Holiday Mocktail Recipes: Dietitian-Approved, Festive and Light

• These holiday mocktail recipes offer festive flair and zero processed sugar.
• Each recipe is dietitian-developed and uses whole fruits, teas, herbs, and spices to create layered flavor without relying on syrups.

JUMP TO RECIPES:

Ginger-Fig Apple Tea-ni

• ½ cup Calimyrna figs, quartered
• 1 inch fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 4 bags green tea
• 1 cup chilled unsweetened apple juice
• Orange peel, for garnish (optional)

1. Place four martini glasses in the freezer to chill at least 1 hour.
2. In a small saucepan combine figs, ginger, and 3 cups of water. Bring to boiling; remove from heat. Add tea bags. Cover and let steep 5 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags. Transfer tea mixture to a heatproof bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
3. To serve, strain tea through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass measuring cup; discard solids. Stir apple juice into tea. Pour tea mixture into frozen martini glasses. Garnish with additional slices of fresh ginger or curls of orange peel.

Winter Mocktail Mule

• 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
• ¼ cup frozen dark sweet cherries
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate arils
• 1 cup unsweetened 100% cranberry juice
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 2 limes
• 3 cups (24 oz.) sparkling water
• Fresh cranberries, for garnish (optional)

1. In a bowl muddle ginger, cherries, and pomegranate arils. Stir in cranberry juice and maple syrup. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 1 week.
2. Strain juice through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass measuring cup; discard ginger and fruit.
3. Squeeze 3 tablespoons juice from 1½ limes. Cut the remaining lime half into wedges. Add lime juice to cranberry juice mixture. To serve, pour juice mixture into ice-filled mule mugs or glasses. Slowly add sparkling water. Garnish with lime wedges and, if you like, fresh cranberries.

Orange-Vanilla Sparkler

• 6–8 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
• ½ of a vanilla bean or ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Cara Cara oranges
• 2 navel oranges
• 3 cups (24 oz.) sparkling water

1. In a cocktail shaker muddle 2 to 3 sprigs of the fresh thyme. Split vanilla bean; use the back of a knife to scrape out seeds and add to cocktail shaker. (Or add vanilla extract.)
2. Squeeze ½ cup juice from Cara Cara oranges and ½ cup juice from navel oranges. (Or use 1 cup juice from one type of orange.) Add orange juices and ice to cocktail shaker.
3. Cover and shake well. Strain liquid into glasses half-filled with ice cubes. Slowly pour in sparkling water. Garnish with additional thyme sprigs or orange slices.

Rosemary-Cherry Spritzer

• 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 cup tart cherry juice
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 lemon
• 3 cups (24 oz.) sparkling water

1. In a small saucepan muddle 2 sprigs of the rosemary. Add cherry juice and maple syrup. Bring just to a simmer over medium; remove from heat. Cover; cool completely.
2. Strain juice through a fine-mesh sieve into a jar; discard rosemary. Cover and chill juice in the refrigerator at least 1 hour or up to 1 week.
3. To serve, remove peel from lemon in strips. (If you like, wrap strips around a chopstick to make curls.) Squeeze 3 tablespoons juice from lemon. Add lemon juice to cherry juice. Pour juice mixture into glasses half-filled with ice. Slowly add sparkling water. Garnish with lemon strips or additional rosemary sprigs.

Spiced Chai Nog

• Six 3-inch sticks cinnamon
• 1 slice fresh ginger
• 4 whole cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 bags black tea
• 3 cups unsweetened, unflavored oat milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. For chai, break two of the cinnamon sticks into pieces and add to a small saucepan. Add ginger, cloves, nutmeg, crushed peppercorns, cardamom, and 1½ cups water. Bring to boiling; remove from heat. Cover and let steep 5 minutes. Return to boiling; remove from heat.
2. Add tea bags to saucepan. Cover and let steep 5 minutes more. Remove and discard tea bags. Strain liquid into a glass measuring cup through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids.
3. In the same pan whisk together oat milk, cornstarch, and maple syrup. Bring just to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in tea; heat through. Split ½ of a vanilla bean; use the back of a knife to scrape out seeds and add to tea mixture. (Or add vanilla extract.)
4. Pour warm nog into mugs. (If you like, nog can be chilled and served over ice.) Garnish with additional cinnamon sticks.