Use the same basic recipe to make either steaming mugs of spiced cranberry punch or deliciously iced naturally fermented cranberry soda. Fresh citrus and natural sweeteners add a fantastic dimension of flavor to this non-alcoholic holiday drink!
This post has been updated from the 2023 version – Enjoy!
More Natural Juice & Cranberry Resources
Make Your Own Juice with a Steam Juicer
Heart Healthy Cranberry Recipes – Learn to Dehydrate and Make Cranberry Powder!
Make Grape Juice in the Instant Pot
Sourdough Cranberry Sauce Loaf
Cranberry Recipes for the Holidays
Since cranberries are a seasonal crop – only appearing once a year – we try to eat as many heart healthy cranberry foods as we can while they last.
For holiday dinners I usually make a warm cranberry sauce with added persimmon and fresh citrus. This recipe can even be canned up for preservation, which means we can enjoy cranberries all year round.
Today, we’ll be teaching you how to make cranberry punch, which is delightfully simple.
How to Make Cranberry Punch or Soda
This recipe can be made in two parts. The first part is making a cranberry punch that can be served hot. The next part is optional but we show you how to ferment your punch with water kefir to make a natural soda that is served cold.
Either way, this is a great project in which to enlist your kids. The red cranberries are inviting and you can have fun making a delicious mess together in the kitchen.
Homemade Cranberry Citrus & Spiece Punch or Naturally Fermented Soda
Ingredients
To Make Cranberry Punch
- 2 Medium-Sized Bag of Cranberries 6-8 Cups
- 1 Gallon Filtered Water
- 1-2 Cups Raw Sugar* to taste
- 2 Tbsp. of Mulling Spice to taste
- Juice from 4 Large Oranges to taste
To Make Natural Soda
- Additional 1/2 Cup Raw Sugar
- 2 Cups of Strained Water Kefir
- Liquid Sweetener like Real Maple Syrup or Stevia to taste
Instructions
To Make Cranberry Punch:
- Place the cranberries into a stock pot and cover with the gallon of water. Simmer over medium heat until the cranberry skins start to pop.
- Simmer gently for ten minutes to extract all the color, flavor, and juice. The water in the pot should be dark red.
- Strain out cranberry bits with a fine mesh sieve to remove cranberry skins and flesh. If you want to remove cranberry seeds, too, use cheesecloth to strain.
- Return the cranberry juice to the pot on low heat; add the sugar. Stir until dissolved.
- Add the mulling spice in a tea ball or tied up piece of cheesecloth to the pot and steep over low heat for at least 20 minutes. The longer the spices are in the pot, the stronger their flavor will be, FYI.
- Remove the spices and pour the cranberry juice into a large pitcher. At this point, add the fresh orange juice, mixing it in well, and then taste the punch. Does it need more sweetener? More citrus? If you've got too much of a flavor, add a little more water or some unsweetened apple juice which can have a very balancing effect on homemade punch.
- Serve this punch warm or cold.
To Make Cranberry Soda
- Follow the instructions above to make cranberry punch up to number 6 - do NOT add the fresh orange juice yet. Allow the spice cranberry juice to cool to room temperature.
- Add the additional 1/2 cup of raw sugar and the water kefir to the cranberry juice and place the whole mixture into half gallon jars with lids (or any non-metal container with a lid). Allow the kefir to ferment overnight in a warm place.
- In the morning, taste the cranberry mixture - is it fizzy enough? If not, allow it to ferment another six hours. Fermentation is a finnicky business and the speed with which is occurs depends a lot on ambient temperature, as well as the kind and amount of sugar used to feed the ferment.
- Once the cranberry mixture is fizzy enough for your taste, add the orange juice and the liquid sweetener to taste. Serve immediately on ice!
Notes
Cranberry Punch Recipe Notes
Like I said, you can use whichever sweetener you prefer from crystalized sugar to maple syrup. Flavor, especially sweetness, is very relative and should be adapted to your family’s tastes.
- Our favorites include raw sugar, real maple syrup, and coconut sugar.
- If you need low carb, any of the Keto sweeteners will work great!
If you don’t have mulling spice mix on hand, you can use one each of whole nutmeg, whole cloves, raw ginger, and whole allspice tied up in a piece of cheesecloth.
- If all you have is powdered spice, you can still use cheesecloth but be sure to tie it up tightly. You can also use an empty tea bag, if you have some.
If you’re doing a large batch of cranberry punch, you can also use a steam juicer to extract the juice.
—>>>Read our article on making grape juice in a steam juicer to learn the basic process. It’s super simple, I promise!
Making Natural Soda Notes
To make natural soda, be sure to use the sugar that your water kefir is accustomed to eating. In our house, that’s raw sugar.
- You may also use a ginger bug in place of water kefir to make a naturally fermented soda.
