The Best Wassail Recipe: So Easy - Feeding Your Fam (2024)

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This Wassail Recipe is a delicious warm drink made up of apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Perfectly seasoned to warm you to the core. Wassail is perfect for cold winter days, Holiday parties and Christmas celebrations.

This easy wassail recipe has been in our family for countless years, it a holiday tradition!! This is one thing my kids and myself look forward to every Christmas Eve. My mom serves this warm Christmas drink every year at our family Christmas party and it wouldn’t be the same without it!

This hot wassail recipe is so easy to throw together and will absolutely be enjoyed by all.

How to make Wassail

This easy wassail recipe can be made on the stovetop or in a slow cooker.

First to make this wassail recipe you will start by combining the water and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Next, add in the cinnamon, allspice berries, ginger and whole cloves. Turn off the heat and let the spices develop in the hot water for at least 30 minutes.

At this point, after the spices have infused the water, you can strain them from the liquid, or leave them in if you like. I prefer to leave them in to continue to add flavor to the wassail.

Pour in the apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Bring just to a boil and turn down the heat to low, this will keep the wassail warm.

If you prefer to make this for the slow cooker. Dissolve the sugar in the water in the slow cooker. Add the other ingredients and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 8. Keep on low to serve.

Wassail Ingredients

To make this easy, soul warming Christmas drink, you will need just a few ingredients.

  • apple cider
  • orange juice
  • lemon juice
  • water
  • cinnamon sticks
  • whole cloves
  • allspice berries
  • ground ginger
  • sugar

Can I make Wassail ahead?

You can make this wassail recipe before you need it. Simply follow the recipe instructions to make the wassail. Once it is complete, strain the spices and store in the refrigerator. You can make this at least 5 days in advance of when you need it.

Simply warm up when ready to serve.

How to store this wassail drink

If you have any wassail left over after serving, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Just heat up what you are going to drink in the microwave and take a trip back to Christmas.

Homemade Wassail Recipe

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The Best Wassail Recipe: So Easy - Feeding Your Fam (6)

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4.43 from 19 votes

Wassail Recipe

Wassail is a delicious warm drink made up of apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Perfectly seasoned to warm you to the core. Wassail is perfect for cold winter days, Holiday parties and Christmas celebrations.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Drinks

Cuisine: Comfort Food, Holidays

Keyword: Wassail Recipe

Servings: 12

Calories: 127kcal

Author: Sarah Alvord, Feeding Your Fam

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 4 whole allspice
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 quart apple cider
  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 1 cup lemon juice

Instructions

  • In a large pot (at least 4 quarts) stir together the water and sugar and bring to a boil.

  • Boil, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add in the cloves, allspice, cinnamon and ginger. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.

  • At this point you can strain and remove the spices or leave them in. (I like to leave them in)

  • Add in the apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Bring just to a boil and then turn down to low to keep warm while serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 83IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @feedingyourfam or tag #feedingyourfam!

Other easy winter treats:

  • Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate
  • English Toffee
  • Pecan Pie Bars

This Wassail Recipe is a delicious warm drink made up of apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Perfectly seasoned to warm you to the core.

The Best Wassail Recipe: So Easy - Feeding Your Fam (2024)

FAQs

What is the wassail dispensed from a wassail bowl? ›

Wassail is a hot, mulled punch often associated with Yuletide, often drunk from a 'wassail bowl'. The earliest versions were warmed mead into which roasted crab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called 'lambswool' drunk on Lammas day, still known in Shakespeare's time.

What is a wassail party? ›

Wassailing is an English tradition which comes from the UK's cider making regions like the South West. It involves 'waking the trees' by banging pots and pans, singing,, dancing, and making lots of noise to ward off bad spirits and encourage a good harvest in the year to come.

What are the two types of wassailing? ›

The tradition of wassailing (alt sp wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail.

What is in Trader Joe's wassail? ›

A sweetened blend of black currant, apple, and lemon juices, with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and orange peel, Trader Joe's Winter Wassail is a fruit punch whose flavors and aromas evoke the holidays. You can serve it chilled, over ice with bourbon; or warmed, in a big mug, with a cinnamon stick garnish.

What do you serve at a wassail party? ›

It's traditional to serve mulled cider and apple cake to celebrate wassail. I found a lovely recipe for a wassail cup in the Apple Source Book taken from Henrietta Green's Festive Food of England and there's a good recipe for Somerset cider cake in River Cottage Baking.

What is pagan wassailing? ›

What is wassailing? The purpose is to encourage the spirits into ensuring a good harvest the following season. It takes place on the twelfth night after Christmas and involves a visit to a nearby orchard for singing, dancing, drinking and general merrymaking.

What do you eat with wassail? ›

“Wassail” is a traditional English punch, consisting of mulled cider and spices. It's very easy to make, and is traditionally served with cinnamon sticks and apple cake, but is also a great complement to either a full meal or appetizers.

What is the wassail bowl? ›

The word wassail derives from Old Norse ves heill, meaning “be well, and in good health.” The name has come to be generally applied to any bowl from which a toast is drunk, as well as to the actual drink itself.

What is the tradition of the wassail bowl? ›

In some regions of medieval Britain, wassail involved a large gathering of tenants at the manor house where the master, channeling Rowena, would hold up a bowl of steaming spiced wine or ale and shout, “Wassail!” with the crowd replying, “Drink hail!” before devolving into Christmas revelry.

What is the history of the wassail bowl? ›

The first mention of a wassail bowl was in the thirteenth century, a vessel in which revelers dipped cakes and fine bread. The practice of floating crisps of bread in the wassail bowl gave rise to our use of "toast" as a drinking salutation.

What does wassail mean in Macbeth? ›

Wassail, a drinking-bout, carousing, quaffing: “at wakes and --s,” LLL V, 2, 318.

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