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A Shirley Temple is pretty, pink, and irresistibly fizzy. It turns any occasion into a celebration, and it’s the perfect beverage for every age.
Table of Contents
Shirley Temple Ingredients
- Grenadine: A deep red, pomegranate-flavored syrup. Some Midwestern taverns add maraschino cherry juice instead. It’s not traditional, but it tastes great and the kids never mind!
- Soda: Modern Shirley Temples are made with white soda such as Sprite or 7UP. For a more traditional approach, substitute ginger ale (you could add a splash of orange juice, too).
- Maraschino cherries: I keep bright red maraschino cherries packed in watery syrup on hand because they are inexpensive and kid-friendly. For an elevated Shirley Temple, look for Luxardo brand maraschino cherries packed in a thick marasca cherry juice (imported from Italy).
- Ice: A necessity for this fizzy cocktail!
How to make Shirley Temple
- Fill a glass with ice, then add about 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of grenadine. Top with white soda, then garnish with maraschino cherries.
How to Make Soda
If you want to make your own Sprite or 7UP-like soda, I love using my SodaStream E-Terra to do so! It comes with three different carbonation levels, so you can create the perfect amount of fizziness for your Shirley Temple. It’s my favorite soda maker, and you can get it on Target for $139.99.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: Makes 8 drinks.
- Roy Rogers: Substitute Coca-Cola for the Sprite.
- Cherry juice: It’s not the same as grenadine, but using the maraschino cherry juice from the jar tastes good too (and also makes a pink drink).
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This kid-friendly cocktail is named after the 1930’s child star Shirley Temple. Legends say that she used to dine at my Hollywood restaurants with her parents, and bartenders made this alcohol-free mocktail so she had something to enjoy, too.
A Shirley Temple spiked with alcohol is called a Dirty Shirley Cocktail. Traditionally, Dirty Shirleys are spiked with vodka, a neutral spirit that doesn’t overwhelm the grenadine and lemon-lime soda flavor. For better or worse, you’ll hardly even notice the vodka is there!
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Shirley Temple Drink Recipe
Ingredients
- Ice
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle Grenadine (see note 1)
- 1 (2-Liter) bottle lemon-lime soda (see note 2)
- Maraschino cherries for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Fill a glass with ice. Add 1 ounce (2 tbsp) grenadine, then top with 8 ounces lemon-lime soda. Garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Grenadine: A deep red, pomegranate-flavored syrup.
- Soda: Modern Shirley Temples are made with white soda such as Sprite or 7UP. For a more traditional approach, substitute ginger ale (you could add a splash of orange juice, too).
- Yield: Makes 8 drinks.
- Roy Rogers: Substitute Coca-Cola for the Sprite.
- Cherry juice: It’s not the same as grenadine, but using the maraschino cherry juice from the jar tastes good too (and also makes a pink drink).
trying to find out how to make a virgin shirly temple in a gallon pitcher
I took a stab at the math for this. I believe you would need 14 ounces of grenadine and 112 ounces (14 cups) of the lemon-lime soda. That would be 126 ounces of Shirley Temple mix (without ice or garnishes), 2 ounces shy of a gallon (128 ounces) but keeping the original ratios of 1 oz grenadine to 8 ounces of soda.
Short answer: pour 14 ounces grenadine in a gallon jug, top with 14 cups soda. BTW there are just over 8 cups soda in a 2L bottle, so you’d need 2 of the 2L bottles of soda for this plan. Serve ice and cherries on the side. I hope this helps! Thank you. – Meggan
When visiting my daughter in southern Michigan, I ordered my first Shirley Temple. I was amazed at how delicious it tasted, and it didn’t contain any alcohol at all, so it would be safe for anyone to drink it.
I’m afraid that now I’m hooked on Shirley temples, and I intend to buy the grenadine, and do the variations that I found online for it.
It’s become my very favorite drink.
How lovely, Christine! I’m so glad you loved them! – Meggan
It doesn’t say to mix but I think you probably should or add the grenadine on top? Or am I doing something wrong
Hi King Charles, when the lemon-lime soda is added after the grenadine, it mixes itself naturally. You can also stir if needed! Enjoy – Meggan
I saw this photo online,clicked the recipe, and started watering at the mouth when i found out how easy this is!! I immediatly started craving it and the second I went home I made it and LOVED it!!!!!!!!!! TYSM!!!
Thanks Leena! – Meggan
Thank you for posting this recipe! Me and my dad found it delicious. I am just a kid but I love making things like food and drinks and stuff. I made it with maraschino cherry juice instead and it turned out great!
Hi S.L., you’re welcome! That variation sounds great, good job! -Meggan
I don’t get it!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Alexis, I’m sorry about that. – Meggan
Grenadine is made from pomegranates. Not cherries, so the juice from a jar of cherries would be a different drink.
Made these for the kiddies on NYE and they loved them as much as I did as a kid!
Love it reminds me of childhood
I wonder how this would be made with original Smirnoff Ice (which is kind of a lemon-lime thing) to begin with, and just cut out the middle man. XD I’ll update with a report on how it goes!
I make a Shirley Temple Punch at Christmas and use a big punch bowl. (It’s actually a “Dirty Shirley” punch because I add vodka to it!) Either way, virgin or dirty, what I think is key is making ice cubes with 7-Up. I assemble the punch as the guests start arriving – cold 7-Up, grenadine, (vodka) and maraschino cherries – then to keep it cold for a while, I dump in 2 trays of 7-Up ice cubes. Adjust to taste. No watered down punch from melting (water) ice cubes. Making it again this year too – It’s super festive and looks so pretty all set up on the bar / counter!
