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!
Citrus, pears, cranberries, and pomegranates all make great sangria additions in the winter months. Other favorite seasonal standbys include peaches, blackberries, lime, and cherries. Sangria variations: We love this classic red sangria, but there are countless other riffs on this classic that we can’t get enough of.
How To Make Sangria:
Homemade sangria couldn’t be easier to make. Simply…
- Chop your fruit: Dice the orange, lemon and green apple into evenly-sized pieces.
- Stir everything together: Combine the diced fruit, wine, brandy, the juice of one orange, and a cinnamon stick together in a large pitcher.
- (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.
- 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.
- Serve: Then serve the sangria over ice, topping off each glass with a splash of bubbly soda (or sparkling water) if desired.
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.
Sangria Recipe | 1-Minute Video
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.
SANGRIA RECIPE | easy authentic red sangria
FAQ
What fruits go in a sangria?
What are the basic ingredients for sangria?
Can you leave fruit in sangria overnight?
Is fresh or frozen fruit better for sangria?
What fruit goes in Sangria?
If you are making sangria for the first time in your life and don’t know what citrus fruit to put in it, oranges it is. Blood orange is also a great choice if you don’t have regular oranges at hand. Oranges and apples in the sangria made with red wine are a match made in heaven.
What pairs well with dragon fruit juice?
You can eat dragon fruit juice with whatever you want. You can have it with other fruits, or you can have it with whole grains like granola and nuts.
What wine makes a good Sangria?
White wines make fantastic white sangria, rosé works well for a blushing version. Really the only things to avoid are higher-end wines, which will be a waste of money as they lose their nuances in the sangria pitcher, and big, tannic reds, which can produce an overly acerbic drink. Getting Ratioed: What Are the Best Ratios for Sangria?
How many fruits can you put in a sangria drink?
While you can use almost any fruit for sangria and come up with different fruit combinations, the general rule is to have at least two fruits in the drink – one citrus and one not . Whatever fruit you choose, it is best to let the drink sit for a few hours or overnight, if possible.