Cranberry Jello Shots

Cranberry Jello Shots: Jello shots are hilarious! We love them and have quite the archive of novelty yummy jello shot concoctions. Cranberry sauce-inspired jello shots? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. We tried it and they turned out so cute and festive!

A fun Christmas jello shot! This Cranberry Jello Shots Recipe gives you a bright red jello shot, made with cranberry jello gelatin and vodka! A fun, boozy treat for adults.

Make some gorgeous cranberry jello shots for your Thanksgiving or Christmas party! They are topped with sugared cranberries and a rosemary sprig!

This recipe is intended for adults of legal drinking age only.

What is a Jello Shot?

“Jello Shots” are flavored gelatin infused with liquor, such as vodka and rum. Since many jello shots are made with the JELL-O brand flavored gelatin, they’ve developed the name “jello shots”. You can use any brand of flavored gelatin though — and you can use just about any flavor of gelatin.

Jello shots are usually served in small individual-sized disposable plastic cups, as you see in our photos. Sometimes these are called plastic portion cups, souffle cups, or even condiment cups. You can buy these small plastic portion cups at many grocery stores, liquor stores, restaurant supply stores, or even online. If buying online, we recommend these Jello Shot Cups with Lids.

NOTE: While we think these cranberry jello shots are perfect for Christmas, we also have a Cherry Vodka Jello Shot recipe you might like. It’s also a bright red jello shot that looks super festive for the holidays.

To make this Cranberry Jello Shots recipe, you will need 2 ingredients (+ hot water):

If you wish to garnish your Cranberry Jello Shots with sugared cranberries as shown in our photos, you will also need sugar and fresh cranberries.

How to Make Cranberry Jello Shots

To make this Cranberry Jello Shots recipe, simply add the cranberry JELL-O mix to a mixing bowl. Pour hot water over the dry gelatin mix and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Stir in chilled vodka and then divide the mixture among your jello shot cups. You’ll want to fill the cups up to almost the top.

We recommend making these jello shots the day before so that they can set overnight in the refrigerator. If you make these the same day that you’ll be enjoying them, make sure you make them at least 4 hours prior as it will need to set in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

If you are adding the sugared cranberries on top, add them right before serving.

Jello Shot Tips:

-Do jello shots have to be refrigerated?

You do have to refrigerate jellos shots to set the gelatin (to have it go from liquid to a more solid state). Once the gelatin is set, the jello shots can stay out of the refrigerator during your party or get-together, however, we think that jello shots are best served chilled.

-How many jello shots per 3 oz box of jello?

You will get about 12-15 jello shots with one 3 ounce box of gelatin.

-How long do jello shots last?

When stored in a plastic cup with lids (or another air-tight container), jello shots can last up to a week in your refrigerator. You could enjoy them a bit beyond that week, but for the best consistency and flavor, we recommend enjoying within a week.

Frequently A&Q

What is the best alcohol to put in jello shots?

Plain vodka is the most popular type of vodka by far. It’s essentially made up of just ethanol and water, so the taste is fairly neutral and blends in easily with most mixers. This makes it great for jello shots. Examples include Tito’s, Absolut, and really any other vodka that isn’t flavored or infused.