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The Dirty Shirley is a sweet, fizzy cocktail made in a single glass with just three ingredients: vodka, grenadine, and lemon-lime soda. It’s bright cherry-red and mixes in about 5 minutes.
Quick Look
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Equipment: Tall glass
- Servings: 1 cocktail
- Difficulty: Easy
- Flavor Profile: Fruity and lightly tart, sweet from the grenadine, cold and bubbly with a clean vodka finish.
This Dirty Shirley recipe needs no shaking or special tools, and it scales straight up to a small batch when you’re pouring for guests.
Why I Love A Dirty Shirley
When I was a kid, a Shirley Temple made me feel like the fanciest person at the party. I’d hold that fizzy red drink with both hands and go straight for the extra cherries at the bottom of the glass. It felt like the height of sophistication when you’re nine.
The Dirty Shirley is that same drink, now with a real reason to feel grown up.
It pours a deep cherry red over ice, and the first sip is cold and bubbly, just as sweet as I remember. The vodka sits quietly underneath.
I make mine in a single glass with a ratio I’ve tested until it’s balanced and the sweetness sits right. There’s no pitcher to finish and nothing left over, which is the whole point of a drink built for one. When friends are over, I pour the same ratio into a small batch and let everyone garnish their own.
If you like an easy single serving cocktail, try our tequila sunrise for another grenadine drink, or mix up a frozen strawberry daiquiri, a Moscow mule, or a skinny margarita.
Ingredient Notes
A Dirty Shirley comes together with just a few easy-to-find ingredients, and each one has a clear job in the glass. If you have any ingredients leftover from this Dirty Shirley recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
Vodka: Plain, unflavored vodka is all you need. The grenadine and lemon-lime soda carry the flavor, so an inexpensive bottle works just as well as a premium one here.
Grenadine: This is the sweet red syrup that gives a Dirty Shirley its color and its cherry-sweet taste. In a pinch, the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries will stand in, though it pours lighter in color and flavor.
Lemon-lime soda: Sprite or 7UP add the fizz and a little citrus that keeps the drink light. Ginger ale works for a spicier version, and a zero-sugar soda cuts the sweetness without changing how it mixes.
Maraschino cherries (optional): The cherry on top is part of what makes a Dirty Shirley feel like one. Drop in a couple, and add a lime slice for a fresh edge against the sweet.
Recipe Variations
You can scale a Dirty Shirley from a single glass up to a small batch, or change the spirit and the sweetness to suit who you’re serving.
Small batch Dirty Shirley: The single serving ratio is 2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce grenadine, and 4 ounces lemon-lime soda. To make more, multiply everything by the number of drinks you need. Double it for 2 drinks (4 ounces vodka, 2 ounces grenadine, 8 ounces soda), triple it for 3 (6 ounces vodka, 3 ounces grenadine, 12 ounces soda), or quadruple it for 4 (8 ounces vodka, 4 ounces grenadine, 16 ounces soda). Stir the vodka and grenadine together in a pitcher first, then add the soda and ice right before serving so it stays fizzy.
Dirty Shirley with tequila: Use 2 ounces of silver tequila in place of the vodka for a drink with a little more bite. Everything else stays the same.
Non-alcoholic Shirley Temple: Leave out the vodka for the classic Shirley Temple, the kid-friendly drink this cocktail is based on. For a fuller glass, top with 2 more ounces of lemon-lime soda.
Dirty Shirley with ginger ale: Swap the lemon-lime soda for the same amount of ginger ale, 4 ounces, for a spicier and slightly drier drink.
Less sweet Dirty Shirley: Cut the grenadine to 1/2 ounce, or replace half the soda with plain sparkling water. Both keep the cherry flavor while pulling back the sugar.
How To Make A Dirty Shirley
For exact measurements and the full recipe, see the recipe card below. Making a Dirty Shirley takes about a minute.
Pour the vodka into a tall glass and add the grenadine, then stir once so the color turns a deep, even red. Fill the glass with ice and top it off with the lemon-lime soda. Give it a gentle stir to combine, then drop in a couple of maraschino cherries and a slice of lime if you’d like.
Expert Tips
Fill the glass with plenty of ice. A glass packed with ice stays colder and melts more slowly than a few cubes would, so the drink waters down less as you sip.
Pour the lemon-lime soda in last and stir with a light hand. Adding the soda at the end protects the carbonation, so the drink stays fizzy instead of going flat.
Chill the vodka, grenadine, and soda ahead of time, especially for a small batch. Cold ingredients mean less ice melts into the glass, so the flavor holds and the drink doesn’t get watery.
Measure the pours instead of eyeballing them. The 2-to-1 ratio of vodka to grenadine is what keeps it balanced, so a jigger or measuring cup gives you the same drink every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Dirty Shirley is named for the Shirley Temple, the classic non-alcoholic drink. Adding vodka “dirties” the kid-friendly original, which is where the name comes from.
No, a Dirty Shirley is fairly mild. One drink has 2 ounces of vodka, and the grenadine and soda mellow it into a sweet, easy-drinking cocktail.
Yes. Stir the vodka and grenadine together ahead and chill it, then add the lemon-lime soda and ice as you pour each drink so they stay fizzy.
A tall glass, like a highball or Collins glass, gives you room for plenty of ice and soda. Any tall glass you have on hand works.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve tried this Dirty Shirley drink or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
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Dirty Shirley Recipe
Watch How To Make This
Equipment
- Tall glass
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1 ounce grenadine
- ice
- 4 ounces lemon-lime soda
- Optional: maraschino cherries, lime slice
Instructions
- Pour the vodka into a tall glass.
- Add the grenadine and stir until the color is an even red.
- Fill the glass to the top with ice.
- Pour the lemon-lime soda over the ice.
- Stir gently to combine.
- Garnish with maraschino cherries and a lime slice, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
HA HA HA My sister’s name is Shirley. Guess what she is going to be served this Saturday evening at our twice monthly get together. Rose
This looks fantastic, I love using nips for single drinks.
Good recipe.