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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).
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 !!