This easy red sangria recipe is cool, fruity, and refreshing. Enjoy a glass on a hot summer day, or serve it at a gathering at any time of year.
If you ask me, sangria is the perfect drink to share with friends – it’s festive, fun, fruity, and refreshing. As cocktails go, it’s inexpensive and easy to make. For a knockout happy hour, mix up a pitcherful, invite people over, and sip cool glasses in the warm sun. Aaah, summer.
These days, you can easily find sangria made with white wine or rosé, but in this recipe, I use red wine to make a more traditional, Spanish-style sangria. Obviously, I love it in the summertime, but because this recipe calls for red wine, it’s a great choice for year-round entertaining, too. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, aromatic, floral, and brimming with fresh fruit. I think you’re going to love it!
Red Sangria Recipe Ingredients
There’s no one way to make sangria, but it typically consists of wine, fresh fruit, liquor, and (sometimes) a sweetener. Here’s what I use in mine:
- Red wine – Look for a bottle of fruity Spanish red wine, such as Tempranillo or Garnacha. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and in fact, it shouldn’t be! You’re going to dilute the wine with other flavors, so there’s no need to shell out here.
- Fresh fruit – I think oranges are a must, and I also love lime for a little tartness. I round out this recipe with crisp green apples and fresh raspberries.
- Liquor – Brandy is most traditional, but I often like to use an orange liqueur like Cointreau or Grand Marnier instead. Add less or more depending on how strong you want your sangria to be.
- Orange juice – Instead of adding a sweetener like brown sugar or maple syrup, I sweeten my sangria naturally with orange juice. I love its full, citrusy flavor with the wine.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Sangria
This red sangria recipe is SO simple to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, prep the fruit. Thinly slice the orange, and then cut those slices into quarters. Chop the apple, and thinly slice the lime. Add this fruit to a large pitcher along with the raspberries.
Next, add the wine, brandy or Cointreau, and orange juice. Stir to combine.
Finally, chill. Pop the sangria in the fridge to chill overnight.
Serve in glasses with ice. Enjoy!
Sangria Recipe Tips
- Don’t skimp on the chilling time. By chilling the sangria, you give the fresh fruits a chance to infuse the wine with sweet, fresh flavor. If you cut this time short, your sangria won’t taste as fruity or as balanced. I let mine chill for at least 8 hours before serving, or overnight for the best flavor.
- Taste and adjust. Whenever you’re making a cocktail at home, be sure to taste and adjust it to your liking. If you prefer a sweeter sangria, add an extra splash of orange juice or a little maple syrup. Like it stronger? Stir in more Cointreau. Have fun finding a balance of flavors you love.
- Change it up! This recipe is great as-written, but feel free to play with it. If you like your sangria to be bubbly, top it off with club soda after it chills. Replace the raspberries or apples with another seasonal fruit like strawberries or pears. Or, for a spiced-up variation, toss a cinnamon stick into the pitcher before you chill it. Let me know what variations you try!
More Favorite Summer Drinks
If you love this red sangria recipe, try one of these summer cocktails next:
- Peach Sangria
- Mojito
- Paloma
- Classic Margarita
- Mango Margarita
- Watermelon Margarita
- Jalapeño Margarita
- Mint Julep
Red Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 Granny Smith or other green apple, cored and chopped
- 1 orange, thinly sliced, then sliced into quarters
- 1 lime, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup raspberries or sliced strawberries
- 1 (750 mL) bottle Tempranillo, Garnacha, or Rioja wine
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ to ½ cup Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or brandy*
Instructions
- Place the apple, orange, lime, and raspberries in a large pitcher. Pour in the wine, orange juice, and Cointreau and stir. Chill overnight (I like to chill mine for 24 hours for optimal fruit-infused flavor).
- Serve in glasses filled with ice.
This is very good, but my Spanish born and raised extended family use Vermouth (no brandy) and lemon-lime Fanta style soda in the mix instead of OJ.
Hi, I’m thinking about trying out this recipe for an upcoming birthday. I was wondering what kind of orange juice you used. There’s so many different kinds each with their own distinct flavors. So I was just wondering what kind you would recommend using for this recipe.
Hi Jordan, 365 brand no-pulp orange juice – nothing super special.
Hi! I made this without the lime because I didn’t have a lime. I used 1/4 cup brandy as well as 1/4 cup of cointreau and it turned out nice and not too sweet. After hiking in the Canadian Rockie Mountains today I found it a special treat to relax with in the evening.
That said, I recommend cutting the fruit into bite size pieces.
Cant wait to try this! Can I add sugar to it to make it a bit sweeter?
Hi, I would do agave syrup or make this simple syrup, just so the sugar is dissolved when you add it: https://www.loveandlemons.com/simple-syrup-recipe/
You can add sugar when adding the brandy then add the fruit to the sugar and brandy mix so it soaks up the alcohol. Also you can top with gingerale when serving.
So excited to try this one.
I found this to be way too tart for my taste so ended up adding sugar at the end.
I’ve spent my teens in spain and tried so many sangria recipes to get a sangria that taste like the ones I had in Spain now when I can’t get there. And this is it! Just like the way I want and think sangria should taste like. Thanks so much. This brings me to Spain although I’m miles away.
Hi Jessie, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for posting a Spanish style sangria recipe! This is the same one my family would make growing up. My dad’s secret is that instead of plain brandy, use blackberry brandy. Delicious!!
YES!! YES!! YES!!!
This drink was so needed today on this very hot very muggy very humid Canadian day!
C’était fantastique!!! 🤗
I’m so glad you loved it!
yes a great summer cocktail, mine summer specific wines so far have only been roses, have not had any sangria, so thank you for the reminder and the recipe
If I wanted to make a batch of this to keep in the fridge for the week, should I keep the fruit in or remove it after the initial 24 hours? Basically, would it last longer if I removed the fruit?
Hi Lauren, I kept mine in the fridge with the fruit for 3-4 days and it was fine.