How to Make Thanksgiving Cocktails with Your Cooking Ingredients

Thanksgiving cocktail recipes that use your cooking ingredients

Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving with family or having Friendsgiving with your BFFs, booze is almost always a welcome addition to the party—and making cocktails with your cooking ingredients, from cranberry sauce to whipping cream, is not only practical and economical, but delicious.

So save money on mixers and embrace the flavors of the season by setting aside a few extra bits and pieces while you’re making your meal—the lemons, oranges, and herbs you use to flavor the turkey are great cocktail ingredients too; ditto the cranberry sauce you make (or buy).

If you’re using apples in your stuffing, earmark a few for drinks to go alongside, and reserve some surplus cinnamon and mini marshmallows from the sweet potato casserole to craft dessert-worthy cocktails. Even your eggs, butter, and heavy cream can come into play.

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You can do something as simple as muddle some pomegranate seeds (strain the juice if you don’t like bits in your drink) and top it off with sparkling wine, or stir a spoonful of spiced cranberry relish into hard cider, but if you have a few minutes to spare, most of these cocktails are pretty easy—and are made up chiefly of ingredients you’ll already have on hand for your meal.

Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktail

If you’ve got a kids’ table, you’ve got apple juice or apple cider on hand, so why not filch a little bit for a grown-up drink that adds bourbon and ginger beer? (Or a similar version with gin and lemon juice.) Get the Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktail recipe.

Related Reading: See a Top Bartender’s Favorite Tools for Instantly Elevating Cocktails

Apple Cranberry Moscow Mule

If nonalcoholic sparkling cider in its alluringly Champagne-like bottle is still a staple of your holiday table but you’re old enough (and inclined) to drink actual booze these days, this drink combines the cider with a bit of vodka, cranberry juice, and ginger beer. Save some fresh cranberries before you start your sauce so you can use them as a festive garnish here. Get the Apple Cranberry Moscow Mule recipe.

Roasted Apple Mule

Should you like apples in your stuffing, get a few extra and roast them on their own in a small pan alongside something else, then use them in this cheerful take on the classic Moscow Mule, with a little cinnamon and sugar to sweeten the experience. Get the Roasted Apple Mule recipe.

Cranberry Sauce Vodka Smash

Speaking of cranberry sauce, it’s great with booze. Think of this as a more rustic—and yet somehow also fancier—Cosmopolitan. It could hardly get any easier, either: just stir some cranberry sauce into vodka and top it off with whatever sparkly substance you like, from Sprite to Champagne. Bonus points if your cranberry sauce has some interesting flavors going on already, like orange zest and ginger, or cinnamon and Port. Get the Cranberry Sauce Vodka Smash recipe.

Ginger Maple Bourbon Cocktail

Buy bags of lemons and oranges, and with the ones you don’t use for the turkey and cranberry relish, make this refreshing citrus cocktail with freshly grated ginger (also leftover from your cranberry sauce, perhaps?). Sweeten it with quintessential fall flavor: maple syrup, which is also great tossed with roasted Brussels sprouts for a side. Get the Ginger Maple Bourbon Cocktail recipe.

Winter Squash Cocktail

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I decided to experiment with some of the leftover roasted squash purée from a post a few days back. Have you had success with squash cocktails? Sometimes the texture just isn’t right, or it comes out too vegetal. 🥃 Last year, I made a rum-based cocktail with coconut cream that was richly textured and delicious. You can find it over on my site {just search “pumpkin.”}. So, here goes a riff on a Sidecar. This one’s called, “I Call Shotgun”! 🥃 I was pretty pleased with the result. It is brandy-forward, and the squash lends a savory, toasty note. The walnut liqueur and citrusy Licor 43 pull it all together with balance. Just make sure your cinnamon-sugar rim is only lightly “kissed” with cinnamon. It can leave a chalky texture in your mouth, if overdone. . . . • 1 1/2 ounces roasted butternut squash purée • 3/4 ounce Calvados • 3/4 ounce Cognac • 1/4 ounce @licor43global • 1 bar spoon @hausalpenz Nux Alpina walnut liqueur • 1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1/2 ounce honey simple • cinnamon-sugar rim • dehydrated apple slice, for garnish {we got ours from @drinkbigbs} . . . 1️⃣ Rim a coupe glass with cinnamon sugar. 2️⃣ Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin, except for the cinnamon-sugar and apple slice, of course. 3️⃣ Add a few large ice cubes and shake very well. 4️⃣ Double-strain into prepped glass and garnish with apple slice. . . . #squash #squashcocktail #cocktails #feedfeed @thefeedfeed @thefeedfeed.cocktails #foodblogfeed @foodblogfeed #abmhappyhour #f52grams #thekitchn #sommlife #drinkstagram #imbibegram #tastybev #happyhourclub #foodblogfeed #saveurmag #craftcocktails #thirsty #liqpic #hollyandflora #dailycocktail #eattheworld #drinkbigbs

