and salt into a sealed container in the refrigerator. Then, when you want to make drinks you can pour everything into your blender.
Top Tip
For a drink that doesn't get watered down, freeze extra orange juice and lime juice into ice cubes ahead of time and use those instead of regular ice cubes when you blend. It keeps the flavor strong all the way to the last sip.
FAQ
A virgin margarita, or margarita mocktail, has all the flavor of a classic margarita without any alcohol. This frozen cranberry version gets its kick from fresh lime and orange juice and a pinch of salt instead of tequila.
Yes. Add 1 ½ to 2 ounces of tequila per serving to the blender along with the other ingredients and blend as usual. See the How to Make This a Cocktail section above for details.
I recommend sticking with cranberry sauce for this recipe, since it's already sweetened and gives the mocktail its thick, frozen texture. Fresh cranberries on their own would be too tart and wouldn't blend as smoothly.
Yes, this recipe doubles or triples easily. Just blend it in batches so you don't overfill your blender, and plan to serve it soon after blending since it doesn't hold well once made.
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Frozen Cranberry Margarita Mocktail
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This frozen cranberry margarita mocktail is a festive, non alcoholic drink that comes together in the blender in just 5 minutes. It's the perfect way to use up leftover cranberry sauce and makes a fun, crowd friendly drink for any Christmas gathering.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
- ¼ cup Orange Juice
- 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
- ½ cup Soda Water
- 1 cup Ice
- Pinch of Sea Salt
Fresh Lime, for the glass
Instructions
In a blender add the cranberry sauce, orange juice, lime juice, soda water, ice and salt. Blend until smooth.
Add some salt to a small plate. Cut a lime into wedges. Slice the center of a lime wedge and run around the rim of your glass. Dip the glass into the salt. Repeat for the next glass.
Pour the frozen cranberry margarita mocktail into each glass. Serve immediately.
If you made this recipe please leave a star rating and comment below. It helps other readers find this recipe and means so much to me.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: American
If you make this frozen cranberry margarita mocktail, I would love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tag @smallfarmbiglife on Instagram so I can see your holiday drink cart. Looking for more festive drinks? Check out my full collection of mocktail recipes, including my Classic Margarita Mocktail and Pina Colada Mocktail.
Frozen Cranberry Margarita Mocktail Ingredients
Instructions
In a blender add the cranberry sauce, orange juice, lime juice, soda water, ice and salt. Blend until smooth.
Add some salt to a small plate. Cut a lime into wedges. Slice the center of a lime wedge and run around the rim of your glass. Dip the glass into the salt. Repeat for the next glass.
Pour the frozen cranberry margarita mocktail into each glass. Serve immediately.
