The Shirley Temple is the most-searched mocktail on the internet, and most published recipes get it wrong. They use grocery-store grenadine (which is mostly corn syrup and red dye), they use lemon-lime soda when the original was ginger ale, and they call the drink “kid-friendly” without acknowledging that adults order them at brunch and weddings constantly.
Here’s the canonical recipe, the four variants people actually search for, and the framing that makes a Shirley Temple work at any age.
TL;DR
- The proper recipe: 4 oz ginger ale + 0.5 oz grenadine + maraschino cherry + lime wheel, served over ice in a tall glass.
- The grenadine matters. Use real grenadine (Liber & Co or Small Hand Foods) or make your own from pomegranate juice and sugar. Skip grocery-store Rose’s grenadine; it’s corn syrup with red dye.
- The 4 variants: Dirty Shirley (add vodka), Cinderella (no grenadine, citrus juices), no-grenadine version (pomegranate juice substitute), Sprite version (lemon-lime soda instead of ginger ale).
- When to serve it: kids’ parties, baby showers, brunch with non-drinkers, holiday parties where you want a non-alcoholic option that feels celebratory.
What’s actually in a Shirley Temple
The classic Shirley Temple is two ingredients plus garnish:
- Ginger ale (the original) or lemon-lime soda (the modern variant)
- Grenadine syrup (pomegranate-based syrup)
- Maraschino cherry for garnish
- Optional: a lime wheel or orange wedge
That’s it. Not five ingredients, not seven. The Shirley Temple’s brilliance is the simplicity: a slightly sweet, slightly fizzy, deep-pink drink that any kid can love and any adult can drink without embarrassment.
The classic ratio: 4 parts ginger ale to 0.5 parts grenadine (so for a single drink, 4 oz of soda to 0.5 oz of grenadine). Some recipes go heavier on grenadine (1 oz) for a sweeter, redder drink. The 0.5 oz version is balanced; the 1 oz version is candy.
The proper recipe
Serves 1.
Ingredients:
- 4 oz ginger ale (cold)
- 0.5 oz grenadine syrup (real grenadine, not Rose’s)
- 3 maraschino cherries (Luxardo if you can find them, otherwise the better grocery-store variety)
- 1 lime wheel or orange wedge
- Ice (preferably one large cube or several full-sized cubes, not crushed)
Method:
- Fill a tall (10-12 oz) glass with ice.
- Pour the grenadine over the ice first.
- Add the ginger ale slowly, pouring against the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles.
- Stir gently once, just enough to mix.
- Garnish with 2-3 maraschino cherries on a cocktail pick (or floating) and a lime wheel.
Why it works:
The grenadine sinks to the bottom because it’s denser, creating a beautiful red-to-amber gradient that’s the visual signature of the drink. Stirring lightly preserves the gradient. Stirring vigorously turns it into uniform pink, which still tastes fine but loses the visual.
The cherry garnish does double duty: it’s an edible (and the kid-favorite element), and it bleeds a tiny bit of red juice into the drink, intensifying the color.
The grenadine question. Most published Shirley Temple recipes call for “grenadine,” but most home cooks reach for Rose’s, which is high-fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium benzoate, and Red 40. It tastes flatly sweet, with no real pomegranate flavor. The drink is dramatically better with real grenadine.
Three options for real grenadine:
- Liber & Co. Real Grenadine ($14, online and at specialty liquor stores). Made from real pomegranate juice and cane sugar. Tastes like fruit, not like Halloween candy.
- Small Hand Foods Grenadine ($12-15, available at cocktail-supply stores). Slightly more tart, very high quality.
- Homemade. Combine 1 cup pomegranate juice + 1 cup sugar + 1 oz pomegranate molasses (optional) in a saucepan. Heat to dissolve sugar, simmer 5 minutes. Cool. Refrigerate up to 1 month. Costs about $4 to make a bottle’s worth.
The grenadine question is the difference between a Shirley Temple that tastes like a real drink and one that tastes like cough syrup.