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If you’re roasting butternut squash for soup, make a bit more than you need so you can add it to a cocktail—like the one above, or these other autumnal squash cocktails. (If you have more lead time—five days, to be exact—you can use it to infuse vodka and then strain it, in case you don’t love the richer texture of puree in drinks; see how to do it in this winter squash cocktail recipe.)

Related Reading: Thanksgiving Dishes You Can Make Ahead

Ruby Red and Rosemary Honey Cocktail

Chances are you’ll have plenty of fresh herbs on hand, so snag a few sprigs for making drinks, like this refreshing but punchy concoction of ruby red grapefruit juice, lemon juice, rosemary, and honey simple syrup, which is easy to whisk up in a few minutes. A tiny pinch of sea salt offsets all the sweet-sharp and aromatic flavors. Get the Ruby Red and Rosemary Honey Cocktail recipe.

Cinnamon Rosemary Old Fashioned

If you prefer brown drinks in the fall, bourbon marries beautifully with rosemary too; here, the herb is infused along with cinnamon into a honey-sweetened syrup. Get the Cinnamon Rosemary Old Fashioned recipe.

Smoked Sage Cocktail

Sage is one of our favorite autumn herbs, and a classic partner to turkey and stuffing, so use some in your cocktail too, along with lemon juice, bourbon, and an egg white. The sage is made into a gingery simple syrup and lightly singed for a fragrant garnish. Try tequila or mezcal in place of the bourbon if you like. Get the Smoked Sage Cocktail recipe.

Related Reading: A Guide to Using Herbs in Cocktails

Golden Sazerac

If you’re not familiar with golden syrup, now is the perfect time to get acquainted with its caramelized flavor. It’s great in a bourbon pecan pie, and can also sweeten up your drink while adding a little toasty depth. You can try some in place of simple syrup in any drink that would benefit from its slightly darker flavor. Get the Golden Sazerac recipe.

Bourbon Pumpkin Smash

You’re probably making pumpkin pie, so you may as well pick up an extra can of pumpkin puree, because it happens to be great in cocktails. You can cook it into a spiced syrup as in this smash, or stir the puree straight into fuller-bodied drinks (like this Pumpkin Pie Martini). Get the Bourbon Pumpkin Smash recipe.

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum

Chowhound

Two-for-one-sales and the need to stock up for pie crusts and holiday cookies means you probably also have plenty of butter on hand. If so, make this classic cocktail to warm you up, in more ways than one. Get our Hot Buttered Rum recipe.

Kahlua Hot Chocolate

Got lots of mini marshmallows that didn’t make it onto your casserole? Shower them over mugs of spiked hot chocolate for an after-after-dinner treat. (Or if you still have enough energy, skewer and broil them to garnish these S’moretini Shooters.) Get the Kahlua Hot Chocolate recipe.

Flip

Flip Cocktail with Egg and Cream

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If you’re intrigued by eggs in cocktails, try a classic flip, which also uses heavy cream and nutmeg, sort of like a simplified version of eggnog. ‘Tis the season! (Well, almost.) Get our Flip Cocktail recipe.

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Mulled Wine

German mulled wine or gluhwein

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And if you still have lemons, oranges, cinnamon, and cloves hanging around after all that, why not make mulled wine, one of the most festive drinks around? It’s best made with good wine, of course, but it’s not a bad way to make a less-than-stellar bottle taste a lot better. Get our Mulled Wine recipe.

For more tips, tricks, hacks, and recipes, see our Ultimate Guide to Thanksgiving, and our Ultimate Guide to Friendsgiving.

Related Video: Make Delicious Sangria Using Cranberry Sauce