Five Prosecco Cocktails Worth Making at Home
Prosecco is the most entertaining-friendly sparkling wine available — it’s priced for buying by the case, light enough to mix without overwhelming other flavors, and fizzy enough to lift whatever you add to it. A single bottle serves six generous cocktail glasses, which means one formula, one batch, and your job as host is essentially done. Here are five Prosecco cocktails worth keeping in your back pocket: one for every occasion from casual brunch to dinner party to something that needs to feel a little special.
A Note on Prosecco
All five recipes work best with an Extra Dry or Brut Prosecco — not the Dry style, which is confusingly sweeter. Keep it chilled until the moment it goes in the glass. A bottle of good Prosecco in the $15–$20 range (La Marca, Mionetto, Zardetto) is all these recipes need — this is not the occasion for vintage Champagne. One standard 750ml bottle yields approximately six 4oz cocktail pours.
1. Prosecco Elderflower Gin Fizz
The effortless house cocktail — light, floral, and endlessly refreshing
The simplest of the five and possibly the best. Gin and elderflower were made for each other, and Prosecco’s natural citrus lift completes the picture without needing anything else. Use a dry gin with some botanical complexity — Hendrick’s, Tanqueray, or any quality London Dry — and good elderflower cordial rather than liqueur, which can be too sweet.
Ingredients — serves 6
120ml (4 oz) dry gin
6 dashes elderflower cordial
6 thin cucumber slices
1 bottle Prosecco Brut, chilled
Method
Add a cucumber slice to each chilled wine glass. Pour 20ml gin and a dash of elderflower cordial into each glass. Top slowly with Prosecco — pour down the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles. No stirring needed; the Prosecco does the work.
2. Fig and Raspberry Prosecco
The dinner party arrival drink — seasonal, beautiful, and impressive
This one requires a small amount of advance work — the raspberry simple syrup takes ten minutes — but the payoff is a cocktail that looks and tastes like something from a proper bar. Fresh figs are the star; don’t substitute dried. This works best in late summer and autumn when figs are at their best. Make the syrup a day ahead and keep it refrigerated.
Ingredients — serves 6
4 fresh figs
60ml (2 oz) raspberry simple syrup (recipe below)
Small splash Prosecco for muddling
1 bottle Prosecco Brut, chilled
12 fresh raspberries for garnish
For the Raspberry Simple Syrup
Combine 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Add a generous handful of fresh raspberries and stir gently until the color is extracted — about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Keeps refrigerated for two weeks.
Method
Halve two figs and scoop out the flesh. Muddle with the raspberry simple syrup and a small splash of Prosecco in a cocktail shaker. Shake with ice. Strain 15ml into each chilled glass. Slice the remaining figs thin and add a few slices to each glass along with two raspberries. Top with chilled Prosecco.
3. Prosecco Bourbon Champagne Cocktail
The sophisticated option — for when the occasion calls for something with backbone
A riff on the classic Champagne Cocktail that swaps Champagne for Prosecco and leans into bourbon for warmth. Orange bitters and the lemon twist are not optional — they’re what make this more than bourbon and bubbles. Use a good American bourbon (Bulleit, Buffalo Trace, Maker’s Mark) and Angostura or Fee Brothers orange bitters. This serves six with quiet authority.
Ingredients — serves 6
6 sugar cubes
Orange bitters
120ml (4 oz) bourbon
1 lemon
1 bottle Prosecco Brut, chilled
Method
Drop one sugar cube into each chilled flute or coupe. Add 3–4 drops of orange bitters directly onto the sugar cube — enough to saturate it, not flood it. Pour 20ml bourbon into each glass. Top slowly with chilled Prosecco. Express a strip of lemon peel over each glass, run it around the rim, and drop it in. Serve immediately.
4. Watermelon Prosecco Spritz
The summer crowd-pleaser — refreshing, colorful, and practically effortless
Fresh watermelon juice is the key — not juice from a carton, which is too sweet and lacks the clean vegetal freshness of the real thing. A decent blender and a fine-mesh strainer are all you need. The color alone makes this worth making. Mint is the only garnish you need; keep it simple.
Ingredients — serves 6
300ml fresh watermelon juice (from approximately 1/4 of a small watermelon, blended and strained)
Fresh mint sprigs
Small watermelon wedges for garnish
1 bottle Prosecco Brut, chilled
Method
Blend the watermelon until smooth and strain through a fine-mesh sieve — pressing firmly to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp. Pour 50ml of watermelon juice into each chilled wine glass. Top with Prosecco. Add a mint sprig and a small wedge of watermelon. Serve immediately — the color fades if it sits.
5. Tropical Prosecco Punch
The batch cocktail — make it ahead, serve it to a crowd
This is the one to make when you have more guests than attention to spare. Mix the base ahead of time, keep it chilled, and add the Prosecco to each glass as you pour rather than to the whole batch — which would go flat. Coconut water gives it body without weight; pineapple juice provides tropical acidity; a splash of lime keeps it from being too sweet. Optional: a float of coconut rum for the guests who want it.
Ingredients — serves 6
240ml (8 oz) fresh pineapple juice
120ml (4 oz) coconut water
Juice of 2 limes
Optional: 60ml (2 oz) coconut rum
1 bottle Prosecco Brut, chilled
Pineapple slices and fresh mint to garnish
Method
Combine pineapple juice, coconut water, lime juice, and coconut rum (if using) in a pitcher. Stir and refrigerate until cold — at least 30 minutes. When ready to serve, pour 60ml of the punch base into each chilled wine glass. Top with Prosecco. Garnish with a small pineapple slice and mint sprig. The punch base keeps for 24 hours refrigerated; always add Prosecco fresh per glass.
