Sangria is undoubtedly one of the iconic beverages of Spanish cuisine. On the market, we can find a wide variety of sangrias, but none compare to the homemade Spanish sangria. So today, I’m bringing you the traditional wine sangria recipe and a champagne sangria recipe with different ingredients that add great flavor for sunny days, the beach, warmth, summer nights, and delicious meals.

 

Sangria Recipes

 

Time is relative; the longer you let the fruit macerate with the wine, the more flavorful the sangria will be. Preparing this drink is very easy and can be done in a short time; just let it sit.

 

How Do You Make Sangria?

I will start with the **traditional wine sangria recipe and then the champagne sangria recipe**.
 

What Do You Need to Prepare Sangria?

The only things you’ll need to make this drink are a **cutting board, a good knife, a pitcher, and a long spoon** for stirring the mixture.
 

traditional Spanish sangria wine champagne

What Fruit Do You Add to Sangria?

It’s important that **the chosen fruits are large** so they absorb the wine well. Apples, pears, bananas, peaches, oranges, melons, strawberries, raspberries… are commonly used fruits.
 

Traditional Red Wine Sangria Recipe

Spanish Sangria Ingredients

  • 1 liter of red wine
  • 500 ml of orange juice
  • 15 ml of lemon juice
  • 4 tablespoons of sugar (if desired, it can be sweeter)
  • Fruits
  • Ice cubes

 

Preparation of Traditional Spanish Sangria

  1. Add the wine to a pitcher. Personally, I like to use a young and fresh wine without nuances.
  2. Cut the fruits into cubes so they absorb the flavor well if you want them to be easy to eat. The quantities and types of fruit depend on your preferences; I like to add 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 pear, and 1 peach.
  3. Squeeze the oranges and lemon to obtain a liter of juice, and add it to the mixture.
  4. Add the sugar. I prefer it not too sweet; taste it and adjust if necessary.
  5. Now it’s time for the sangria to macerate. Let it rest for 2 hours in a cool place.

 
traditional wine sangria
 

How to Serve Sangria?

When serving the sangria, **add 7-8 ice cubes to the pitcher and mix well with a spoon**.
It’s important to stir the sugar well and ensure all ingredients are integrated and properly chilled.

Just serve it and taste… cheers to sangria!

 

Champagne Sangria Recipe

The Champagne Sangria recipe is practically the same as the traditional wine sangria, except that here, **we use champagne as the main alcoholic beverage.** This recipe adds freshness to the preparation, making it an ideal cocktail to accompany your dishes and desserts.
Unlike Traditional Red Wine Sangria, where the preparation involves letting the fruit and wine macerate for two hours, in this case, we’ll let the fruit rest with half of the cava and keep the other half to add just before serving. This way, we preserve the fizz of the drink and add the famous champagne bubbles to the recipe.

 

champagne sangria
 

Champagne Sangria Ingredients

  • 1 liter of champagne
  • 30 ml of Cointreau or Triple Sec
  • 30 ml of brandy (Torres, Magno, Conde de Osborne, Terry…)
  • 150 ml orange juice
  • 100 ml lemon juice
  • Simple syrup
  • Fruits: orange, strawberries, peach, apple, raspberry…
  • Ice cubes

 

Preparation of Champagne Sangria Recipe

  1. The Simple Syrup. Another difference from the wine sangria recipe is that instead of using granulated sugar, we use it in syrup form. To make this, boil a cup of water and add 3 tablespoons of sugar, stirring until dissolved. Set aside to cool.
  2. Next, squeeze the oranges (150 ml) and lemon (100 ml) and add them to the pitcher.
  3. Now add 30 ml of Cointreau and 30 ml of brandy.
  4. The next step is to cut the fruits: as I mentioned at the start of this post, you can choose your preferred fruits; personally, for champagne sangria, I like to use strawberries, oranges, apples, peaches, and raspberries for a more exotic look.
  5. When cutting the fruit into cubes, add it to the pitcher to prevent it from browning.
  6. Cut the peach, apple, and orange into small pieces.
  7. Cut the strawberries in half. For large strawberries, you can cut them into quarters.
  8. Do not cut the raspberries.
  9. Add ½ bottle of champagne to the pitcher and keep the other half in the refrigerator.
  10. Now add the cold syrup.
  11. Finally, mix the drink well so that all ingredients are properly combined. Refrigerate the mixture for two hours.

 
Before serving: add the remaining ½ bottle of champagne and ice cubes.

Just stir and serve!

 

Other Ingredients Used in Sangria Preparation

There are many alternatives for preparing sangria. Below, I explain three options to change the flavor of the recipe.

  • Cinnamon: This adds a very distinctive flavor. If you like cinnamon, add 1 cinnamon stick to your drink to bring an intense aroma to your recipe.
  • Mint: It adds freshness and aroma to your preparation. Add this herb half an hour before serving the drink.
  • Cointreau or Triple Sec: Personally, I love the orange flavor that Cointreau adds. Add 30 ml of this liqueur to the mixture for a personal touch.
  • Sprite or other carbonated beverages: Adds a different twist to your drink.

 

What to Serve with Sangria?

Ideas for pairing with sangria
 

As you’ve seen, both sangria recipes have a base of alcohol derived from grapes.

What I wanted to do was give you two options for traditional sangria recipes—one with wine and one with champagne—so you can pair the drink with different foods.

 

Wine Sangria

Wine sangria can be paired with a good paella, but also, since it’s made with red wine, it pairs perfectly with grilled meats or vegetables, pasta, rice, etc.

Champagne Sangria

Champagne sangria has more acidic and fresher notes. That’s why it goes very well with desserts like bread pudding and also pairs nicely with appetizers, fish dishes, or others.

 

Here’s the sangria recipe from Pepe; I hope you enjoyed it.

Cheers!

Spanish Sangria Recipe with Wine and Champagne
 
Spanish Sangria Recipe with Wine and Champagne
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients
  • 1 liter of red wine
  • 500 ml of orange juice
  • 15 ml of lemon juice
  • 4 tablespoons of sugar (if desired, it can be sweeter)
  • Fruits
  • Ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Add the wine to a pitcher. Personally, I like to use a young and fresh wine without nuances.
  2. Cut the fruits into cubes so they absorb the flavor well and are easy to eat. The quantities and types of fruit depend on your preferences; I like to add 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 pear, and 1 peach.
  3. Squeeze the oranges and lemon to obtain a liter of juice, and add it to the mixture.
  4. Add the sugar. I prefer it not too sweet; taste it and adjust if necessary.
  5. Now let the sangria macerate. Let it rest for 2 hours in a cool place.