The history (skip if you just want the recipe)
The Shirley Temple was named for child actress Shirley Temple, born 1928, who became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood at age 6. The story goes that bartenders at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood (or alternatively at Chasen’s, depending on which bartender’s son you ask) created a non-alcoholic drink for her to order alongside the adult cocktails when she was filming.
Shirley Temple herself was famously not a fan of the drink that bore her name; she said in a 1980s interview that the drinks were “too sweet” and that she preferred a glass of milk. She also tried (unsuccessfully) to sue companies that bottled “Shirley Temple” drinks without her permission.
The drink’s exact origin is contested, but its place in American hosting culture is not. From the 1940s onward, the Shirley Temple was the canonical kid-friendly cocktail, the drink any child could order at a restaurant alongside adults, and the drink any adult could order at a brunch where they didn’t want alcohol.
The Dirty Shirley (with added vodka) emerged in the 2000s as a “ironic adult cocktail,” then exploded in popularity in 2022 when it became the unofficial drink of summer.
4 variants people search for
The Shirley Temple has spawned a small family of related drinks. Here are the four most-searched versions and what each one does differently.
The Dirty Shirley (vodka added)
The Shirley Temple plus vodka. The 2022 cocktail-of-summer.
Recipe (serves 1):
- 4 oz ginger ale
- 0.5 oz grenadine
- 1.5-2 oz vodka (Tito’s, Stoli, or any clean unflavored vodka)
- Maraschino cherry, lime wheel, ice
Same method as the standard Shirley Temple: pour grenadine over ice, add vodka, top with ginger ale, stir gently, garnish.
When to use it: adult parties where you want a nostalgic-but-grown-up cocktail. The Dirty Shirley reads as ironic (a grown-up version of a childhood drink), which is part of the appeal. It’s also genuinely good: vodka adds a clean dryness that balances the sweetness of grenadine.
The Cinderella (no grenadine, citrus juices)
The Shirley Temple’s sibling. Same idea (kid-friendly, mocktail-style, party-appropriate), different flavor profile.
Recipe (serves 1):
- 1 oz orange juice (fresh-squeezed)
- 1 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 4 oz ginger ale
- Maraschino cherry, optional grenadine drizzle (just for color)
Method: combine orange juice, pineapple juice, and lemon juice in a glass with ice. Top with ginger ale. Stir gently. Garnish with a cherry. For visual contrast, drizzle 0.25 oz grenadine on top so it sinks for the same gradient effect.
Why it’s different: less sweet, more tart, more “tropical” than “candy.” The Cinderella is the move when the Shirley Temple feels too kid-coded.
The Shirley Temple without grenadine
The version for people who don’t have grenadine and don’t want to buy it.
Recipe (serves 1):
- 4 oz ginger ale or lemon-lime soda
- 1 oz pomegranate juice (POM Wonderful or any real pomegranate juice)
- 0.25 oz fresh lime juice (optional, brightens)
- Maraschino cherry, lime wheel, ice
Method: standard Shirley Temple build. Pomegranate juice in place of grenadine.
Why it works: pomegranate juice is the actual fruit grenadine is made from. The drink is slightly less sweet (no added sugar from the syrup) and brighter, with a bit of fresh-fruit acidity. Some people prefer this version; others find it too dry without the sweetness.
The Sprite version (vs. ginger ale)
Many modern Shirley Temple recipes use lemon-lime soda (Sprite, 7Up, Sierra Mist) instead of ginger ale. This is a real divide in the recipe canon.
Ginger ale version: original, slightly spicier (from the ginger), drier, more “drink-like.”
Sprite version: sweeter, simpler, more uniformly soft-drink-flavored. The kid-friendly default in most American restaurants.
The right choice: if the drink is for kids, the Sprite version is fine and probably what they’ll prefer. If the drink is for adults at a brunch or shower, ginger ale is the better choice. Both work; neither is wrong.
When to serve a Shirley Temple
The Shirley Temple is more useful at adult parties than its kid-coded reputation suggests. Real situations where it’s the right drink:
- A party with kids and adults. Kids drink it, adults can ironically also drink it. Same drink for everyone simplifies the bar.
