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Sangria

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Learn how to make authentic Spanish sangria with this easy sangria recipe. It only takes a few minutes to prep, it’s easy to customize with your favorite wine and fruit, and it’s great for entertaining a crowd!

Ever since we moved to Barcelona, I’ve received lots of requests for an authentic Spanish sangria recipe here on the blog. But as it turns out…locals here actually don’t really drink much sangria. (Which came as a total surprise to us too!)

If you glance around a restaurant here in Spain, it’s almost always the tourists who are the ones with pitchers of sangria on their tables. When locals here are craving a cold drink, they usually opt instead for a glass of vermut (here in Catalonia) or sidra (in Asturias) or tinto de verano (wine with lemon soda down in the south) or kalimotxo (wine with Coke in the Basque country). Granted, Spaniards do proudly take the credit for sangria, although the details of its origins are a bit murky. And my Spanish friends also made sure to note as I was writing this post that they do occasionally make a batch of sangria at home in the summertime, especially when they’re looking for a cheap and easy way to provide drinks for a crowd. But with amazing high-quality wine being so affordable and abundant here in Spain, most of the time people here would much prefer to just drink it straight instead of diluting it into sangria.

Still though, even if sangria is admittedly more of a touristy thing in Spain, I love making it this time of year! It has long been my go-to cocktail for summer entertaining, especially since it’s so easy to make (less than 10 minutes or prep), relatively affordable (and a perfect use for inexpensive wine), completely customizable with your favorite ingredients (hello, colorful fruit that’s in season), and it always tastes so light and refreshing (perfect for summer). It’s also easy to prep a few hours in advance, making it a great drink for easy summer entertaining. And in my experience, it’s always a hit with a crowd.

So if you are interested in learning how to make authentic sangria, here is the way that sangria is prepared here in Spain. There may be a few surprise ingredients in here, so read on!

Sangria Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Spanish Sangria Ingredients

If you ask bartenders here in Spain how to make sangria, they will be the first to tell you that — technically — there is no standard way to make sangria. It’s really just a wine punch made with seasonal fruit, sweetener, a good splash of brandy, and possibly something fizzy added in. But beyond that, the details are 100% up to you! I’ve included lots of tips below for how to customize your own sangria recipe. But as a starting place, here are the sangria ingredients that are used most commonly here in Spain:

  • Spanish red wine: As the world’s third largest wine producer, Spaniards would absolutely insist that you choose a decent Spanish red for your sangria. (Rioja wine is the popular choice, which typically features garnacha and/or tempranillo grapes.)  But no need to splurge on an expensive bottle. Sangria is the perfect way to gussy up any inexpensive or leftover wine that you might have on hand.
  • Brandy: This is the spirit most commonly added to Spanish sangria recipes. But if you don’t have any on hand, feel free to sub in cognac or orange liqueur instead.
  • Fresh chopped fruit: The standard three fruits you will see most often in Spain are oranges, lemons and green apples. But as I mention below, feel free to also add in other juicy fruits that you happen to have on hand.
  • Cinnamon stick: Yep, cinnamon! This was a fun surprise moving to Spain — there’s almost always a cinnamon stick floating in every pitcher of sangria here, and I love the subtle hint of warming spice that it adds.
  • Sweetener: Feel free to add as much sweetener to your sangria you would like. Sugar or brown sugar is standard here in Spain (melted into a simple syrup, with equal parts boiling water and sugar). But feel free to use maple syrup or honey for a natural alternative.
  • Bubbles: Totally up to you if you would like to make your sangria a bit fizzy! I prefer mine flat, but feel free to top your glasses off with a light soda (such as Sprite, La Casera or ginger ale) or sparkling water just before serving if you would like.

How To Make Sangria

Homemade sangria couldn’t be easier to make. Simply…

  1. Chop your fruit: Dice the orange, lemon and green apple into evenly-sized pieces.
  2. Stir everything together: Combine the diced fruit, wine, brandy, the juice of one orange, and a cinnamon stick together in a large pitcher.
  3. (Optional) Add sweetener: If you prefer a sweeter sangria, feel free to add in a tablespoon or two of sweetener at a time until the sangria reaches your desired level of sweetness.
  4. Cover and refrigerate: Pop the pitcher in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours before serving, in order to let those flavors meld together.
  5. Serve: Then serve the sangria over ice, topping off each glass with a splash of bubbly soda (or sparkling water) if desired.