Was reading your replies to London and Tiffany regarding making this as a punch. You mentioned doing something fun like putting the cherries in the ice cubes. Got me thinking…why not make some that you pour into ice cube trays and drop a cherry into each one. (A standard ice cube tray uses about 1 ounce liquid per cube, so your posted recipe would make 9 cubes, actually more if you put a cherry garnish in each one, as you’d use less liquid per cube.) This way you get cute ice cube decorations that won’t dilute the punch as they melt. 🙂
Hi Sondrea, this is such a cute idea! I want to photograph the punch separately for another blog post because people ask about it so much, so I might just steal your idea. 🙂 Thank you so much! Take care! -Meggan
This might be a stupid question but can i mix the whole 2 liter and bottle of grenadine together in a punch bowl or pitcher , so we dont have to make individual or will it not stay mixed good ? My daughter is having a cooking party and wants this as the beverage. She is telling everyone “shirley temple punch”
Hi Tiffany! YES. Mix it all together. I don’t have it that way because some people don’t have a big enough punch bowl, but yes. Please mix it, it won’t separate (and you’ll have a ladle in there anyway so just give it a stir). Obviously don’t add the soda until serving time so it doesn’t go flat. I have “Shirley Temple Punch” on my list of things to post so no one else ever has to wonder this again! Good luck and thanks for giving the recipe a shot. I appreciate you! And I love the cooking party idea!
In Canada Shirley temples have orange juice also in them . They are sooo good. I am 45 and that’s all we order when out . If you want a adult version put 1 oz of Malibu ( coconut rum) in !!
Where did you get these cups? I clicked on the link, but it was not the ones pictured.
Hi Calley! Yes, the link just goes to a basic search for clear plastic Christmas cups on Amazon’s website because I think the reindeer ones are discontinued now. I got them a few years ago at Walmart, they were Solo brand. I am so sorry about that!
Hi do you think there is a way to make this recipe in bulk and then put in a punch bowl? I’m wanting to do them for a birthday party and thought it might be easier and faster than making each drink individually, thanks!!
Hi London, YES! It’s a great idea, making punch. Here’s some math to figure it out. 2 liters of soda is about 67 ounces which is roughly 8 servings of Shirley temple (assuming you are doing 8 ounces of soda in each). I do a ratio of 8 ounces of soda –> 1 ounce of Grenadine. If you wanted to stick with that, you would add 8 ounces of Grenadine to the punch bowl with your soda. However, I’d probably just add the whole bottle of Grenadine, all 12 ounces… heck, it’s the holidays PLUS then you can add ice and not worry about it watering everything down. So that’s what I’d do. Bonus points if you stick maraschino cherries in your ice cubes… LOL!!! I’m definitely going to do a post with Shirley Temple Punch. Best idea ever.
Not a good idea. The soda will loose it’s carbonation therefore it’s fizz much faster sitting in a bowl. Carbonation is the sole reason of choosing soda over any other type of liquid. I am not saying you can’t or shouldn’t but since we are discussing a specific recipe, quality does matter.
I’m 72 and I still love Shirley temples—-plain and simple they’re yummy!
Mom was head barmaid and always served us Shirley Temples when we had an outing to the place she worked in Manhattan. They were always made with ginger ale as the base beverage and the maraschino cherry with the stem was mandatory 🙂
Add thanks Lynn, that Shirley Temple, it always had a touch of grenadine 🙂
We also make these for the young men in our family. But we do not call and Shirley temples we called him Roy Rogers. We have done this for years with our kids party functions. Now with 14 grandchildren we do it for them at family functions. And toaster being made we use the sparkling grape juice. Let’s the children to fill a special as the adults.
Roy Rogers – ha! I love that! This was always my favorite drink as a child and, if I’m being honest, I love it as an adult too. 🙂 And that sparkling grape juice, THAT is good stuff. I could drink a whole bottle. Thanks so much for finding my post and sharing your story. I’m so grateful! Take care Debbie!
I grew up in having Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers because I was an only child and often out with adults… Suppose it made me feel grown up to get a drink that looked the part! From what I can recall, however, a Shirley Temple was with 7up and. Roy Rogers was basically the same drink, but made with Coke. We always have grenadine in the liquor cabinet, but I don’t think I’ve made any of my four little ones a Roy Rogers to date, had forgotten all about it!
Meggan!
How many drinks can you get out of this recipe? Thank you 🙂 Excited to try these at our NYE Wedding this year! Thought this might be a fun drink for those who can’t or don’t drink alcohol!
Hi Kennady! I have down 8 servings for the recipe. That is because you’ll have about 80 ounces of liquid between the 2L of soda and the grenadine. So, that means 10 ounces per drink (roughly) which, if you put some ice in the glass, should be pretty good for a serving. I hope that helps! If you have more questions just let me know. Thanks so much for your nice comment and I hope you give it a try. This is still my favorite drink ever!!!! So good. 🙂
Crazy question! Where did you find your cups? Super cute!!
Hi Misty!!! These are just plastic Solo cups that I bought at Walmart a few years ago. 🙂 Keeping it classy, ha ha! Thank you so much. 🙂
Look up a recipe for homemade grenadine. It makes all the difference in the world and it’s easy to make.
Karen, thank you for that!! I love making things like that from scratch and never even thought about grenadine. 🙂 I’ll definitely check that out! Thank you so much.
I actually have never had one but I’d love a boozy one.You’ve made these look so pretty and festive.
Omg! This was my absolute favorite drink when I was a kid! Any time we went out to eat, I always ordered one! To this day, I still enjoy Shirley Temples!
So I’m not the only one then? 🙂 I always thought it was the best drink ever when I was a kid. It has been fun having the Grenadine on hand and making one of these with dinner every night for the past week!