Apple Cider Sangria
This red-wine based apple cider sangria is the perfect blend of sweet and tangy! It comes together in just 5 minutes, and it's the perfect fall pitcher cocktail to serve at pumpkin carving parties, Thanksgiving dinner, or Halloween parties!
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Apple Cider Sangria
- ⏰ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🕰️ Rest Time: 1 hour
- 👥 Servings: 4-6 drinks (depending on how big of glasses you pour)
- 🍷 Good For: Fall potlucks, Halloween parties, pumpkin carving parties, Thanksgiving dinner, Friendsgiving, everyday Fall yumminess, serving alongside a Halloween charcuterie board
- 👩🏻🍳 Flavor Profile: Sweet and tangy. Spiked with classic fall spices like cinnamon, cloves, and star anise.
- ↪ Make-Ahead Friendly: The flavors get better after about an hour in the fridge, so make it before your party and save yourself some time
- 🧡 Difficulty: Super easy!
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🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Hey friend: You may have noticed that I love a good sangria recipe-especially in the fall! I rotate between this apple cider-based sangria, my pumpkin sangria, and my rose sangria all autumn long. This particular recipe holds a special place in my heart because it's red-wine based making it full-bodied and packed full of flavor. I think using red wine makes it perfect for elevated dinner parties (looking at you Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving) and casual events alike.
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Quick & Easy: It takes 5 minutes to make! It'll probably take you longer to open your bottle of wine than the whip this up.
- Bold Fall Flavor: Loaded with tart and tangy red wine, sweet apple cider, and traditional autumn spices, this has all the classic fall flavor you are looking for.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Put out a pitcher of this sangria, and you will be the most popular person at your fall parties! This recipe doubles or triples easily if you have a big crowd to serve. And if there are little ones at your party, serve this alongside my witches' brew recipe for kids.
- She's Real Pretty: Deep red wine mixed with beautiful fruit slices and whole spices means this sangria is a real looker! I recommend serving it in a clear glass vessel so everyone can ooh-and-ahh over your creation.
🍷 The Ingredients You Need
- Red wine: Most apple cider sangrias out there are white wine based, but I love how the sweetness of apple cider balances with the tart and tang of red wine! I tested this recipe multiple times with Cabernet Sauvignon with wonderful results. A Merlot, Shiraz, or Malbec would all work well, too.
- Apple cider: Make sure to grab apple cider and not apple juice. Apple cider is made of freshly pressed apples, with minimal filtering and no added sugar or preservatives. It has strong apple flavor that tastes just like biting into a fresh apple. Use leftovers in my spinach and apple smoothie, apple cider hot toddy or spiked apple cider!
- Whole star anise, cloves, and cinnamon sticks: I opt to use whole spices here to keep the sangria from getting a gritty texture, as it would with ground spices.
- Brown sugar: I add a touch of brown sugar to help balance out the acidity of the red wine and apple cider, but feel free to leave it out and then sweeten your final sangria to taste.
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Substitutions & Variations
- Make it non-alcoholic: Alcohol-removed wine works great in this sangria! Or if you want it to be totally alcohol-free, try grape juice or cranberry juice. Just skip the added brown sugar because juices are inherently sweeter.
- Make it more boozy: Want an extra kick? Add a ½ cup to 1 full cup of brandy to this to spike it even more. Apple brandy is particularly good in this!
- Less sweet: Skip the added brown sugar, taste your sangria, then only add extra sugar if you want it sweeter.
- More sweet: Add in a bit more brown sugar, or spike it with my homemade pumpkin spice syrup to add even more flavor and sweetness.
🍎 How to Make Apple Cider Sangria
Step 1: Slice the apple, orange, and pear into pretty crosswise slices.
Step 2: Add the fruit to a pitcher, then add in the brown sugar.
Step 3: Add in the whole star anise, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves.
Step 4: Add in the apple cider.
Step 5: Pour in the bottle of red wine.
Step 6: Stir well. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.
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🙋🏻♀️ Apple Cider Sangria FAQs
Apple cider sangria works great with both red and white wine. White wine gives you a lighter drink, while red wine makes a sangria that is more full-bodied and bold.
While I am partial to the combo of red wine with apple cider, you have so many options when it comes to spiking your cider. Try champagne for an apple cider mimosa. Bourbon is the key ingredient in both my classic spiked apple cider and my apple cider hot toddy.
👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- Make It In Advance (But Not TOO Far): Sangria is best when it melds in the fridge for an hour or two before serving. But after more than a day, the fruit and spices tends to turn the sangria bitter. If you are keeping the sangria more than 12 hours, strain out the fruit and spices first, and then store the sangria in the fridge.
- Make It Your Own: Sangria is a drink that is begging to be customized. Add in nutmeg or cardamom. Add in apple brandy. Throw in some lemon slices. Get creative!
- Don't Stress About $$$ Wine: This isn't the place to use a $100 bottle of wine! The fruit, spices, and cider will cover up a lot of harsh notes in a cheaper wine, so this is a good place to save some cash. Save that expensive wine for sips on another day.
- Mix for a Crowd: If you are really making it for a crowd, this sangria recipe (and all sangrias) work wonderfully in a drink dispenser jar with a spout. This is how we serve sangria at Thanksgiving dinner each year! Triple this recipe to fill up a one gallon drink dispenser
🍁More Fall Cocktail Recipes to Enjoy
If you tried this Apple Cider Sangria or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Apple Cider Sangria Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 apple
- 1 orange
- 1 pear
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 star anise pods
- 750 ml red wine 1 bottle; we used Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 cups apple cider
Instructions
- Cut the apple, orange, and pear into thin slices.
- In the bottom of a pitcher, toss the fruit slices with the brown sugar. Let sit for at least an hour at room temperature to release juices.
- Add in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise pods, bottled wine, and apple cider. Stir well.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Notes
- Add in ½ cup to 1 cup of apple brandy to make this even more boozy.
- If storing for more than 12 hours, strain out the spices and fruit and refrigerate just the sangria-leaving them in there longer can cause the wine to go bitter.
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