Best Ever Non Alcoholic Fruit Punch Recipes

photo by Caitlin Childs

A big glass bowl filled with fruit punch makes any party more festive. Here's how to make a couple of fruit punch recipes guests will rave about.

How to Make Great Tasting Punch for a Party

A table offering a delicious fruit punch to drink becomes a gathering spot for party guests to mingle. For an added flair, the bowl can be garnished with floating orange slices. A fresh cherry, strawberry, raspberry or other berry can also be perched atop each orange slice.

Another garnish is to pierce a thick orange slice and a strawberry, its green top still on, with a party toothpick, and then place it on the rim of the bowl. A small slit should be cut in the rind of the orange slice so that it will securely straddle the bowl.

How to Make "Susi's Fruit Punch Recipe"

Susi is an experimental, artistic cook in Michigan, whose concoctions and food presentations surprise even herself. She created her fruit punch recipe after mixing several ingredients she thought worked well together in a punch, and tinkered with the proportions until she felt it tasted right. She has served her punch many times at wedding and baby showers to the approbation of her wide circle of friends and fellow churchgoers.

Ingredients:

• 1 32-ounce bottle (950 ml) of strawberry margarita mix or strawberry daiquiri mix
• 24 ounces (2 large cans or 720 ml) frozen concentrate lemonade, orange juice or lime juice, or any combination of the two juices
• 2 quarts (1.9 liters) 7 Up (or Sprite or Mountain Dew)
• Optional: lime sherbet

Directions:

1. Mix the strawberry margarita or daiquiri mix with the two cans of frozen juice.
2. Add the 7 Up.
3. After mixing, add cold water to taste (1 can usually).
4. Optional: Put lime sherbet in after mixing. This recipe makes about a gallon (3.8 liters).

An interesting twist would be to freeze some of the 7 Up or Sprite in a ring mold, and have it float in the punch. Since Susi's punch is non-alcoholic, it can be served at children's parties.

For those who love ice cream, Pina Colada Punch will be a special treat. It is also very simple to make. Some grocery stores stock pina colada sherbet only during the Christmas holidays as it is most popular then. If it is difficult to find, a substitute is to use pineapple sherbet and 2 tbsp. (30 ml) of coconut extract.

"Pina Colada Punch" Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon (1.9 liters) pina colada sherbet
• 20 ounce can (563 g) crushed pineapple, in its own juice
• 1 liter of 7 Up

Directions:

1. Break up the sherbet in a punch bowl with the crushed pineapple.
2. Add the 7 Up. This recipe makes about a gallon (3.8 liters).

A fun job to assign at a party is the role of the punch server, as he can cheerfully greet guests while ladling them a glass. Anyone can serve colas at a party, but taking the time to make a pretty punch bowl to offer a fruity drink will please not only everyone's tastebuds, but also their eyes.