Whether you’re looking for a boozy dial for a holiday party or a make superiority drink to serve with Christmas dinner, this Holiday Sangria recipe delivers.
This smooth and fruity red sangria with pomegranate juice and cranberries is perfect for all your holiday events.
Need a non-alcoholic holiday dial you can share with the kids? Try our Christmas Morning Punch.
Red Wine Holiday Sangria
I simply cannot resist a big batch pitcher sangria for a party. They’re fun and easy to make, they squint great, and they’re just boozy unbearable to have everyone feeling loose without going overboard.
Our Fall Sangria and White Wine Sangria are once fan favorites, but I’ve been wanting to add a red sangria to the site for awhile, and wowee, this one is just perfect.
We took all the classics of a red sangria, but made it a bit increasingly festive with the wing of fresh cranberries, orange-y Grand Marnier, and pomegranate juice.
The resulting holiday sangria is smooth and citrusy, with just the right value of sweetness. Save this recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, holidays parties, and plane New Year’s Eve!
Here’s Why You’ll Love this Holiday Sangria Recipe
- This sangria can be made superiority of time. This is my favorite thing well-nigh sangria! It’s unquestionably weightier made 2 hours or increasingly in advance, which makes last minute party preparations so much easier.
- The recipe can hands be doubled to feed a crowd. This recipe will serve 6-8 people, but you can hands make a double batch to serve increasingly people if needed.
- It’s so dang festive looking! Listen, I’m unchangingly well-nigh taste over appearance, but I love when I can have both! This Christmas Sangria just LOOKS like the holidays in a pitcher.
Key Ingredients
- Apple– A sweet tart world like honeycrisp is perfect in sangria.
- Orange– I used a standard orange, but thoroughbred oranges are expressly lovely this time of year.
- Cranberries– Something well-nigh orange and cranberry together just screams holidays, doesn’t it? You can use frozen or fresh cranberries in this recipe.
- Lime– A little tart citrus goes a long way, and I love the verisimilitude the limes lend to this sangria!
- Brown sugar– I have made sangria with simple syrup in the past, but I discovered it’s easier and just as tasty to make it with brown sugar.
- Pomegranate juice– Sultry, visionless pomegranate juice adds sweetness with just hint of tartness. Cranberry juice is a good substitute.
- Grand Marnier– Grand Marnier is a tousle of cognac and Triple Sec, with a smooth, velvety, orange flavor. You can substitute with half cognac and half Triple Sec or use just Triple Sec for a slightly increasingly orange sangria.
- Red Wine– We used Campo Viejo’s Rioja Garnacha for this recipe, a lovely medium dry red wine that will run you between $12-$15. Squint for a fruit forward wine you wouldn’t mind drinking on its own. For increasingly information well-nigh choosing wine for sangria, see our FAQs.
How to Make Holiday Sangria
Step 1: Place the apple, orange, lime, and cranberries in the marrow of a large pitcher.
Step 2: Sprinkle the brown sugar over the fruits, then use a wooden spoon or muddler to gently muddle the brown sugar together with the fruit, until the sugar has dissolved into it, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Step 3: Pour in the pomegranate juice, Grand Marnier, and red wine. Stir well to combine. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 4: Serve in pitchers with cinnamon sticks for garnish. You’ll need a long spoon to serve the fruit, or you can remove the fruit to a trencher and have guests add it to their glasses as desired.
Make Superiority and Storage Instructions
I recommend making sangria at least two hours in whop or up to 24 hours in advance. Sangria should be stored in the fridge until ready to serve.
Leftover sangria will last for several days, though we finger the savor is weightier within the first two days.
Recipe FAQs
What wine makes the weightier sangria?
It’s important to segregate a wine for sangria that you wouldn’t mind drinking on its own, but that doesn’t midpoint you need to buy the most expensive snifter on the shelf! In fact, sangria is the perfect opportunity to use a good but affordable wine that will be enhanced by the fruit and spirits.