You may also use a ginger bug in place of water kefir to make a naturally fermented soda. If you’re in a rush, you can cheat and use club soda to give the punch bubbles.
The resulting soda won’t be naturally fermented and it won’t have probiotics, but it will fizz and taste delicious. Still way better than store-bought, right?
- If you need a cranberry snack to munch on while you enjoy your drink, try these Cranberry Bliss Bars from 40 Aprons.
What is Punch Juice Made Of?
Even commercial juice is made with fruit, water, and sweetener of some kind. Sadly, commercial juice is also full of preservatives, often fake or adulterated sugars, fake dyes, and more.
When you make your own juices, you can omit all of that “junk” and create a healthy treat for your family. There’s no need to add dye to this cranberry punch because the color is already so amazing.
You can change up which kind of healthier sugar you’d like to use to flavor your punch, too. We’ve recommended several but you can also use raw honey.
Seeds in the Cranberry Punch
You can strain out the seeds and spices by pouring the punch through some cheesecloth
I have a weirdo, organic connection to seeds and I’m always happy to consume them – chia seeds, pumpkins seeds, and even cranberry seeds. Seeds are like little pockets of life and I could sure stand to have that energy in my bloodstream!
—>>>PIN FOR LATER<<<—
This sounds great and I am going to try it soon! Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great weekend and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Mmm! That sounds awesome! Must try it sometime!!
Yummy! This looks fabulous. I love cranberries!
My goodness that cranberry punch looks so delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Oh, that sounds lovely! My name is Katie and I host Fall Into the Holidays. All entries get pinned. I would love to have you link up! This week’s round is still open!
Oh, dear Homestead lady, Your post is just the prettiest and most interesting thing! I understand fully your connection with seeds. I love saving and re-planting them and use chia in soups, and everything!
I would like to feature your post next week on the Wednesday ‘EOA’ link-up! Glad I found your bolg, too!
That would be lovely, Jacqueline – thank you! Your blog is always a joy!
Oops! *Blog* Haha!!
Ha, didn’t even notice; bolg could be the new fashion…
Dear Homestead Lady,
I am so, so sorry about what I am about to say. I was so wanting to feature your blog post, but I cannot. I hadn’t seen the Hunger Games banner in your sidebar at that time. I know you probably will not understand, but I can’t bring others to your site with that there.
I don’t want to offend you, but my faith in Jesus causes me to pause. I am basing my decision on this scripture: “…trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.…” Ephesians 5:11
I seldom decline to do what I said I would do. I said ‘I would like to’., but now I cannot. Thank you for understanding.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline PS I looked for an email, but could not find one, so I am leaving this here. Thank you.
No worries, Jacqueline! It’s not a banner, fyi – it was a pin that a preparedness website created to spoof the popular movie with tips for preparation. After having just read the books, it was a particularly powerful pin to come across with good information on becoming more prepared. It’s interesting you would bring it up, though; as deeply Christian myself I found the books/movies to be really thought provoking. I know nothing of the author or why the books were penned but they made me sit back and examine what happens when we take away a person or a people’s agency – their free will. It’s the one thing God wants and it’s the one thing He can’t, by His own laws, take. Isn’t it interesting that that’s the first thing Mammon makes a play for? I just read the last book and am still pondering it. I keep asking myself, what am I willing to sacrifice for; have I already sacrificed too much in the way of freedom? Where can I turn for peace when everything around me is…broken? Thankfully, you and I both know the answer to that question! In Him who loved us first, Merry Christmas!
Hello, stopping over from Natural Family Friday. I’m on a cranberry kick and love your cranberry juice idea. I never thought to add mulling spices and will definitely gift it a try. Thanks for sharing!
Cranberries are such a healthy food filled with many nutriments and antioxidants. This sounds like a wonderful punch and so perfect for a holiday party. Thanks for sharing Visiting from Real Food Fridays Blog Hop.
Oh I love this, and the consuming the seed part is wonderful. Pinning this to my health and wellness board, I’ll be featuring your post tonight, along with posting it on the Real Food Fridays Facebook group, and pinning to the Real Food Fridays Pintrest board.
Thanks so much, Joyce! Happy Christmas!
Hi!
Just found this from your email subscription. I know it’s older, but you mention that this can be canned….Do you have a specific recipe? I’m not good with just winging it when it comes to canning….
Thanks!
You bet! I should have put that in the body of the article, so thank you for asking. The easiest and tastiest thing to do will be to can the cinnamon craberry juice and then add the citrus when you open it to drink. Remove the cinnamon stick before canning.
Ashley, at Practical Self Reliance, has great canning recipes and she has one for canning cranberry juice. Here’s one from Whole New Mom that allows for sugar variations in the canned craberry juice.
Hope that helps!