These easy Christmas jello shots are perfect alcohol-infused jellos with golden sprinkles and refreshing lime flavor. Arranged in a Christmas tree, they make a stunning adult treat this holiday season! So fun for Christmas time.
Holiday cocktails leave us so much room for experimentation and fun as adults! Jello shots are one of my favorite boozy party treats – they are just always a huge hit at Christmas gatherings, and for me, it is barely any work.
If you don’t have much time for preparation and yet want to satisfy and impress your guests, jello shots are what you need.
It is playtime for all of the adults at the party and they have a good time: the delicious jello shots can have as many layers and flavors as you want and use more or less liquor like vodka, white rum, or even tequila!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for making a few hours or days ahead of a holiday party. Saves us precious time on the day of.
- These fun jello shots are super easy to whip in 15 minutes with minimal (and customizable) ingredients.
- Arranged in a Christmas tree! An amazing centerpiece for holiday parties.
- Holiday spirit in a cup: a little booze to lighten up faces, golden and red decor, a festive tree, and lots of fun making and assembling it.
Ingredients Notes
- Lime jello. 1 box of lime jello would be enough to make 20 jello shots of 2 oz each. I need green jello as I will arrange the shots in a Christmas tree shape, you can use other jello flavors and colors with no problem! Jell-o is a popular choice, of course, but you can use any of your fav gelatin mixtures.
- Vodka. I have plain vodka here but feel free to use any flavored vodka you like. We need to use chilled vodka for better results.
- Brown gel food dye to color 1 jello shot cup for Christmas tree trunk.
- Gold star sprinkles
- Red sanding sugar can go on the rim of the cups right before serving or simply on top of the shots. To add it to the rim, dip each rim in some lime juice and then sprinkle the red sanding sugar.
Kitchen Equipment
- 20 Jello Shot Cups (2 ounces each), the ones with a lid is the ideal option. There are cups with different shapes too! You can use regular shot glasses or disposable plastic cups (plastic shot glasses). If your cups don’t have lids use plastic wrap to cover them while chilling.
- Pourable Container (I use a pourable glass large measuring cup)
- Optional, baking sheet (cookie sheet). It is easier to set all the shot glasses on the sheet and fill them in on the sheet for easier clean-up.
- Piping bag – optional
- Airtight container
How To Make Christmas Jello Shots
- Dissolve the jello. Empty the jello packet into a medium mixing bowl. Add the boiling water and stir until the powder has completely dissolved.
- Stir in the vodka.
- Portion 2 ounces of the jello mixture into a separate bowl. Add a drop of the brown food coloring. Stir. (you can add more if needed – but this should be adequate). Transfer that tinted jello into one of the shot cups.
- Carefully pour the remaining green mixture into the remaining shot cups.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until completely set.
Assemble As A Christmas Tree
Arrange the shot cups into the shape of a Christmas tree – follow this order:
- Top – 1 cup – with star festive sprinkles
- 2nd – 1 cup – green jello layer
- 3rd – 2 cups – green layer
- 4th – 3 cups – green jello layer
- 5th – 7th rows – 4 cups of green jello
- 8th – 1 cup – this will be the brown for the trunk – so place it in the middle
Add sprinkles to the tops of the jello just before serving – add in a random manner to resemble ornaments.
Alternatively – you don’t have to assemble the cups in a tree shape. You can just serve them topped with whipped cream and holiday sprinkles for a fun party treat.
Storage & Making Ahead
You can make Christmas jello shots ahead of time – up to 3 days in advance. Just be sure to add the lids to the cups. These festive shots can last for up to one week in the fridge if tightly closed.
They do not freeze well.
Substitutions & Variations
- Holiday jello shots can be made with any preferred flavored vodka if desired. Vanilla vodka or marshmallow vodka, and whipped cream vodka are absolutely fantastic for a Christmas party.
- If going with a Christmas tree arrangement, you can add one red Jello cup with glitter to each row of green Jello – it will imitate the ornaments on the tree!
