• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Healthy Christian Home

Real Food & Faith for Families

  • Real Food Recipes
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup & Salad
    • Condiments & Sauces
    • Baked Goods & Desserts
    • Snacks
  • Healthy Living
    • Nutrition + Remedies
    • Skincare + Beauty
    • Homemaking
  • Healthy Spirit
    • Faith
    • Motherhood & Marriage
  • About
    • Contact
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • ❤️ Things I Love ❤️

Healthy Cranberry Wassail Recipe {the perfect holiday spiced drink}

October 17, 2018 by Mary Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free.
773 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

This cranberry wassail recipe is the perfect drink to serve at any holiday celebration, or just a cozy night at home. It’s sweet, tart, and tangy, with just the right amount of spice.

Cranberry hot wassail is a unique twist on my mom’s classic sugar free wassail recipe. In my opinion, the cranberry kicks things up a notch and turns your wassail a gorgeous festive red. It’s also very healthy with no sugar, non-alcoholic, and filled with nourishing spices and fruits.

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.

– The Wassail Song, 12th century England, author unknown.

Apparently, wassail is an old-English word referring to the warm contents of a cup. 

My mom makes her comforting classic wassail recipe every year, and it’s one of my favorite things about going home for the holidays. There’s nothing cozier than drinking a warm mug of wassail and watching a Christmas movie. 

Cranberry wassail ingredients in a pot on the stove.

Her traditional wassail recipe includes apple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and mulling spices. But today we are adding tangy cranberry to the mix! Lots of other wassail recipes include sugar to sweeten, but this one is perfectly sweet with the juice alone.

This easy wassail recipe can be made on the stove top or crock pot. All you have to do is add the ingredients and heat gently, and it’s ready to serve!

More yummy hot beverages to try:

  • Turmeric Tea (a.k.a. Golden Milk)
  • Elderberry Tea

Cranberry Wassail Recipe Ingredients

The healthy ingredients in this cranberry wassail recipe make it taste even better! It’s filled with fruit and antioxidant rich spices.

Apple, orange, and lemon juice

These juices are full of vitamin C and other antioxidants, perfect for fighting off winter illnesses. You can use frozen, from concentrate or fresh juices. I definitely recommend fresh squeezed lemon juice. 

Cloves

Cloves add the perfect element of warm spice and are also antioxidant-rich, antibacterial, and good for digestion, the liver, and blood sugar (source).

Ginger

Ginger is one of my favorite spicy flavors and its amazing for nausea and inflammation. It’s also cancer fighting, good for the heart, and regulates blood sugar… is there anything it can’t do (source)?

Nutmeg

A little goes a long way with this bold yet delicious spice. It’s actually a potent pain reliever and is known to improve sleep and brain health (source).

Cinnamon

Not only is cinnamon delicious, it’s also amazing for oral health, skin health, allergies, and also inflammation and blood sugar stabilization (source).

Cranberries

Adding cranberries to the mix makes this recipe very unique and even more holiday-esque. I’m loving the tartness and color they bring to this hot wassail!

Cranberries are also filled with antioxidant phyto-nutrients, good for controlling blood sugar and improving cardiovascular health, according to World’s Healthiest Foods. Some studies have also shown cranberries to be great for urinary tract health.

It’s too bad we typically only eat them once a year! I tried to find cranberries in grocery stores at the end of August to decorate my healthy pumpkin roll and couldn’t find a single one. So if you have any cranberries left over, be sure to freeze them and use them in smoothies or other recipes. 

BTW – this cranberry wassail would be the perfect companion to a healthy pumpkin roll! Or, if you want a richer holiday drink, try Homemade Non Alcoholic Eggnog!

Cranberry Wassail Recipe Notes

  • To some, this wassail may be a bit tart. I love how the tartness and sweetness balance each other out. But, if you like it sweeter, you could always add some raw honey to balance the cranberry or go back to traditional wassail.
  • This recipe is supposed to be simmered for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. I was in a hurry so I could take photos and accidentally let it boil for a while! It still turned out great.
  • You’ll know the wassail is ready when the cranberries start to burst and release all their yummy goodness. There’s no need to mash them – your wassail will turn a gorgeous red without any effort.
  • Make sure to strain before serving for best results.
  • For fun, serve with a cinnamon stick to stir and a lemon or orange slice!
Healthy cranberry wassail in a cup garnished with cinnamon and a lemon wedge.
Print

Healthy Cranberry Wassail

This cranberry wassail recipe with apple, citrus, warm spices, and tangy cranberry is the holidays in a cup! It’s also healthy – non alcoholic & sugar free.

Ingredients

  • 1 quart apple juice
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 pinch nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients into a large pot or crock pot. Heat gently.

  2. Allow wassail to simmer for at least one hour for flavors to meld together. It can be simmered up to 4 hours. 

  3. Strain before serving.

  4. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated.

5-Day Traditional Real Food Meal Plan

Think eating healthy meals with nourishing ingredients 3 times a day is hard? Think again! 

This meal plan has 5 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and even a couple of desserts and snacks — ALL made with real food ingredients prepared the traditional gut-friendly way. Jump start your family’s health today!

By requesting this free download, you’ll be added to our email newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime, no hard feelings.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list. Check your e-mail in a few minutes to download your meal plan!

Are you crazy for cranberry? Try Lacto-Fermented Cranberry Apple Relish and Ginger Spiced Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Orange!

Or, if you want your home to smell even more Christmassy – create a Holiday Simmering Potpourri!

Can I ask a favor? If you enjoy this recipe, could you leave a recipe rating in the comments section? I’d really appreciate it!

What’s your favorite holiday recipe? Please pin this post and help spread the wassail-cheer!

With Joy,

PIN IT!

773 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Beverages, Real Food Recipes

About Mary

Mary is a minister's wife, mom of two boys, and former missionary to Scotland. She’s also the creator of Healthy Christian Home, where she points to God's spiritual and physical nourishment through the natural world He has created. In her free time, you can find her with a cup of hot tea and a stack of books -- or watching a new BBC series.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Christ-follower, Wife, Mama, Health Enthusiast, & Real Food Lover. Let’s learn how to take care of ourselves body & spirit! Meet Mary…

Looking for Something?

Before Footer

Faith-based & whimsical T-shirts from my Etsy shop!

Faith-based & whimsical T-shirts from my Etsy shop!

Footer

Looking for something?

By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by you agree to abide by the disclosure policy and privacy policy. Content may not be reproduced in any form.

Displayed ads are managed by Mediavine and do not constitute recommendation or endorsement by Healthy Christian Home.

Copyright © 2015-2019 Healthy Christian Home © .

  • Real Food Recipes
  • Healthy Living
  • Healthy Spirit
  • About
  • ❤️ Things I Love ❤️

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in