This delicious and easy sangria recipe is made with festive flavors like cinnamon, cranberry juice, apples, and clementines! 

Plus, you can easily make this perfect Thanksgiving cocktail ahead of time. 

Something I love doing when I am hosting for the holidays is a fun cocktail! Making a big batch of something like a Christmas cosmopolitan or this Thanksgiving red sangria recipe will not only make dinner party prep easier, but your friends and family are sure to remember your party. 

This simple red sangria recipe is made with 9 simple ingredients and it’s bursting with fresh holiday flavors and seasonal fruits. I’ve got a few handy swaps you can make if you don’t have all the ingredients on hand! And, i you’re looking for even more holiday cocktails, you need to try my pomegranate Aperol spritz. 

why you’ll love this Thanksgiving sangria

• Easy: It takes very little prep work so it’s easy to make and serve for Thanksgiving dinner.
• Versatile: You can make easy ingredient swaps according to your personal preferences!
• Flavorful: This easy holiday sangria is the best of both holidays, melding Fall flavors with classic Christmas.

Ingredients needed

Red Wine: I recommend using pinot noir or a Spanish wine like a Tempranillo or Garnacha; pick a delicious wine that you like to drink

Honeycrisp Apple: Can’t find honeycrisp apples? Swap it out for another sweet apple like Gala, Fuji or Jazz apple. I don’t recommend using Granny Smith apples here because they tend to be too sour.

Pear: I love the sweetness of pear in this sangria recipe

Clementine: Feel free to substitute with small navel orange slices for the clementine. 

Gran Marnier: This orange liqueur adds a festive flavour and you can also use cointreau as a great substitute if needed

Cranberries: You can use fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries in this red wine sangria

Cinnamon: get a hint of cinnamon from a few cinnamon sticks

How to make this red wine sangria recipe

Step 1: In a large pitcher, combine the red wine with the maple syrup, gran marnier and cranberry juice and give everything a good stir to fully combine.

Step 2: Add the cinnamon sticks, chopped or sliced honeycrisp apple, chopped or sliced pear, clementine slices, and cranberries.

Step 3: Stir everything together and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours for the best flavor.

Step 4: Serve the sangria by adding ice to each glass and pouring the sangria over the ice. Make sure each glass gets a little bit of fruit! Garnish with a cinnamon stick, slice of clementine and or rosemary sprig. 

Step 5: For a sparkling touch, top each glass with a splash of ginger beer or ginger ale for a little fizz.

How to make Red Sangria Ahead of Time

The reason why we want to make this red sangria ahead of time is so the flavors of the fresh fruit can infuse into the wine and vice versa. By giving it at least a couple of hours, you’re sure to have a flavorful drink! So, you can make this up to 24 hours in advance and store it in the fridge until ready to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. 

Tips & Tricks

• Don’t have time for the sangria to chill for an hour or two? Then make sure you chill the red wine beforehand! Then this easy recipe only needs to sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, and it’ll still have a good flavor. 
• You can make this up to 24 hours in advance and store it in the fridge. 
• Want an extra festive garnish? Dip a sprig of rosemary in simple syrup or water, then roll it in white sugar. I did this with my Christmas cosmopolitan, and it’s such a fun touch! 

Variations

• Pomegranates: Swap the cranberry juice for pomegranate juice and the cranberries for pomegranate seeds for a different flavour profile.
• Cinnamon sugar rim: Level up the presentation of this drink by making a cinnamon sugar mixture for the rim of the glass. Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tbsp ground cinnamon on a plate. Use a wedge of orange and run it around the outer lip of your glass of choice and then, gently press the rim of the glass into the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the plate to coat.
• Mix of fruit: In this Thanksgiving dinner sangria I use fruits available in the Fall season; however, if you prefer apples over pears, swap the pear for another apple for example.
• Brandy: I like to use Gran Marnier (or Cointreau) for a festive citrus flavour but you could substitute with an apple brandy or festive bourbon instead based on your tastes to make this your perfect cocktail.

Common questions

How to store this sangria and make ahead of time

You can make this red sangria up to 24 hours ahead of time. Store in the fridge in a jug or container. 

More Thanksgiving recipes to love from the blog

• Easy Lemon & Herb Butter Roasted Turkey
• Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples, Dates & Hazelnuts
• Make Ahead Sausage Stuffing

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Easy Red Sangria Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner

This Red Sangria recipe is easy to make for Thanksgiving Dinner! Packed with Fall fruits, citrus & cinnamon, it will be your go-to every year.

