This tropical Homemade Hawaiian Punch recipe is a delightfully easy and refreshing non-alcoholic fruit punch that is perfect for any party or luau! You're going to want to make this all summer long!

Planning a backyard luau? You might also like to try some of our Hawaiian-inspired recipes like Coconut Macadamia Nut Ice Cream, Kalua Pork, and Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi-Mahi!

One of our favorite activities when we go to Hawaii is to visit a luau. I'll be the first to admit that the food at these large luaus tends to be only okay, but nothing special. It's really the music, dancing, and ambiance that I'm there for. 

But this last time we went to Kauai we tried the Smith Family Luau in Kauai and instead of the Mai Tai I opted for their kid-friendly Hawaiian Punch. It was delicious and took me right back to my childhood!

When I was a kid, Hawaiian punch was one of my very favorite beverages that would show up all the time at parties. Everybody's lips would be stained red after a glass of Hawaiian punch, but I never even cared.

The classic "fruit juicy red" will always be my favorite, but like so many things, I've learned that I have a strong preference for homemade over store-bought. This simple Hawaiian Punch copycat recipe is no exception. 

I wanted to include it as part of my American Eats series representing the foods Hawaii is known for because it's tied to our memories of our most recent trip!

Homemade Hawaiian Punch is just a combination of a variety of fruit juices and nectars including tropical favorites like pineapple and guava. There is a little extra sugar to sweeten things up and some optional red food coloring (affiliate link) to get the classic punch look, but that's it. It takes less than five minutes to make and there is no cooking involved. 

Even with the sugar, it's got to be better for you than the store-bought kind, which only contains 5% juice, not to mention a bunch of other unpronounceable ingredients. Which makes this homemade Hawaiian punch the perfect beverage to serve at all your summer events like parties, cookouts, showers, family reunions, picnics, and barbecues. It's wonderful with Hawaiian macaroni salad and grilled cilantro lime chicken!

If you opt not to add the food coloring (affiliate link), the punch is still a pleasing orangey-pink color, so the red food coloring (affiliate link) is totally optional.

This little cutie definitely approves.

The seven fruits listed on the Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red label are apple, apricot, guava, orange, papaya, passion fruit, and pineapple. In my version, I swap out papaya nectar for mango nectar (personal preference)

The trickiest ingredient to find tends to be passion fruit juice, which is why I tend to just buy a couple of passion fruit and blend the seeds and pulp with some of the water, then pour that through a mesh sieve before adding to the other ingredients. But if you have a hard time finding passion fruit or passion fruit juice, the punch still tastes wonderful without it.

All of the other ingredients are easy to obtain. Kern's makes a bunch of fruit nectars that I can always find in the juice aisle. Another place to look for some of the juices is in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. 

Sun Tropics makes guava and mango nectars that you can find there next to the refrigerated orange juice that I have used before, and you can also get their POG (a blend of passion fruit, orange, and guava juices that is popular all by itself in Hawaii). Neither of those brands are sponsoring this post, but I've used them both and know they are great products.

Pretty much everything! We aren't big on carbonated beverages so we serve fruit punch at parties and cookouts. It's great with all kinds of burgers and grilled meat. And it's just as good with roast chicken or pork chops as it is with cheesy appetizers at a party like spinach artichoke dip or bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.

A batch of fruit punch will keep well in the fridge for about 7 days. You should not leave your fruit punch out on the counter, although you could freeze it if you wanted to and have some delicious fruit punch popsicles!

I'm not a nutritionist but I can at least say that my homemade Hawaiian Punch is made with plenty of natural fruit juice and only a minimal amount of added sugar, which you can eliminate entirely if you prefer. So it's loaded with lots of great vitamins and less sugar than most sodas, and quite a bit more real fruit juice than the store bought version which is only 3% real fruit juice.

No, I don't believe that Hawaiian Punch is actually from Hawaii. The original Hawaiian Punch recipe was created in the 1930's in a garage in southern California as a fruit syrup flavor!

I started wondering why this kind of drink was called "punch" and found an article that explained that it was invented by sailors in the Indian Ocean who used local ingredients of citrus, spices, and rum to create a replacement for the beer that would go bad on the journey there. They brought these concoctions back to Britain, then to the Americas, and the alcohol was eventually removed in many punch recipes so they would be appropriate for "ladies and children".

But another explanation, at least according to wikipedia, is that there was a drink in Persia known as "panch" that was made with water, lemon, herbs, sugar, and rum, which made its way across Europe to Spain where the name changed to "ponche" and then on to Mexico. Which makes sense from a linguistic standpoint as well as if you consider the tradition of aguas frescas - refreshing drinks made with fresh fruit, water, and sugar -  that are popular in Mexico.

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.