Bubbly Thanksgiving Mimosas with Apple Cider and Prosecco

The turkey’s in, the parade’s on, and somebody has just wandered into the kitchen asking what there is to drink. That’s when you pour them one of these Thanksgiving mimosas, made with cold apple cider and Brut Prosecco, half and half in a chilled flute.

It takes two ingredients and no stirring, which means the cook gets a glass too.

Grab your flutes and let’s make them!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Two store-bought ingredients and nothing to cook.
• Everyday Brut Prosecco is all it needs, so there’s no expensive bottle to open.
• Every glass is one slow pour, easy to fit in between checking the oven and answering the door.
• One bottle of Prosecco and 3 cups of cider fill about eight flutes, so the shopping list writes itself.

When to Pour These on Thanksgiving

These belong to the slow, hungry hours before dinner, when the house is full and the table isn’t set yet. If you’ve been looking for a Thanksgiving Prosecco cocktail that needs no shaker and no liqueur, this is the one.

• Thanksgiving morning, while the holiday turkey still has hours to go in the oven
• Parade on in the living room, early game warming up after it
• Friendsgiving, as people come through the door carrying their dishes

They’re gluten free and dairy free as written. The Prosecco is the one ingredient that decides whether they’re vegan, because some producers clarify their wine with egg white or other animal products, so look for a vegan mark on the back label if that matters at your table.

For anyone not drinking, non-alcoholic sparkling wine or sparkling cider pours exactly the same way. If you’d rather give them a drink of their own, the easy fall mocktail with cranberry juice and lime is made for that end of the table.

What Goes Into This Thanksgiving Prosecco Cocktail

Makes 1 drink

• 3 oz (90 ml) apple cider, well chilled
• 3 oz (90 ml) Brut Prosecco, well chilled (Brut Champagne or Cava work too)

Apple cider. Plain, non-alcoholic apple cider, the cloudy kind that’s often sold chilled near the produce rather than on the juice shelf. It brings the apple and most of the sweetness, so it decides how sweet each glass ends up.

Brut Prosecco. Check that one word on the label before anything else. Extra Dry sounds like the drier choice and isn’t: it sits a step sweeter than Brut, and it’s one of the most common Prosecco styles on the shelf. With the cider already bringing the sugar, Brut is the one that keeps the glass from tipping into syrup. Champagne and Cava pour exactly the same way if that’s what you have open.

How to Make Them

1. Chill everything for at least 2 hours. That means the cider, the Prosecco and the flutes. Cold liquid holds far more of its carbonation than warm, and this step decides whether the drink comes out lively or flat. On Thanksgiving, when the fridge is full of turkey and sides, a bucket of ice and water does the job faster anyway, and there’s more on that below.
   
2. Pour the cider. Tilt the flute to about 45 degrees and add 3 oz (90 ml) of cider, which takes it roughly halfway up.
   
3. Top with the Prosecco, slowly. Keep the glass tilted and let 3 oz (90 ml) run down the inside. Cloudy cider gives the bubbles plenty to grab onto, so the foam can climb fast. I pour in two goes and let it settle in between rather than rushing it over the rim. There’s no need to stir, because the Prosecco mixes itself in as it rises through the cider.
   
4. Taste. If it’s too sweet, a squeeze of lemon brings it back. If it’s too dry, add a small splash of maple syrup or cinnamon simple syrup.
   
5. Serve straight away, while the bubbles are still going.

Tips and Variations

This Thanksgiving mimosa recipe is only two ingredients, so the details around it do most of the work.

• Don’t batch it ahead. A pitcher mixed early arrives flat by the time anyone drinks it. If you’d rather not pour every glass yourself, my fall mimosa post walks through setting up a self-serve mimosa bar instead.
  
• Spiced sugar rim. Mix about 1 part pumpkin pie spice to 4 parts sugar on a saucer. Run a slice of apple around the rim of the flute, or dip it in a little cider, then press it into the spiced sugar. It’s the quickest way to give the glass some Thanksgiving spice.
  
• Apple and rosemary. A thin apple slice on the rim and a rosemary sprig in the glass. Cut the apple right before serving, since sliced apple browns quickly.
  
• Cranberries on a pick. Thread a few fresh cranberries onto a cocktail pick and rest it across the rim.

Ways to Serve Them on Thanksgiving Day

• Set the drinks up away from the stove. A side table in the living room with the flutes, a cooler of bottles and the cider keeps the traffic out of the kitchen while dinner is cooking.
  
• Mark the alcohol-free glasses. A cinnamon stick in each one makes it easy to tell at a glance which flutes are meant for the kids.
  
• Save a fresh round for the toast. Pour new glasses just before everyone sits down rather than topping up whatever is left from the morning.

More for the Thanksgiving Table

If you’re planning more than mimosas for Thanksgiving, here’s where to look next.

• My Thanksgiving drinks lineup, covering everything from a cider whiskey pitcher to hot chocolate after the pie

• 2-ingredient mimosas with cranberry juice, the tart red glass to set out beside the cider ones

• Easy fall mocktail with cranberry juice and lime, for the end of the table that’s skipping the bubbly

Before the Doorbell Rings

There’s a stretch on Thanksgiving morning, after the turkey goes in and before anyone sits down, when the whole day still feels wide open. Put a cold flute in someone’s hand right then and it turns into an occasion. Pour the next round when the doorbell starts going, and keep one back for the toast before dinner. Save this to your Thanksgiving board on Pinterest so it makes the shopping list in time. 🥂