Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails | The Best Use for Leftover Cranberry Sauce

Name: Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: ½ cup red wine ((I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)); ¼ cup cranberry sauce, whole or jellied; ¼ cup turbinado sugar; 3 whole cloves; 1 cinnamon stick; 1-2 cardamom pods

by corrie.pennington / November 23, 2020

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If you have leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, this cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for it. It’s an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

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One of the best parts about Thanksgiving are the leftovers. But all the other leftovers run out long before the cranberry sauce does. Instead of tossing out that tart and sweet goodness, try using it in your cocktails.

You can definitely use it as is in a drink. Just sub it in for jam in a Jam Cocktail. Or take it up a notch and make this decadent cranberry red wine reduction. It’s sweet– very sweet– with amazing complexity and warmth to it. It tastes phenomenal with whiskey cocktails and also with gin. You could even use it in place of red wine in a New York Sour for added sweetness.

A cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for leftover cranberry sauce. It's an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

Ingredients for a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup cranberry sauce (whole or jellied)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cardamom pods

How to Make a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced. Pour into a small lidded container, using a strainer to strain out the spices and any cranberry pieces. You’ll need to press on the cranberries with the back of a spoon to really squeeze every drop of the reduction out. Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge. The syrup should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.