Thanksgiving Sangria is a delightful and colorful addition to your holiday feast. This Thanksgiving Sangria recipe is full of warm apple flavors in an easy wine punch cocktail.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Thanksgiving Sangria is a delightful and festive beverage that can add a colorful and flavorful touch to your Thanksgiving celebration. It is the perfect Thanksgiving cocktail for your friends and family.
It’s a versatile recipe, so you can adjust the sweetness and mix of fruit choices to your liking. It pairs wonderfully with traditional Thanksgiving dishes, making it a festive and flavorful beverage option for your holiday gathering.
This white wine sangria is a perfect seasonal cocktail! It’s a variation of traditional sangria with autumnal flavors and ingredients that complement the Thanksgiving feast. Using fresh fruit, it is a beautiful drink with lots of flavor.
Homemade sangria is incredibly fast and easy to make. A perfect alcoholic drink recipe for a fall celebration, holiday season or party! Simply combine everything in advance, let it chill, and you are done!
Ingredients
You can find full quantities and instructions in the full recipe card below.
We are mainly using natural sweeteners with delicious flavor to make this apple sangria the ultimate Thanksgiving sangria recipe.
To make this apple cider sangria recipe, you will need:
Crisp White Wine – Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio is perfect. While traditional sangria is typically made with a sweet red wine like pinot noir, we want to use a crisp or dry white wine for a white wine sangria recipe.
Brandy – see Modifications section below if you are not a fan. Apple brandy would also be great if you have it!
Apple Cider – the fruit juice is the bulk of your flavor!
Maple Syrup – or a simple syrup, to add a touch of sweetness
Cinnamon Sticks – they will infuse into the sangria, and also look beautiful!
Fresh Apple – I like to use honeycrisp apples or gala apples, but you can slice up whatever you have on hand or like the most!
Fresh Orange – for some natural sweetness and bright citrus flavor
Combine everything in a large pitcher or punch bowl and give it a good stir. Let it chill, ideally overnight, to develop the flavors.
Serve it just as it is on your Thanksgiving table! Guests can fill a glass with ice and pour sangria over it to keep the apple cider cocktail cold. Garnish glasses with the orange slices, apple slices, and any other fresh fruit (or some small cinnamon sticks) right from the bowl!
Serve it all day and night whether alongside appetizers or with Thanksgiving dinner.
Modifications and Substitutions
You can add some sparkling water or club soda if you want to give your sangria some bubbles! But keep in mind that it will go flat over time if you are making a large batch. Better yet – let guests add it to their sangria as they wish to avoid this!
Not a fan of brandy? You can swap it out for an orange liqueur such as Triple Sec or Grand Marnier, or just leave it out altogether.
Add any seasonal fruits as desired to the sangria based on what you have on hand! Fresh cranberries or pomegranate seeds will look beautiful and float in the drink. Blood oranges are also a great idea!
Ginger beer is also a great addition if you want a touch of spice and bubbles.
A bit of cranberry juice will bring some sweetness and a slight red color. A splash of orange juice will bring some sweetness without as much flavor or color as the cranberry will.
FAQs
Thanksgiving drinks are made with seasonal flavors and ingredients that remind you of Thanksgiving! This includes things like apple, orange, cinnamon, pear, maple, cranberry, and other warm flavors and seasonal spices.
Sangria is very easy to make! Combine everything together and let it chill, ideally overnight, for the flavors to meld together.
Sangria is a perfect Thanksgiving drink because it is fast and easy to make, and can be made in a large batch to share – just like what the holiday represents!
For a white sangria, something dry like a sauvignon blanc is perfect.
The main alcohol in sangria is wine, traditionally red wine but is also commonly made with white wine.
You can swap it out for an orange liqueur such as triple sec, or skip it altogether.
More Fall Cocktails
Fall Cocktails
Fall Apple Cider Thanksgiving Sangria Recipe
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Pitcher
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
- 1 bottle white wine (750 ml) something crisp or dry like sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or chardonnay
- 1 ½ cups apple cider
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 apples sliced into rounds
- 1 orange sliced into rounds
- 2 cinnamon sticks more for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Pour all of your ingredients into a pitcher, including the cinnamon and fruit (do not add the sparkling wine/water if using).
- Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- Serve over ice if desired with the pieces of fruit and cinnamon sticks.
A delicious cocktail for the holidays! I’m loving the Bourbon in this recipe.
Oh yum! This sounds perfect. I was looking for a good sangria to serve at Thanksgiving. I think I might give this one a go. Thank you!
This Apple Cider drink looks really great and so tasty! A mouth-watering and very refreshing drink that everyone will love! Perfect to serve this Thanksgiving festivity!
Fall is over but still I want this fall apple cider, this just hits different!