Shirley Temple (Famous Mocktail recipe)

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This Shirley Temple Mocktail is a famous mocktail that's non-alcoholic, quick and easy to make, and uses ingredients you have on hand (ginger ale, sparkling water, juice, and grenadine) This sweet drink is the perfect fancy drink for kids and a 'special drink' for New Year's eve or celebrations of any kind!

2 glasses of Shirley Temple Mocktails being clinked together

This Classic Shirley Temple is popular all year long, but ideal as a non-alcoholic holiday celebratory drink for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's eve!

My kids knew how to clink glasses before they could pour their own drinks and I believe that "cheers" was one of my daughter's first words. I know what that sounds like, but seriously, we're just really into celebrating stuff around here. Holidays are a big deal and special drinks go hand in hand with holidays and special meals, right? And birthdays and Friday night movie night, backyard barbecues, and Wednesday... Anyway, I digress.

2 glasses of Shirley Temple drinks on blue material surface

So it went like this (and still does), when Mommy got wine, the kids got THIS Shirley Temple Mocktail! Little did I know that it was to become a bit of a legend. Somehow this drink got dubbed "Mommy's special drink."

I guess that was meant to distinguish it from other drinks that mommy gave them that weren't so special (like boring ol' milk and juice); much in the same way that wine was known as "mommy juice" in our house for many years. And the name Shirley Temple wouldn't mean much to them anyway...

🥘Ingredients

Back when I worked in restaurants, this is how I used to make a Classic Shirley Temple. You only need a few simple ingredients:

Shirley Temple Mocktail Ingredients:

sparkling water (lemon-lime flavored carbonated spring water)
Five Alive or orange juice * I used Five Alive
ginger ale or ginger beer *Ginger beer makes it spicier than ginger ale
grenadine syrup *add more or less for the desired level of sweetness
maraschino cherry

📖VARIATIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS

Dirty Shirley (Shirley Temple Cocktail) - just add vodka! Dark rum can be substituted.
Sparkling water - you could use lemon-lime soda instead and cut the amount of grenadine (just use a splash of grenadine syrup) or use club soda and add more grenadine or use more orange juice or ginger ale and less club soda
Orange juice -you can also use a mixed berry juice or pomegranate juice.
Grenadine - use a store-bought grenadine or make your own homemade grenadine

🔪Instructions

Here's how to make the best Shirley Temple:

1 part sparkling water added to milkshake glass

Add 1 part sparkling water

Then add 1 part Five Alive or orange juice

Add one part ginger ale or ginger beer.

grenadine added to glass and stirred with straw

Add grenadine and stir with a straw.

Garnish with maraschino cherries on a skewer and orange slice. Serve with ice cubes!

🍽Equipment

For this delicious virgin drink, you will need tall glasses (I like to use Milkshake/old-fashioned soda glasses) but you could use a highball glass, such as a Collins glass. You will need straws and you can use either toothpicks or plastic skewers for the cherries. *See recipe card for equipment recommendation links and photos

🌡️Storage

Store this Shirley Temple recipe for up to 5 days in a sealed juice container in the fridge. Store the garnishes separately.

2 glasses of Shirley Temple drinks from above

👪 Serving Size

This Shirley Temple drink recipe makes 1 serving. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

Like I said, I'm sure my kids have no idea who Shirley Temple was and probably don't really care. Although she was even waaay before my time, I only knew about her because my Mom told me that she was a child actress.

Although it's a popular drink for young children, I don't even think I ever got to try a Shirley Temple drink when I was a kid. We didn't often go out for dinner that often when I was growing up and certainly not to restaurants that served mocktails to kids! Geez... I was lucky to get a Coke! So mine are so lucky that I make them special mocktails for kids!

But being that I'm a foodie, my kids are a bit spoiled. They totally adore this classic Shirley Temple drink AND so do their friends, apparently! I recently had one of my 11-year-old daughter's friends ask me if I could make her 'that special drink' again. I honestly don't even remember making it for her in the past, but this fun drink obviously resonated with her.

❔ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What can I use instead of grenadine for Shirley Temple?

You can use pomegranate syrup instead of grenadine to make a Shirley temple.

What does a Shirley Temple taste like?

A Shirley Temple is a sweet drink that tastes a bit like a lemon-lime orange soda pop, with a hint of ginger and cherry.

New Year's Eve is coming up and you can bet these simple, yet impressive kids' cocktails will be on the menu at our celebration. So, if you're looking for famous mocktail recipes with grenadine, for special occasions of any kind, this is THE ONE! Parents can also celebrate with a Dirty Shirley Temple if desired.

And if you're looking for a snack to go along with this fun mocktail, "Mommy's Special Drink" goes perfectly with Mommy's Special Popcorn!

Savory Popcorn Flavouring | Harvest Popcorn - Foodmeanderings.com

And if you are looking for more kid-friendly mocktails, here's another non-alcoholic drink idea for kids (there's a little kid version too): my Cranberry Cosmopolitan Mocktail!