Skip to Content

Newfoundland Christmas Slush

Newfoundland Christmas Slush. A frosty blend of pineapple and citrus juices frozen together with amber rum to create the base for a delicious, economical Holiday cocktail.

Newfoundland Christmas Slush featured image

Newfoundland Christmas Slush.

For the last few decades, this Newfoundland Christmas Slush has been an incredibly popular Holiday cocktail. The slush alcoholic base of the cocktail is made well in advance and remind in the freezer to pull out and serve whenever guests pop by.

Perhaps the first I ever sampled many years ago was a citrusy orange and pineapple version. Back in those days, canned pineapple juice and even frozen orange juice showed up in a lot of recipes.

Newfoundland Christmas Slush close up image showing pineapple and cherry garnish

Newfoundland Christmas Slush

A few I’ve seen even call for a Newfoundland favourite, pineapple soda, in the recipe. Although, to be honest, I was never tempted to try it.

I prefer to make it with all natural flavours.

Many variations.

There are many different versions of Newfoundland Christmas Slush now to be found. However, Spouse and I are still partial to the original combination of flavours that we knew from the beginning.

This recipe is my attempt to update that old fashioned favourite, this time using fresh golden pineapple as the flavour base.

Fresh Golden Pineapple cut in pieces on white background.

Fresh golden pineapple works very well in this recipe.

Newfoundland Christmas Slush might be considered a close cousin to the daiquiri. I suppose with just a splash of soda, it might just be a close approximation.

Most people, when serving it though, will use a portion of the slushy base in a tall glass. Then, it’s topped up with club soda, ginger ale or lemon lime soda.

You can easily vary the amount of icy slush to use in each glass. This can be to suit personal preference and to control the alcohol content by adding more or less of the mix.

To mix things up you can even use freshly squeezed seasonal citrus juice like clementines for part or all of the orange juice in the recipe.

fresh organic clementines picked with green leaves

Clementines can make a delicious twist on this recipe.

Newfoundland Christmas Slush makes a very economical way to serve even dozens of drinks from a single bottle of rum.

And of course summer is coming… eventually! This recipe is equally as good or even better in the hotter days of the year for summer entertaining.

2017 UPDATE!

I’ve now added a new recipe for Blueberry Rum Slush. Guests to our house during the weeks heading up to the Holidays have raved about it.

It’s super simple, uses only a few ingredients, and is far less sugary sweet than a lot of other slush recipes. Highly recommended.

Don’t like rum? Make it with Vodka or Gin instead.

Get the Blueberry Rum Slush Recipe here.

 

Blueberry Rum Slush

Blueberry Rum Slush

2020 Update! We now have yet another new version of this popular seasonal cocktail! Check out this new recipe from our household bartender, my son Noah. Strawberry Lime Slush!

Strawberry Lime Slush shown with Christmas decorations and with title text added for Pinterest

Need more Christmas inspiration?

If you liked this recipe you may also want to check out this post with links to some other Christmas Cookie Favourites in Newfoundland:

Classic Newfoundland Christmas Cookies photo collage with title text for Pinterest
Like this Newfoundland Christmas Slush recipe?

Be sure to visit more locally inspired recipes in our Newfoundland Recipes Category.

It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram

Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too. 

Newfoundland Christmas Slush image with title text for Pinterest

You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You’ll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly  meals and desserts too!


Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
 
Visit my Amazon Store for my favourite kitchen gadgets and appliances, plus recommendations from my personal cookbook collection.
Newfoundland Christmas Slush featured image
Yield: 30 or more servings

Newfoundland Christmas Slush

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Newfoundland Christmas Slush - a frosty blend of pineapple and citrus juices frozen together with amber rum to create the base for a delicious Holiday cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups simple syrup, (1 1/2 cup sugar + 1 1/2 cups water)
  • 6 cups fresh golden pineapple cubes, (diced small, about 1 large pineapple)
  • 1 bottle amber rum, (750ml/26oz)
  • 3/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup lime juice
  • 3 cups premium quality orange juice

Instructions

  1. First you will need to make the simple syrup so that it can cool down. Simply add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to a small saucepan over low heat and stir constantly until all the sugar is dissolved. The syrup does not have to come to a boil. As soon as no sugar crystals are visible in the bottom of the pan, take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
  2. You will need an airtight covered plastic container to make the slush in, and to store it in the freezer. Airtight is important because this slush can stay in the freezer for quite a long time if need be, and you don't want it absorbing freezer odours. Large tupperware bowls with snap on lids work well. Here in Newfoundland, if we are making large batches, we use food grade plastic buckets that salt beef is sold in. Don't assume a salt beef bucket in a Newfoundland freezer has salt beef!
  3. In any case, this recipe makes about 4 litres/quarts of slush so a 5 litre/quart container will be required.
  4. Dice the pineapple into small cubes. Measure 6 cups of these cubes.
  5. Purée the pineapple in a food processor or blender.
  6. Add the pineapple purée to the plastic container along with the cooled simple syrup and the remaining ingredients.


Freezing the slush

  1. Give it a good stir to combine, put the lid on and put the container in the freezer for about 6 hours.
  2. After six hours, ice sheets should be beginning to form in the slush. You want to break these down into smaller crystals. An immersion blender is idea for this, but if you don't have one, a few minutes of vigorous stirring with a whisk should do the trick.
  3. Return to the freezer and after a few more hours, give it another stir. The slush then stays covered in the freezer until ready to serve.
  4. When serving, depending on the size of drink you want to serve, fill the glass from 1/3 to 2/3 full of slush and top up with club soda, ginger ale or lemon lime soda. Stir well and serve
  5. Another serving suggestion is to serve the slush in martini glasses mixed with a splash of Prosecco and a garnish of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

Notes

Nutritional information does not include the ginger ale or soda used as mix. If using diet soda , then nutrition should be quite accurate.

Nutrition Information

Yield

30

Serving Size

30 or more servings

Amount Per Serving Calories 133Saturated Fat 1gSodium 11mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 18gProtein 1g

Did you like this recipe?

Do you love our "Real food recipes for real people'? Share the recipe on Facebook to let your friends know about us. They'll thank you for it.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Louise

Monday 20th of December 2021

Can you make this with canned crushed pineapple & if so, should you include the juice?

Betty

Sunday 29th of December 2019

I made this slush for the first time this Christmas. I made the mistake of not pureeing the pineapple enough so my first glass was like a drink followed by a snack of pineapple......not ideal 😄 Every glase thereafter, I used my magic bullet to make sure it was completely pureed and it was fabulous! Tub disappeared! Looking forward to making it again using my lessons learned 😁 Thank you again for another wonderful recipie!!

Mary Lynch

Wednesday 14th of November 2018

We always made this with vodka and had it for summer drinks, bridal showers, Christmas parties...the list goes on. Strangely enough, the gentlemen never seemed to prefer it, which left more for us ladies. ;)

Harmony

Thursday 28th of June 2018

I made this back at christmas time using malibu rum, only increased the alcohol measurement by 1/2 cup(4 oz) and it worked just fine. Now I'm going to make it again for the 4th of July, but have a question. Is there a way to make a non alcoholic version? The kids were super jealous of our slushie drink.

Mary Carter

Thursday 9th of November 2017

At what point do you add the alcohol?

Barry C. Parsons

Thursday 9th of November 2017

Step 6 says add remaining ingredients. That includes the alcohol.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!