Sangria Recipe Variations

As I mentioned above, the beauty of sangria is that it’s really more of a method than an exact recipe. So just gather whatever ingredients you have on hand and customize a batch to your liking. For example, feel free to…

  • Use a different wine: Red wine is traditional with Spanish sangria. But a good Spanish white or rosé wine would also work great!
  • Use a different liqueur: If brandy isn’t your thing, cognac or orange liqueur (such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec) are also popular additions to sangria here in Spain.
  • Add different fruit: Sangria is the perfect use for leftover fresh or frozen fruit, so feel free to add in whatever you have on hand. Any juicy fruits (such as citrus, berries, grapes, pineapple, mango, kiwi, etc.) would be delicious.
  • Add fresh ginger: If you would like to give your sangria a bit of a kick, muddle in a few slices of fresh ginger.
  • Make it spicy: This is 100% non-traditional, as Spaniards typically don’t like to add much heat to their food or drinks, but I sometimes love to muddle in a jalapeño slice or two to give the sangria a subtle but interesting kick.

More Authentic Spanish Recipes

Looking for more authentic Spanish or Catalan recipes to try? Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve learned to make while we have been living in Barcelona…

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Sangria

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 17 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x

Description

Learn how to make authentic Spanish sangria with this easy sangria recipe.  It only takes a few minutes to prep, it’s easy to customize with your favorite wine and fruit, and it’s great for entertaining a crowd!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 bottles Spanish red wine (Rioja is most popular)
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 2 oranges, one juiced and one diced
  • 1 green apple, diced
  • 1 lemon, diced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • optional sweetener: simple syrup* or maple syrup
  • optional bubbles: lemon-lime soda, ginger ale or sparkling water

Instructions

  1. Add the wine, brandy, orange juice, diced orange, diced apple, diced lemon and cinnamon stick to a large pitcher.  Stir to combine.  Taste and add in a few tablespoons of sweetener, if desired.
  2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
  3. Serve the sangria over ice, topping off each glass with a splash of bubbly soda (or sparkling water) if desired.

Notes

Simple Syrup: To make simple syrup, just combine equal parts sugar (or honey) with water.  Give the mixture a stir and heat until the sugar (or honey) has dissolved.  Then use immediately, or cover and refrigerate in a sealed container until ready to use.

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36 comments on “Sangria”

  1. No has probado nunca la sangría de cava?? Es super rica también!!! :)

    • Thank you for a recipe that doesn’t rely on copious amounts of orange juice. I’m highly allergic to oranges. Your recipe is easy enough to modify. With Thanksgiving in mind, I’ll use pears and cranberries to replace the orange slices. Thanks again!

  2. We live in Madrid and were surprised to learn this too! I still love a good glass of sangria though. :-)

  3. A few years ago when I was in Barcelona visiting our daughter, I was told by a bartender that NO ONE in the US could make Sangria like they do in Spain! I do agree that it’s wonderful there. Also, our son lives in Malaga and they drink a lot of beer in the south when it’s hot. The first time I visited southern Spain I was surprised by all the Spaniards drinking beer.

    Now I’m missing my son and Spain!

    • This recipe was really good! However- note to self: An 8 inch cinnamon stick is a bit too much!!!

  4. how long will it last?

  5. I’ve never made a Sangria before, so this is definitely a great chance for me to learn making it. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Ali. I’ll try to surprise my Spanish friends the next time they visit me :D

  6. Skip the sangria, I’ll take the tinto de verano (half wine, half soda)! My bf is from Sevilla and when I first was in Andalucía with him, he introduced me. I don’t care for wine at all, but a nice tinto de verano, when we’re down in the south, sitting on the plaza and waiting for our dinner… Oh, I can’t wait for our holiday! :D

  7. I have thrown huge parties with this recipe. No hang over!
    I used a 50 gallon bin.
    Throw in lots of chopped orange apples lemon. Add 2 lbs cane sugar
    Bottle of white rum, orange liqueur, brandy.
    Stir leave for 30 mins to ferment!!

    Add 5 ltr sweet red from the bodega
    Plus 5ltr dry red
    Leave for 2 hours at least.
    Add huge block of ice as much as you like 10 ltr
    Pour two ltr sprite over the ice. More if you like.
    Stir
    Leave until serving. Up to you. About 45 mins.

