Easy Cranberry Bellini Recipe (Christmas Bellinis)

This Cranberry Bellini is a festive sparkling cocktail that’s perfect for brunch or holiday parties.

In T-minus ten days it’s Christmas!

Time to wrap those last minute gifts, stuff the stockings, and arm yourself with an amazing cocktail for the holiday season.

These Cranberry Bellinis are sparkling, festive and perfect to serve at your holiday brunch, as aperitif before Christmas dinner, or for new year’s eve.

The best part about these cocktails is that all the work can be done ahead of time, before your guests arrive. Just prepare the cranberry-ginger simple syrup and pop it in the refrigerator.

The cranberry simple syrup is very easy to make! You’ll just need to set aside enough time for it to cool before you plan on serving the cocktails.

You can even do this up to a week ahead of time!

Ingredients needed

You only need five simple ingredients to make these cranberry bellinis:

1. Prosecco – No need for expensive French Champagne here! Go for Prosecco, an Italian sparking wine that’s light, bubbly and festive!
2. Sugar – This will be used to make the simple syrup.
3. Cranberries – I use the fresh bagged cranberries that you can find in the produce section.
4. Ginger – This spices up the simple syrup a bit. However, if you’re not a fan of ginger, feel free to leave it out.
5. Rosemary – To garnish.

• The cranberry-ginger simple syrup is just that: simple. To make it, mix equal parts water and sugar, heat and stir until the sugar dissolves, throw in some cranberries and sliced up ginger, and let it steep away for about 15 minutes. Afterwards, just strain the syrup, and let it chill.
• Get it nice and cold before serving. No one likes a warm cocktail.
• Once the process is complete you’ll have the most beautiful, bright red, flavorful syrup.

How to make it

• Pour some of the simple syrup into a champagne flute. You can make your cocktails as flavored as you’d like by adding just a little, or a lot of the syrup.
• Top with sparkling wine. Here are some great budget-friendly sparkling wines.
• If you’d like to get extra fancy, garnish with some fresh rosemary and cranberries.

Pro Tip: If you freeze the cranberries ahead, they’ll even do double duty to keep your cocktails cold.

Mocktail Variation: If you have some non-drinkers in the group, this syrup is also fantastic added to some sparkling water and served over ice.

If you can’t find fresh cranberries, you can also make this cocktail using plain simple syrup and a splash of unsweetened 100% pure cranberry juice.

Any way you serve them, these festive bellinis are guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit.

What’s the difference between a bellini and a mimosa?

Typically bellinis are made with peach puree and sparkling wine. Mimosas are made with orange juice and sparkling wine. So, while this isn’t a typical bellini or mimosa, you could label it as a cranberry bellini OR cranberry mimosa.

More sparkling cocktail recipes

More cranberry cocktail recipes

Did you try this holiday bellini?

If you loved these Christmas bellini cocktails, I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

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This post was originally published in 2017. It was updated in 2023 to add new information. The holiday bellini recipe remains the same. Enjoy!