Homemade Grenadine Syrup (3 Ingredients!)

How To Make Homemade Grenadine Syrup – This grenadine syrup recipe couldn’t be easier! It takes 3 ingredients and just a few minutes. You’ll love the gorgeous splash of color and flavor it adds to your favorite drinks!

Michael and I don’t drink, but in the last few years, we’ve had a LOT of fun getting into mocktails.

It’s a great fit for us, especially with kids at home. It’s so fun to mix up something fancier than our usual ice water to pair with dinner, pull out at parties, or celebrate with on special occasions. At the end of last year (while sipping a Citrus Orange Mocktail!), I came up with more than a dozen mocktail ideas I wanted to share this year, and we’re getting started today with something that might seem a bit basic: grenadine syrup.

Grenadine cocktail syrup is a popular ingredient in classic cocktails like a tequila sunrise, but it’s also key ingredient in fun mocktail recipes and non-alcoholic beverages, like a Shirley Temple, virgin sunrise, Roy Rogers, and more.

You can buy it commercially, but to me, the store-bought stuff tastes a bit like snow cone syrup—a bit overly sweet and artificial tasting. I learned that it’s REALLY easy to make your own homemade grenadine syrup, that’s got a much richer, nuanced depth of flavor you’ll fall in love with. You just need 3 INGREDIENTS and a few minutes to make it (and it’ll last for weeks in the fridge!).

Let’s make a batch, shall we?

What Is Grenadine?

So, what IS grenadine syrup? It’s a sweet-tart pomegranate syrup used for cocktails and mocktails. (Grenadine is derived from the word grenade, which is French for pomegranate!) It was traditionally made from real pomegranate juice, sugar, and sometimes lemon juice. More modernly, grenadine syrup is sometimes made with maraschino cherry juice, but most store-bought varieties don’t contain any juice at all!

Many store-bought brands of grenadine syrup are made from citric acid, high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners, sodium benzoate (or other preservatives), red food dye, and artificial flavors, among other things. Today, I’m going to walk you through the ingredients we use to make homemade grenadine. The taste is SO MUCH BETTER and it only takes 3 ingredients to get started!

The 3 Ingredients You Need For Grenadine Syrup:

• Pomegranate Juice. I recommend high-quality pomegranate juice (like POM or Bolthouse brands). If you want to go through the work to extract fresh juice from an actual pomegranate, you absolutely can! I love this tutorial from Ministry Of Curry that uses a blender to make the juice.
• Sugar. Yep, we’re doing it. Consider grenadine a sort of pomegranate simple syrup. The sugar not only adds sweetness, it stabilizes the juice so it lasts longer, and creates a solution that carries the flavor even further into your drinks. (It’s also what makes grenadine sink to the bottom of a glass and look so pretty!)
• Fresh Lemon Juice. Some fresh lemon juice adds brightness and makes that color pop. Also: pretty please use the fresh stuff!!! It’ll be 110% better than bottled lemon juice. (You can also use lime juice in a pinch.)

How To Make Grenadine, Step By Step:

1. In a small saucepan, combine pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice.
2. Heat over medium heat, whisking regularly until the mixture comes to a simmer.
3. Simmer the mixture 5 minutes, to thicken slightly.
4. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
5. Store in an airtight bottle in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Yummy Non-Alcoholic Drinks To Make With Grenadine Syrup

• Shirley Temple – The BEST!
• Roy Rogers – Literally just Coke or cola + grenadine + ice!
• Virgin Sunrise – Made with orange juice & grenadine, this layered drink is gorgeous!
• Cinderella Mocktail – Made with a bright blend of citrus juices!
• Valentine’s Berry Mocktails – Mixed berry juice + grenadine + Sprite
• Sparkling Apple Mocktails – Great for fall!
• Red, White & Blue Mocktails – I love the happy colors in this layered drink!
• Sparkling Peach Sunrise – So pretty, and yummy for peach season!

FAQ + Tips For The Best Grenadine Syrup

Is Grenadine Non-Alcoholic? Yes! There is no alcohol in grenadine syrup. It’s simply pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice.

Want A More Vibrant Red Color? Fresh pomegranate juice (extracted from pomegranate seeds) will give you a brighter color than bottled juice. You can also cheat and add a drop of red food color or a splash of maraschino cherry juice, if you want. (I’ll never tell!)

How Long Does Grenadine Syrup Last? Homemade grenadine typically has a shelf life of 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container for best results and discard if it smells off, becomes cloudy or filmy, or starts to “hiss” (like opening a can/bottle of soda) when you open it, as these can be signs it’s not good any more.

What Is Grenadine Syrup Made Of? Grenadine syrup is made from pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice.

Is Grenadine A Pomegranate Or Cherry? Grenadine is made from pomegranate. (The word “pomegranate” comes from the French word “granade” which means pomegranate!) Occasionally, you’ll find that people substitute maraschino cherry juice for brighter color and because it’s more affordable, but true grenadine is made from pomegranate, not cherry.

Is Grenadine The Same As Cherry Syrup? Nope! While some people use cherry juice or maraschino cherry juice for ease or affordability, grenadine is pomegranate-based.

Is Grenadine The Same As Pomegranate Molasses? No. Pomegranate molasses is much more concentrated and deeper in flavor. It doesn’t have the same tang or brightness as grenadine.

Print