- A baby shower or non-drinking event. The Shirley Temple feels celebratory in a way that “sparkling water with lime” doesn’t. Same logic in reverse: an adult party where some guests are pregnant or in recovery, the Shirley Temple is a real cocktail-style option.
- A brunch that needs a non-alcoholic option. See our Mother’s Day brunch guide, the Shirley Temple works as the non-alc option alongside Mimosas.
- A holiday party with mixed ages. See our Christmas cocktail framework, the non-alcoholic slot can be a Shirley Temple at a family gathering.
- A wedding rehearsal dinner or family event. The Shirley Temple is the mocktail family members will know by name and order without prompting.
The Shirley Temple is also the move at a kid’s birthday party where the host wants something that looks like a “grown-up drink” without any alcohol involvement.
What to skip (the bottled mixes)
A few traps the Shirley Temple recipe space has accumulated:
- Bottled “Shirley Temple mix” sold pre-made. Most are aggressively sweet, artificially flavored, and not recognizably the same drink. Skip.
- Grocery-store Rose’s grenadine. As covered above. The drink is dramatically better with real grenadine. The $14 bottle of Liber & Co lasts months and elevates every drink that uses it.
- Crushed ice or “snow ice.” Kills the drink in 5 minutes by over-diluting. Use full-sized ice cubes or a single large cube.
- Adding 1+ ounces of grenadine. Makes the drink uniformly red and uniformly sweet. The 0.5 oz pour is balanced; more grenadine is candy.
- More than 3 maraschino cherries. The cherries are a garnish, not a primary ingredient. 2-3 is the right count. 6 is a “the kid kept asking” problem.
- Sparkling juice instead of ginger ale or soda. Some recipes call for sparkling apple cider or sparkling cranberry. Both are fine drinks; neither is a Shirley Temple.
A short FAQ
What is a Shirley Temple mocktail made of?
Ginger ale (or lemon-lime soda) + grenadine syrup + maraschino cherry + lime wheel, served over ice in a tall glass. The classic ratio is 4 oz of soda to 0.5 oz grenadine.
Is there a non-alcoholic version of Shirley Temple?
The Shirley Temple is itself non-alcoholic, that’s the whole point. It was created in the 1930s as a kid-friendly cocktail-style drink. The Dirty Shirley adds vodka; that’s the alcoholic variant.
What is in a Dirty Shirley?
The Shirley Temple plus 1.5-2 oz of vodka. Same proportions otherwise: 4 oz ginger ale, 0.5 oz grenadine, maraschino cherry. The Dirty Shirley had a major popularity moment in 2022 as a nostalgic adult cocktail.
How do you make a Shirley Temple without grenadine?
Substitute 1 oz pomegranate juice for the grenadine. The drink will be slightly less sweet and brighter. Pomegranate juice is the actual fruit grenadine is made from, so the flavor is closer than people expect.
What is a Cinderella mocktail?
A Shirley Temple variant that uses orange juice, pineapple juice, and lemon juice instead of grenadine. 1 oz of each citrus juice + 4 oz ginger ale + a cherry garnish. Less sweet and more tropical than a Shirley Temple.
Should I use ginger ale or Sprite?
Both work. Ginger ale is the original and slightly more grown-up; Sprite is the modern American restaurant default and slightly sweeter. For adults, ginger ale; for kids, either.
How many cherries should I use?
Two to three. Six is excessive (the cherries become the drink); one feels stingy. Three is the sweet spot for the visual and the ratio.
Can I batch Shirley Temples for a party?
Yes. Combine grenadine and ginger ale in a large pitcher (4:0.5 ratio scaled). Add ice and stir gently. Refill the pitcher every 2-3 hours so the soda stays bubbly. For a party of 12, plan on 18 oz of grenadine and 144 oz of ginger ale. Keep cherries in a small bowl for self-garnish.
For more on the broader non-alcoholic drinks category, including non-alc spirits that work in adult mocktails, see non-alcoholic spirits and vodka mocktails. For party-planning frameworks where the Shirley Temple slots in, see christmas cocktail recipes and mother’s day brunch ideas. For the home bar setup that supports any of these drinks, see bar cart.