Course Drinks

Cuisine american-inspired

Keyword red wine, sangria, thanksgiving

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Chill time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 -8 people

Author Jess

Ingredients

• 750 ml bottle red wine
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup gran marnier or cointreau
• 1 cup 100% cranberry juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 large honeycrisp apple, or 2 small apples, chopped or sliced
• 1 pear, chopped or sliced
• 2 small clementines, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• Optional: Ginger beer, ginger ale or soda water for serving

Instructions

• In a large pitcher, combine the red wine with the maple syrup, gran marnier and cranberry juice and give everything a good stir to fully combine.
• Add the cinnamon sticks, chopped or sliced honeycrisp apple, chopped or sliced pear, clementine slices, and cranberries.
• Stir everything together to combine and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours for the best flavor.
• Before serving give the sangria a good stir. Serve the sangria by adding ice to each glass and pouring the sangria over the ice. Make sure each glass gets a little bit of fruit! Garnish with a cinnamon stick, slice of clementine and/or rosemary sprig.
• For a sparkling touch, top each glass with a splash of ginger beer or ginger ale for a little fizz.

Notes

• Usually I recommend to use whatever red wine you have on hand but make sure it’s a kind of wine you like to drink! I like to use pinot noir or a Spanish red wine like a Tempranillo or Garnacha.
• Make this into a non-alcoholic sangria by using a non-alcoholic red wine and swap the gran marnier for orange juice.
• This recipe was developed and tested using red wine, however, I think the flavours would still work with a crisp white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.

The post Easy Red Sangria Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

Made simply with seasonal ingredients, it’s incredibly easy to make.

Plus I’m giving you tips on how to change up the ingredients for other seasons too.

A traditional red sangria is generally made up of 5 components –

What are the basic ingredients for sangria

• Fruit
• A sweetener like brown sugar
• A liquor like brandy or rum
• Orange juice
• A bold Spanish red wine like Rioja or Tempranillo

For my recipe I went with a bit of an ‘end of summer’ spin using seasonal fruits like plums, nectarines and peaches.

What is red wine sangria made of

Fruit: Plums, nectarines or peaches and cherries are perfect for this end of season drink.

Sweetener: Honey as the sweetener for something a little different.

Liquor: Triple Sec or Cointreau work beautifully with the fruit flavours.

Red Wine: A fizzy Lambrusco, a dry yet somewhat fruity wine which pairs brilliantly with the stone fruits. However, there are many other Spanish red wines that will work beautifully too.

What red wine is good for sangria?

A Spanish wine like Garnacha (also called Grenache), Rioja or Tempranillo are your best bet for an authentic Spanish sangria. However, a pinot noir works well too.  My top tip – choose a wine under $20 that you would normally enjoy a glass of on it’s own.

It’s such an easy make-ahead drink for entertaining; plus it feels fancy and festive!

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Easy Red Sangria

An easy red sangria using seasonal fruits so you can make this recipe any season! Made with fresh fruit, triple sec, red wine and a dash of honey.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Spanish

Keyword sangria

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 glasses

Author Jess

Ingredients

• 2-4 tbsp honey see notes for substitutes
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 4 plums, pitted and sliced
• 2 nectarines or peaches, pitted and sliced
• 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 bottle red wine, chilled (garnacha, rioja, pinot noir for example)
• fresh thyme and extra plum slices for garnish

Instructions

• To a pitcher add 2 tbsp honey and hot water and stir to dissolve. Then add the prepared fruit, triple sec and bottle of red wine.
• Stir to combine and taste. Add up to 2 tablespoons more of honey for more sweetness.
• Serve this red sangria immediately if bottle of wine was chilled or try a glass over ice. Alternatively, chill in the fridge for up to 8 hours before serving.

Notes

HONEY ALTERNATIVES: Try maple syrup or, brown or white sugar instead of honey.

FOR A FIZZIER VERSION: Stir in a can of club soda to the pitcher of sangria before serving.

Even though I want summer to last forever so I can enjoy this sangria much more, I’ve got you covered with a few variations for the Fall and Winter months so we can cheers all year long!

How to make a sangria for the Fall

Fall red sangria: Replace the stone fruit with a combination of 1 orange sliced, 1 apple sliced, 1 pear sliced and 2 sticks of cinnamon. Optional: top up glasses of sangria with ginger ale.

How to make a sangria for the Holiday season

Festive winter red sangria: Replace the stone fruit with a combination of 1 orange sliced, 2 limes sliced and 1 cup of whole frozen cranberries. Optional: add in 1 cup of cranberry juice.

More cocktails to love from the blog:

Citrus Vodka Crush

Spiced Winter Punch

Easy Mulled Wine

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Easy Red Sangria appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.