Family Thanksgiving Punch Recipe

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Last updated on December 9th, 2021 at 04:19 pm

This punch comes courtesy of my wife’s family. Obviously, it doesn’t need to be reserved for a single holiday every year. But somewhere down the line, this became my wife’s family Thanksgiving punch recipe.

However, the most memorable time we shared this punch together was during a Thanksgiving get-together when we lived in Texas.

My sister-in-law does Thanksgiving right.

Often meal-prepping in July or August, it is clearly an important day. From pumpkin pie to dinner rolls to the specific turkey recipe and all of the sides, everything food-related is divine. The big day arrived with family gathered from Indiana, New York, and Texas, and we began to dig in. So, after enjoying a plateful (or two, or three…), we were sitting around relaxing, loosening belts, and changing into sweat pants.

All of a sudden we turn around and my four-year-old nephew is leaning down, mouth puckered, slurping straight from the punch bowl. Surprised, we pried him away from the bowl and served him his own cup after recovering from all the laughter.

Note to self – always place the punch bowl higher than slurp access.

Thanksgiving Punch

Punch is just mixing together a bunch of stuff into a drink. Hopefully, the stuff you mix up actually goes well together. In those cases, you have a tasty party punch.

But for those times that you aren’t feeling like living on the edge with a brand new concoction, turn to this tried and true family thanksgiving punch recipe. It is simple to make, comes together in minutes, and can serve a lot of people.

Note – just like in Jaws, you’re gonna need a bigger bowl. This recipe makes a whole lot of punch, about 1.5 gallons.

That’s around 23 8-ounce servings. So I rounded it down to about 20 servings per batch. Estimate how many cups people at your party, holiday, or event will drink and do a little quick math to see if you need more than one batch.

The great part is, once the punch bowl is running low you can easily just have extra juice and ginger ale waiting in the fridge or cooler to mix up some more.

Floating Sherbet

Sherbet should not be confused with sorbet. Sorbet does not contain any dairy, while sherbet does. And I’m all about that dairy. Also, note that there’s no real amount of sherbet to put in. Just add as many scoops as you want. See what feels right.

And make sure that when you are ladling yourself up some Thanksgiving punch, you scoop some of that sherbet into your cup.

The most difficult and at times frustrating part of this recipe will be before you ever start making it. Apricot juice can be quite elusive. It sometimes takes knowing the right grocery store, so if you find it in-store then make sure to note which one had it for next time.

In the rare case that there happens to be any leftover Thanksgiving punch, you can store this in any container with a lid in the fridge. Keep it for up to 4 days. It will still be safe to drink after that, but it is best before that time. Note – I typically will keep one or two of the bottles used while making the punch to store any potential leftovers.

Parts of the drink will likely settle when it is stored in the fridge. Give the bottle a light turn or two (no violent shaking) and it will mix together enough that when you begin pouring out it will fully mix.

So get ready to make this slurpable Thanksgiving punch recipe.

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