‘Tis the season for leftover repurposing. Use your leftover cranberry sauce for this Cranberry Bourbon Cocktail!
I see that look of yourn. Lemme guess: Tooooo much junk in the trunk.
Too much feasting yesterday, and too many leftovers today. What shaaaall we do?
We shall repurpose them. Let Project Remodel Thanksgiving Leftovers begin!!
If your Thanksgiving feast resembled my family’s, you have about 12 trillion pounds of leftovers and are looking for places to stash them. Don’t throw that junk away! There are plenty of ways we can use leftovers without getting sick of them. There is a slew of recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers floating around the intraverse. Plus, last year, I rounded up 50 Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes, giving you options for excess turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
Which reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Cranberry sauce is my favorite leftover to play with.
Each year, I make Cranberry Sauce with Ginger and Maple, which yields a ton of sauce and results in leftovers. Last year, I made cranberry vinaigrette for my Thanksgiving Leftovers Salad, and Cranberry Sauce Pancakes with the leftover sauce. This year, I figured I’d go the bevvie route by mixing some of the leftover sauce with Bulleit Bourbon. If you like yourself a cocktail, I highly recommend you try this! The warmly-spiced flavorful sauce goes really well with the liquor, and because the cranberry sauce is cane-sugar free (sweetened only with maple syrup) it adds natural sweetness to the drink without being overly sweet.
And now I will address the elephant in the room: chunks in your cocktail. Can you hack it?
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about my bourbon hanging out with hunks of cranberries, but I loved it. I drank it with a spoon. If you’re anti texture, you can make a daiquiri slash slush situation by blending these cocktails up in your blender. My favorite part of the cocktail was eating the cranberries that had been soaking in bourbon at the bottom of the glass…so there is that to consider.
I hope you all had a wonderful and meaninglful Thanksgiving, and enjoy all the repurposed Thanksgiving leftovers!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons homemade or store-bought cranberry sauce
- 1 to 2 shots bourbon
- Ginger beer or club soda
- 1 lemon wedge
Instructions
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Add the cranberry sauce to the bottom of a glass along with the bourbon.
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Add ice, then fill the remainder of the glass with ginger beer (or club soda)
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Squeeze a lemon wedge into the drink and stir well.
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Bottoms up!
I have plenty of cranberry sauce left over and have been looking for a delicious and innovative way to use it – definitely making this delicious cocktail!
So happy to hear it, Thalia! Let me know how you like it!
I am in the process of developing and expanding my taste for bourbon. It’s been a fun research project. Now I have another suggestion to try.
Bourbon’s definitely a great liquor to warm up to – it really has so many uses in cocktails and cooking! Hope you enjoy these cranberry drinks – they’re a great intro to bourbon!
I am doing this TONIGHT! I’ve got some girlfriends coming over for cookie making/decorating and this is just what we need. I’ve got tons of cranberry sauce leftovers so BOOM BOOM POW. Thanks, luv!!
Wahoo!! So happy you and your girlies are enjoying some fun holiday cocktails together! Enjoy! xo
I was the only person who ate the cranberry sauce around my house, so I have a ton of that stuff left in my refrigerator! Making it into a drink sounds FANTASTIC!
Oh heck yes, drinks on repeat for you, Lisa! It’s so crazy to me that there are people in this world who don’t care for cranberry sauce! More for you!
Well if i ever happen upon a bottle of bourbon, I know where to turn for recipes! Between this and the sweet potatoes, you’ve got me drooling, sister. I bet those cranberries taste amazing after they’ve been soaked in the bourbon.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m sure all of your family members were spoiled with your delicious creations.
Cheers, lady! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving as well!
This looks amazing! What a brilliant idea of leftover sauce! I really want to try this out!
What a great idea! I’m always on the hunt for a simple cocktail and this one sounds perfect. I might give it a try with some rye as well. Couldn’t hurt, right?
Absolutely not! The more alcohols, the better, I always say! 😀
Is it weird to say that mashed potatoes and cocktails are my favorite part of thanksgiving? Not together, of course.
Not at all weird. Carbs + booze are how we survive the holidays 😉
i’m kind of all over this ! !
What a happy coincidence! The ONLY leftovers I have are cranberry sauce. I see all the drinks in my future.
Well, I made cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries and forgot it in the fridge until everyone had “gone through the line”. I did put it on the table but not many people back-tracked to partake of the sauce sooooo, I had a big bowl left over. I saw this post and got really excited! Finally got to the liquor store today for the bourbon and am at this point munching on the bourbon-soaked berries in the bottom of the glass….this recipe is a 10! Thanks 🙂
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Absolutely delicious, definitely making this one to spice up the Thanksgiving dinner! Love it!