- Santa hat jello shots are super fun to make for Christmas parties. You simply need a red jello layer in the shots, you add whipped cream topping once it is set, and then you add a strawberry (it will imitate the hat) wide side down, and one tiny dollop on top of the strawberry! Super cute.
- You can use any Christmas sprinkles. I use just golden to make it look like a star on top of the Christmas jello shots tree, but it is not mandatory.
- Use red and green jello for a simple Christmas jello shot recipe. Red jello is also the easiest to do (use strawberry jello, cherry jello, or cranberry jello). You can alternate green and red layers in a cup. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles.
- Before jello firms up you can press in a maraschino cherry on top of each cup!
- Toppings: crushed (or tiny) candy canes, edible glitter, sliced fresh strawberries, sugar-coated cranberries, red hots, mint leaves, or simple whipped topping.
Expert Tips To Make Easy Christmas Jell-o Shots
- Add any decorations when you are ready to serve. The sprinkles and whipped cream don’t keep well for long periods of time in the fridge.
- Don’t fill the cups to the top when planning on storing them with the lids.
- Really hot water will work too.
- Do not add more alcohol, it may prevent the jello shots from setting properly. You can add less alcohol if there are not many alcohol drinkers at your next holiday party.
Popular Questions
What Is The Best Alcohol For Jello Shots?
Plain or flavored vodka, white rum, tequila, and even peppermint schnapps work great in a jello shot recipe. Transparent alcohol works best for jello shots as it doesn’t affect the colors.
If you don’t mind slight discoloring of the jello mixture, you can also use bourbon or whiskey.
Is It Better To Make Jello Shots The Night Before?
Yes, the Christmas jello shots recipe requires the gelatin mixture to be completely set over at least two hours but it can be done overnight. So you can make these a few days ahead for your next Christmas party.
Does The Alcohol Have To Be Cold For Jello Shots?
Yes, the alcohol you will use for jello shots should be chilled or cold to make sure the gelatin sets the best way. You can also add a bit of cold water to the mixture once you dissolved the gelatin fully in boiling water and stirred in alcohol.
How Do You Keep Jello Shots Cold At A Party?
Pull the jello shots out of the refrigerator just before serving to keep them cool as long as possible. You can also set up a platform with dry or regular ice or a decorated cooler.
Does Alcohol Replace Water In Jello Shots?
I use both water and alcohol in jello shots recipes. For twenty 2 oz shots you will need 1.5 cups of alcohol and 2.5 cups of water. It will not be too strong and still delicious.
If you love this holiday treat recipe, you’re going to love these other fun shot recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
More Great Jello Shots
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Christmas Jello Shots
Ingredients
- 6 ounces lime jello 1 box
- 2 ½ cups boiling water
- 1 ½ cups vodka
1 drop brown gel food dye
gold star sprinkles
red sanding sugar
Instructions
- Empty the jello packet into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the boiling water and stir until the powder has dissolved.
- Stir in the vodka.
- Portion 2 ounces of the jello mixture into a separate bowl. Add a drop of the brown food coloring. Stir. (you can add more if needed – but this should be adequate)
- Transfer that tinted jello into one of the shot cups.
- Portion the remaining green mixture into the remaining shot cups.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until set.
Assemble as a Christmas Tree
- Arrange the shot cups into the shape of a Christmas tree – follow this order…
- Top – 1 cup – with star sprinkles
- 2nd – 1 cup – green
- 3rd – 2 cups – green
- 4th – 3 cups – green
- 5th – 7th rows – 4 cups
- 8th – 1 cup – this will be the brown for the trunk – so place it in the middle
- Add sprinkles to the tops of the jello just before serving – add in a random manner to resemble ornaments.
Alternatively – you don’t have to assemble the cups in a tree shape. You can just decorate them with whipped cream and festive sprinkles for a fun party treat.
Notes
Equipment
- 20 Jello Shot Cups (2 ounces each)
- Pourable Container (I use a pourable glass measuring cup)
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
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