Pomegranate Orange Sangria
A winter red wine sangria for your holiday merriment— with pomegranates and oranges, as well some cranberries, a cinnamon stick and a heavy splash of brandy.
I am more than a little bit addicted to sangria. Friends coming over? Special occasion? Just a Saturday night in with the hubby? Ooooh, let’s make sangria!
I’ve done a lot of experimenting with different flavors, depending on my mood and time of year. And I’ve never met a sangria I didn’t like, to be honest.
This particular recipe was created last year, on Christmas Day actually. We loved it so much, I had to make another batch for New Year’s Eve. For months now I’ve been looking forward to making a batch again and couldn’t wait any longer.
This sangria has so many great wintry flavors in there— pomegranate, cranberry, citrus, and cinnamon. The brandy is a fun addition too, it helps to add sweetness, but with a little depth. For the wine I used one of our go-to budget cabernet sauvignons, but I think you’d be okay to use any dry red wine. That’s a great thing about sangria, there’s no hard and fast rule. Use what you like!
And because I can never leave anything alone, I think next time I’ll try popping in a few cloves and anise seeds as well, just to bump up the spice a bit. If you like your sangria to have a little fizz, add some ginger ale to each glass before serving.
Intimidated by pomegranates? I was too for a long time. Thankfully, the internet is here to help! I’ve seen several online tutorials over the years, but this one from Simply Recipes is great.
Pomegranate Orange Sangria
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle (750 ml) of red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1 cup (237 ml) brandy
- 1 cup (237 ml) pomegranate juice
- 1 cup (237 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 orange, thinly sliced
- 1 pomegranate, arils removed
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 cinnamon stick
Directions:
- In a large pitcher, stir together the wine, brandy, pomegranate juice, and orange juice. Add orange slices, pomegranate arils, cranberries and cinnamon stick. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Serve with ice cubes.
Have you tried this recipe?
I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below, send me an email, or take a photo and tag it on instagram with #completelydelicious.
Um, why did we not make this beautiful drink this past weekend?!!! Gorgeous!!
Because I’m a moron, clearly! Come back and I’ll make you as much as you want. 😉
Haha! Me too. I find beaut recipes of drinks on Pinterest all the time and then I click on the link and sadly, yup no. Alcohol. But I’m good at changing recipes to nonalcohol. @Annalisa
This sounds amazing and looks beautiful! I love pomegranate margaritas…so this is the obvious winter drink for me 😉
I like the recipe. I will try it.
Woow this sangria looks beautiful. Love the colours
I was quite intimidated by pomegranates until this video. It’s MUCH easier than using the water method! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7dk9nDR-k
Had to ask a dumb question…what is proper etiquette for pomegranate seeds. I’ve figured out how to get the seeds out of the skin but haven’t been able to figure out how to use them in recipes without spitting seeds!
Hello, do you think you could use a red moscato instead or is the cabernet a must?
Thanks 🙂
You can certainly use whatever kind of wine you like and I’m sure it will still be delicious. That’s the great thing about sangrias! But since moscato is a sweeter wine than cabernet, you might think about adjusting the other sweeter ingredients like the pomegranate juice and brandy. Totally up to your palette though. Enjoy!
i want to make this for Christmas gifts. How long after I make the drink does it need to be consumed? If it’s left in a bottle, how long can it be left alone?
Hi Aggie! I would recommend consuming the sangria within a few days. Red wine doesn’t seem to last that long once opened.
How would you go about making this non-alcoholic? You grape juice and sprite maybe?
If I were to make a non-alcoholic punch inspired by this recipe I would probably use cranberry juice in place of the alcohol. Make sure it all chills together for a while so the flavors have a chance to mingle and intensify. If desired, add cold ginger ale, sprite or club soda right before serving.
Tell me about the cinnamon… I’m a little nervous to add it. I make sangria a lot but have never tried one with a spice. I’m making for Christmas dinner for tomorrow and am not sure they will like the cinnamon. Is it strong?
Hi Heidi, I apologize for the slow response. I’ve been on holiday with my family. The cinnamon is a very mild flavor, but will intensify the longer you let the sangria sit. If you’re unsure about it, you can always leave it out.
Just wondering how long do you think it could last in the fridge? Like I wanna glass to try it tonight but wanna make sure I have some for Saturday .. Do you think that’s to long?
I think that’s all a matter of preference, but the cinnamon stick and orange slices will impart a whole lot of flavor during that amount of time. You could mix up a single serving, cork the bottle of wine and make the rest later? Just a thought.