Apple Spice Sangria
This sweet Apple Sangria recipe is the perfect drink to sip on a cool, fall afternoon or to serve your friends and family during the holidays. With sweet apples, apple juice, seasonal spices and rich red wine, this an essential fall sangria recipe for this time of year.
Why You’ll Love This Sangria With Apple Juice
This delicious Apple Sangria recipe is flavorful enough to serve at your next fall party–or just a relaxing night in with friends.
The red wine, apple juice and seasonal spices combine to make it refreshing yet cozy.
Apples and cinnamon are a match made in heaven and work perfectly with red wine as an awesome fall cocktail. The cinnamon, cloves and vanilla push it over the top! You’re going to love the way this smells as it simmers on the stovetop!
Apple sangria with red wine is awesome because it can be made well ahead of time with just a little bit of prep work. It’s one of my favorite wine-based cocktail.
Related: Hibiscus Sangria
With a little bit of prep work, this wine-based cocktail comes together quickly leaving you to enjoy your guests. That’s a win-win.
This easy fall sangria recipe is great for Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving as well as any other type of party you want to throw all season long!
I first found this recipe in Kim Haasarud’s cookbook 101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks. It’s a great book for finding tasty cocktails to serve at parties.
Ingredients
- Red Wine
- Apple Juice
- Red Apple
- Green Apple
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Vanilla
- Simple Syrup
While I’m usually a white wine sangria fan (this pear sangria, so yum!) a fall sangria practically begs for red wine. Use something that is fruity, like a Pinot Noir, but really anything will work.
A red apple and a green apple give this the perfect sweet and tart flavor. While I like this combo best, you can do 2 red or even 2 green if you prefer. I’m a huge fan of Honeycrisp so I could see using that also.
I used apple juice but you can also use apple cider or even a fresh-pressed juice.
Cinnamon, cloves and vanilla give this apple spice sangria all the flavor. Feel free to add more flavors like cardamom or even a little ginger to suit your flavor preferences. You can use a vanilla bean if you have one but they’ve been really hard to find lately.
Simple syrup helps to balance out all these flavors and make it super easy to drink. Or make a cinnamon vanilla simple syrup to use instead and give it a second layer of cinnamon flavor.
How to Make Apple Juice Sangria
Step 1
In a saucepan, combine the chopped apples, apple juice, whole cloves and cinnamon over low heat. If you are using simple syrup, you can add it now.
Step 2
If using vanilla bean, you will scrape the insides into the pan and then leave add the bean pod to steep as well.
Step 3
Stir the apples while cooking. They should cook down and start to caramelize in about 15-20 minutes.
Step 4
Remove the apples from the heat and add a splash of vanilla (if you couldn’t find vanilla beans) then stir to combine.
Let it cool completely.
Step 5
Scrape the cooked and cooled cinnamon apples (and all juices) into a large glass pitcher.
Step 6
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This will help all the flavors to develop and the wine to infuse with that yummy apple flavor.
To Serve
To serve, add ice to a glass and top with Apple Sangria. Garnish with a cinnamon stick or apple slice.
You can even serve this delicious fall cocktail with a cinnamon sugar rim.
When serving at a party, you can set out the pitcher for guests to serve themselves. Or if you are serving a lot of people, you can make a few batches ahead of time and serve out of a large punchbowl or another large glass container.
I love to use cute mason jars for my parties. You can easily pick them up from just about any store (including thrift stores!) and they make everything seem more down-home and casual. No stuffy wine glasses here!
Tips and Tricks
- Add pears, persimmons, figs, or other fall fruits to the apples in this recipe to create a unique version of this sangria.
- If you wanted to make a non-alcoholic version you could remove the red wine and play around with grape and cranberry juices.
- If you want to try to get out a few more servings for a party, you could top each glass with a bit of club soda. It will add fizz, make it extra refreshing and sneak out an extra serving or two.
- You can leave out the simple syrup and add it to taste by the glass when poured.
- If you want to amp this apple sangria up for a party, you can add 1/2 cup of cognac. It will also add some complexity to the flavor. If you don’t have cognac, don’t sweat it. You’ll still get a super delicious apple sangria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pinot Noir is a fruity red wine that is easy to find at most stores. Grenache is another great pick and is a great value. I used a Cabernet Sauvignon since that’s what I prefer.
Yes! Since the fruit soaks in the liquid for several hours, it will soak up some delicious flavor. You can eat the fruit if you want to.
You’ll be able to enjoy it longer if you make sure to separate the soaked fruit from the sangria. You can freeze the fruit and use it for wine smoothies or other cocktail recipes. You can keep the sangria liquid in the fridge for a few days.
A few more sangria recipes you might also enjoy!
- Blackberry Apple Sangria
- White Pear Sangria
- Sangria Margarita Recipe with Citrus
- Easy Non Alcoholic Sangria with Grape Juice
- Sweet Iced Tea Sangria Recipe
- White Wine Sangria Cupcakes
- Warm Red Sangria for Fall
- Rosé Sangria Recipe
- Fireball Sangria
And if you’re a red wine fan, you’ll also want to check out these easy Red Wine and Tequila Cocktails.
And if the flavor combination of apple and cinnamon appeals to you, you’ll want to try my Apple Butterscotch Cookies. So yum.
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Apple Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 red apple cored and cut into chunks
- 1 green apple cored and cut into chunks
- 1 cup apple juice
- 15 whole cloves
- 4 dashes of cinnamon
- 1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 bottle red wine
- 1/2 cup cognac optional
- 1/3 cup simple syrup optional
- cinnamon sticks for garnish
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine the chopped apples, apple juice, whole cloves, and cinnamon over low heat. If using the vanilla bean, scrape the middle into the saucepan and add the pod to steep.
- Cook, stirring fairly constantly, until apples just begin to caramelize about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set aside. If using vanilla extract, add it now and stir to combine.
- Let cool.
- Combine the wine and cognac in a large ceramic or glass container.
- Add the apple-spice mixture and stir well.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Serve over ice and garnish with cinnamon sticks.
Notes
- Add pears, persimmons, figs, or other fall fruits to the apples in this recipe to create a unique version of this sangria.
- If you wanted to make a non-alcoholic version you could remove the red wine and play around with grape and cranberry juices.
- If you want to try to get out a few more servings for a party, you could top each glass with a bit of club soda. It will add fizz, make it extra refreshing and sneak out an extra serving or two.
- If you end up with leftover sangria, separate the soaked fruit from the liquid. You can freeze the fruit and use it for wine smoothies or other cocktail recipes. You can keep the sangria liquid in the fridge and drink for a few more days.
Nutrition
This is so yummy and a beautiful shot!
Thank you! This sounds like the perfect fall sangria…yummo :) I think I'll give it a try this weekend.
mmm I need to make this for our halloween party!