  8. This was just perfect! ❤️






  9. This post is a great jumping off point! It made me feel at ease to use what I had on hand. Leftovers Sangria. :)

    My fruit mix was lemon, blueberries, and peaches. And the hard alcohol was spiced rum! I didn’t have any fizzy options to use tonight but I plan on trying a dry hard apple cider tomorrow (after I buy some).






  10. Really ? delicious. I made the simple syrup from honey, and added fresh ginger to the sangria. It was still really strong for me, so I did serve with half lemon lime soda/half sangria






  11. This is a wonderful recipe! I think the cinnamon really makes it takes extra authentic.






  12. I tweeked it a little for my own taste






  13. when I lived in ROTA, Spain many years ago, Sangria was a staple for us. I didn’t drink alcohol much at the time but the wine/brandy soaked fruit packs a punch! My favorite fruits were and still are fresh strawberries, peaches, blackberries actually all the summer fresh fruits. Make it early in the day and by evening, the fruit has soaked in all the delicious red table wine and brandy!

    • Hi Darlene,small world.

      I grew up in Rota. DGf HS. Back to states. Univ Ky. Did 30 years military. Now live in Seville.
      Wish was some way to talk with you.

      For all others, CruzCampo beer is King in southern Spain.

    • I was born in ROTA ..at the naval base! Father was in Navy at the time.

  14. Perfecto!!






  15. This looks amazing! What size bottles of wine does this recipe call for?

  16. We used your idea of making simple syrup with honey and added ruby about if fresh ginger! Ahhhhhhh






  17. Too good, never ever taste the wine or brandy but i loved the recipe a lot. Will try and serve who has a taste for this. Thank you for the recipe.
    Farhat






  18. Hi! Is Brandy essential in this recipe?

  19. It was so sweet and my boyfriend love enjoying it with thank you ,for sharing.






  20. Lived in Spain b4 marriage and this was a great party drink to serve. After I was married a great reminder of fun times. I recommend this recipe. Enjoy. ?






  21. Made this today and it was a hit, had to make simple syrup for those that like sweet wine and added pineapples. Awesome recipe!! Will be making this again, I’m sure before the week is complete.






  22. Does the orange and lemon start to taste bitter (from the rinds) at some point? How long til it does?

  23. Wow, its so delicious recipe , I will try soon and will share my experience. Thanks For sharing.






  24. Thank you for this recipe. The comments were good, too. My addition would be to use tonic water as the bubbly.






  25. Sangria is like bouillabaisse without the seafood, and spices, and tomotoes, and… But the philosophy is the same: leftovers made to taste great! Thx for the recipe.

  26. Ali, your recipe is very similar to my mother’s with the exception of cinnamon, which she didn’t use. As a favor to my father and me she often skipped the sugar or simple syrup, since we didn’t (and I still don’t) like sweet tastes.






  27. Loved it! Made the simple syrup, but it wasn’t really needed, given the wine I used for the sangria. Did 1/3 cup of cognac (what I had on hand) instead of the 1/2 cup of brandy. Used oranges, peaches, and strawberries. It was yummy. The cinnamon stick definitely added a light spice flavor to the sangria. We munched on the fruit after all the liquid was gone.






  28. This was wonderful! Thanks for sharing about what you’ve learned in Spain. I live vicariously through your Instagram and can’t wait to come visit once the world starts traveling again!






  29. Hi! Here in Argentina we prepare sangría “our way”, Argentine style.
    Ingredients: 2 lemons; 1/5 liter borgoña wine; 150 gr. sugar; 1 orange; ice cubes and soda (it may be some Sprite soda or just water soda, we prefer the last one and just a splash)
    Directions:
    Wash lemons and oranges,
    Wash the lemons and the orange squeeze manually in a punch bowl add the wine, stir gently, finally add the ice and soda… Ready!!.
    Other version is just wine, lemon, sugar, water soda and ice cube or cold it in the fridge, (without the orange)
    You can use malbec, borgoña (I think it’s burgundy there); merlot, but also we can use white wine. The quality of the wine improves or not the taste of the sangría.

  30. I love this recipe!! Absolutely delicious and my forever go to! Thank you for sharing! Always a hit at our parties! 😋