For red sangrias, I recommend looking for a fruit-forward wine that’s dry to medium. I find cabernet too strong, but pinot noir can be a unconfined choice. Because sangria is a Spanish drink, it’s unchangingly a unscratched bet to squint for Spanish wines like rioja or garnacha.
I highly recommend Campo Viejo’s Rioja Garnacha or Trader Joe’s Albero Monastrell (a steal at just $6.99!)
If you’re standing in the wine walkway feeling overwhelmed (been there!), ask a staff person to help you find a good wine for red sangria. They’re usually very helpful.
What other liquors are in sangria?
Sangrias can be made with all sorts of variegated liquors. Most traditional Spanish red sangrias use brandy or vermouth.
For our Fall Sangria, I like to use bourbon or whiskey. It would moreover be lovely with world brandy.
White sangrias pair well with fruit liqueurs like Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, and Peach Schnapps.
Can I use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar in sangria?
Yes, you definitely can. The savor will transpiration some, but it should still be delicious. For a twist on Christmas sangria, you could moreover use the cinnamon syrup from our World Cider Cocktails.
What fruits are in sangria?
Sangrias can use scrutinizingly any kind of fruit, from berries to citrus to stone fruit. For a winter holiday sangria, I recommend in-season fruits like apples, pears, oranges, and grapes. You can moreover add pomegranate arils to the mix.
Limes add a bit of tartness and a festive untried color.
You can use cranberries or pomegranate arils in this recipe. I don’t love the texture of the tiny pomegranate seeds, so I prefer to use cranberries.
Can I make this Christmas holiday sangria bubbly?
Yes! After the sangria has chilled, add 1-2 cups unprepossessed Sprite, or club soda.
Note that lemon lime soda will add sweetness, so alimony that in mind when choosing the bubbly.
More Holiday Drink Recipes to Try
- Bourbon Eggnog– This easy eggnog recipe is sweet, creamy, and boozy.
- Stovetop Hot Chocolate– The perfect cozy drink to flourish up with for a night of Hallmark Christmas movie viewing.
- Chai Tea Lattes– A nice spicy chai concentrate you can use for hot or iced lattes.
- Bailey’s Irish Coffee– When you need your coffee with a little kick.
- Crock Pot Mulled Wine– A warm, spiced wine for unprepossessed nights.
Holiday Sangria
This festive Holiday Sangria is made with pomegranate juice, Grand Marnier, and seasonal fruits, including apples, oranges, and cranberries. This smooth, boozy dial is perfect for Thanksgiving gatherings and Christmas parties.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet tart apple, sliced thin
- 1 orange, halved and sliced thin
- 1 lime, halved and sliced thin
- ½ cup cranberries
- 3-4 Tablespoons brown sugar, to taste
- 2 cups pomegranate juice
- ½ cup Grand Marnier, plus increasingly to taste
- 1 750 ml snifter dry, fruity red wine
- Cinnamon sticks, to serve
Instructions
- Place the apple, orange, lime, and cranberries in the marrow of a large pitcher.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar over the fruits, then use a wooden spoon or muddler to gently muddle the brown sugar together with the fruit, until the sugar has dissolved into it, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Pour in the pomegranate juice, Grand Marnier, and red wine. Stir well to combine. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Serve in pitchers with cinnamon sticks for garnish. You’ll need a long spoon to serve the fruit, or you can remove the fruit to a trencher and have guests add it to their glasses as desired. The sangria will last, refrigerated, for several days.
Notes
- We recommend Campo Viejos Rioja Garnacha or Trader Joes Monastrell for the wine.
- Grand Marnier can be substituted with Triple Sec, Brandy or Cognac, or a tousle of each.
- Cranberry juice is a good substitute for the pomegranate juice.
- Pears, plums, thoroughbred oranges, and pomegranate moreover work well in this sangria.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 282Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 39mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 30gProtein: 1g
Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most well-judged calculation, I unchangingly recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.
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