Thanksgiving Sangria is the perfect make ahead cocktail for your holiday gathering. It comes together in just 5 minutes, and is full of bright and festive flavors.
Table of Contents
About this Sangria
I received so much love on my Thanksgiving Margarita, but I know tequila isn’t for everyone (it took me a bit to accept this concept🤣). So now I present to you this Thanksgiving Sangria.
Sangria is the ultimate party drink and the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table. It feels slightly sophisticated, because hello red wine! But, also it’s so simple to make, can be prepped ahead of time, and makes A LOT.
A tasty crowd pleaser with minimal effort - sign me up! It’s super important to me to have a hands off cocktail when hosting, because if I’m prepping in the kitchen, I don’t also have time to play bartender.
This Thanksgiving Sangria is full of flavor and perfect for the holiday season. It has sweet red wine, with cranberry juice for a holiday feel along with rum (or vodka) and triple sec. Topped off with sparkling water, this is a cocktail all of your fall celebration guests are going to love.
And while you're here, also check out this Crown Apple Slush, Cranberry Whiskey Sour, Pomegranate Champagne Punch, or this Cranberry Fizz Cocktail for festive sipping, too!
Recipe Ingredients
- Red Wine - Avoid a wine that’s too dry. It doesn’t have to be the highest quality given we’re mixing it with multiple other ingredients.
- Cranberry Cocktail Juice - Gives our sangria a holiday feel. You can also use pomegranate fruit juice if you prefer.
- Rum or Vodka - Either will do the trick here 😛 Use what you have / like.
- Triple Sec - Or another orange liqueur. I like the sweetness Triple Sec adds.
- Sparkling Water - To give the drink a little fizz, I used Trader Joe’s Cranberry Clementine Sparkling Water but club soda is also fine. If you prefer a sweeter drink, use Sprite, Squirt, Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer.
- Fruit - Garnish with a mix of fruit such as apples, pomegranate seeds, oranges or blood oranges, cranberries, and/or raspberries.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Thanksgiving Sangria Recipe
1. Add ice to a large pitcher or punch bowl. Uncork a bottle of red wine and pour into the pitcher.
2. Add the cranberry juice, white rum, and triple sec. Stir with a wooden spoon. Slowly pour in sparkling water then use a juicer to juice ½ an orange into the pitcher.
3. Garnish with fresh orange slices, apple slices, fresh cranberries, and cinnamon sticks.
4. Serve immediately or refrigerate for a few hours and the fresh fruit will absorb the flavors.
*If needed, add more cranberry juice or sparkling water if the sangria is stronger than what you’d like. Enjoy!*
Expert Tips
- Take advantage of seasonal fruit for the most festive drink. The natural sweetness of the different fruits
- Elevate your seasonal sangria with a cinnamon sugar rim. Before you pour sangria into the glasses, dip the edge each glass into honey and then into a cinnamon sugar mixture to get it to stick.
- For a red wine sangria with warmer fall flavors, add cinnamon, ginger, and star anise to the pitcher of sangria.
more of our favorite Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes...
Recipe FAQs
You can store Thanksgiving Sangria in a pitcher in the fridge for up 3 days. It will lose the carbonation from the sparkling water, but this isn’t crucial. Still tastes great! Just leave out the ice until serving so it doesn’t get watered down.
Avoid dry red wine like cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. I used zinfandel and it was perfect. We want something on the sweeter side. I've not tried this as a white wine sangria, but I think you could make a delicious drink with sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, too.
Some ways to make this Thanksgiving Sangria sweeter:
- Use a sweeter wine
- Instead of sparkling water, use soda like Sprite, Squirt, or Ginger Ale
- Add simple syrup
- Use more Triple Sec and less vodka/rum
More Recipes You'll Love
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you really like the recipe consider leaving a comment further down. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Thanksgiving Sangria
Equipment
- pitcher
- Measuring Cups
- Wooden Spoon
- wine opener
- Juicer
- Cutting Board
- Knife
Ingredients
- 1 bottle red wine, red blend or zinfandel (nothing too dry)
- 12 oz cranberry juice, or pomegranate
- ½ cup rum or vodka
- ½ cup triple sec
- 16 oz sparkling water
- ½ orange, juiced
- 2 cups ice
- apple slices, orange slices, cranberris, for garnish
Instructions
- Add ice to a pitcher or punch bowl. Uncork a bottle of red wine and pour into the pitcher.
- Add the cranberry juice, white rum, and triple sec. Stir with a wooden spoon.
- Slowly pour in sparkling water then use a juicer to juice ½ an orange into the pitcher.
- Garnish with fresh orange slices, sliced apples, and cranberries.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for a few hours and the fresh fruit will absorb the flavors. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you're using MyFitnessPal, search 'A Paige Of Positivity' and find THANKSGIVING SANGRIA calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
NOTE: this is counting the alcohol as strictly carbs - remember, if you are counting your macros & alcohol, this is a good reference: Macrostax | How To Calculate Alcohol for Macro Counting
TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS A CARBOHYDRATE: Use the total number of calories in a drink divided by 4 (Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 132 calories/4 = 33g Carbs. TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS A FAT: Use the total number of calories in a drink divided by 9 (Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 132 calories/9 = 15g Fat) TO COUNT YOUR ALCOHOL AS BOTH A CARBOHYDRATE AND A FAT: Use the a portion of the total number of calories in a drink divided by 4 Use the remainder of the total number of calories in a drink divided by 9. Example: 5 ounces of Red Zinfandel = 132 calories 66 calories/4 = 16.5g Carbs 66 calories/9 = 7g Fat
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Sydney Van Acker says
I love a make ahead serve yourself cocktail. makes hosting with a homemade drink so easy!
Courtney Paige says
If you want to light up your thanksgiving guests, this is the way to do it! Equal parts strong as it is tasty, do yourself a favor and double the batch 😛 Happy drinking!!
Laura C says
Loved this Sangria! Perfect for the holidays! We don’t have sparkling water so we used sprite and it was great!
Tricia says
After not drinking for 9+ months due to being pregnant, this one knocked my socks off 😂 but sooo good and festive! I’ll be making it again for thanksgiving day!
Tricia says
🥰 forgot the picture
Melissa says
My mom deemed this her favorite drink! Super easy to make and it’s delicious
Emily S says
I was in charge of making a fun cocktail for Thanksgiving and this sangria was a hit! We used pomegranate juice and a red blend, it was perfect. 5 stars all around 🙂
Chelsea Coretti says
My first time making homemade sangria, and I am a fan! I loved how this turned out 🙂
Jennie Hunt says
This cocktail recipe would be 10 stars if I had that option! I made a large pitcher and the whole thing was gone! I had a small get together the day after thanksgiving and decided to make another batch and everyone loved it. I plan to make it again at Christmas!