I am no wine snob, I can barely tell red from white. I’ll drink pretty much anything you put in front of me. But I have to admit that I can’t stand the taste of Two Buck Chuck (is it just me?). I recently had a party where a bunch of two buck chuck ended up at my house, and I couldn’t let wine go to waste (the horror!). What do you do when you have lots of red wine and the sun is shining bright? Make sangria! You can find a million recipes online, but they always seem rather complicated and fancy. I just want to tell you the basic outline for how to make sangria, then you can whip it up at the last minute from whatever wine and fruit you have lying around. I never follow a real recipe and everyone always enjoys it. We literally have a pitcher of it in the fridge all summer long.
Now that is what I call “naptime.” HA! Learn how to make sangria the easy way…
How to Make Sangria – The Easiest Way
Here’s the basics. You need wine (red or white, I like red), a little sugar (not too much), fruits, and a mixer.
So for the sangria, pour red wine into a pitcher until it’s 3/4 full. The amount of wine does not matter.
Now take fruit. Whatever fruit you have. Apples, strawberries, grapes, melon, oranges, tangerines (we have a tree, so this is almost always in our sangria), grapefruit, i mean WHATEVER. Add cut up fruit to the pitcher until the liquid level rises to the top. I like to add a few squeezes from an orange or other citrus fruit. If you like things sweet, a few tablespoons of sugar added to the mix and stirred a bit is perfect. The longer this mixture sits together, the more delicious it gets. But I mean if you really can’t wait, it’s still gonna taste good pretty fast. Just don’t oversweeten at first. It will get sweeter as the fruit sits in it.
Now you have made a sangria, but it is very strong, a sort of sangria concentrate, really. It needs to be diluted for hot afternoons in the sun and to taste more refreshing. Ginger Ale is the perfect accompaniment. I like it at a 50/50 ratio of ginger ale to sangria concentrate. If you mixed it in now, the pitcher would get flat, so I wait until I want a glass of sangria, and mix one part wine mixture to one part ginger ale ((I use diet ginger ale, but of course the non-diet version is tastier. you gotta conserve calories where you can) on the spot. Deelish.
Now sit back, relax, and read your favorite website while those kids snooze…
HA!
My hubby and I aren’t big fans of the Two Buck Chuck either … but I do love some sangria!
While the sangria is beautiful, alas I’m a non-drinker – BUT the little woven bench has me entirely enthralled!
HA HA HA, i love that y’all love my bench so much, i feel it is one of my greatest finds. If you missed my patio makeover last summer, the details are all here. The deal I got on it might break your heart lol: http://prudentbaby.com/2011/07/prudent-home/my-new-backyard-and-where-to-buy-2/
I though about making something similar myself, but I think I’d be afraid to sit on it. But I see no reason why it couldn’t be done with some careful planning!
I’m with Janelle. I want that bench!
Yes, sangria is yummy, but that bench is delish! Where is it from? I must have it!
Looks yummy! While I am a fan of two buck chuck Cabernet, I don’t care for the Chardonnay, which I do keep around for cooking. The other day I had an open bottle that needed consuming, so I did a 1:1 mix with pomegranate juice blend for a quick tasty “sangria”. However, I know a version with real fruit is tastier.
I knew a place in Chicago that mixed theirs with Fanta. I always wanted to try and replicate it but never knew where to start. So thank you! We will be have some sangria this weekend!
Love that recipe and love the tray.
I love the bench! Did you make it? If so, do share!
Mmmm, I love some good sangria…but I agree with everyone else, I <3 that bench!
Hi dear, yes is a easy way to make Sangría, but for me this way is a crime lol.
Sangría is a Spanish summer drink (Spanish from Spain) and you can not make with all the fruit you want. If you do that is a coctel, not a Sangría.
If you add Ginger Ale, you make a carbonated drink, that we call “Tinto de Verano” that means Summer Red Wine.
So an easier way is: ad just lemmon, oranges and peaches, suggar and a cinnamon stick. And if is too strong, just ad natural orange or lemmon juice.
The secret is it have to be so cold, and before drink, ad some ice rocks.
Ah, and have your bed close. Enjoy it!
thank you for this recipe, a cinnamon stick! who knew! i’m sorry i broke the law of sangria 😉 but you know how it is, when the kids are napping you learn to work with what ya’ got 😉
I will definitely be including Sangrias on my “cocktails on the patio” repertoire. But more importantly, how did you make, or where did you buy, that bench? I love it!
Great recipe idea, I always mix ahead of time and now I know why that is a bad idea. I use a splash of lemon juice and club soda and skip the sugar. A little apple cider is a great sweetener!
[…] I found a super easy recipe online – basically wine + fruit + ginger […]
You could try it with just grapefruit juice too. Comes out really good and super easy.
You just motivated me to turn the wine sitting on the counter into Sangria. Since moving to LA, I haven’t been able to enjoy red wine without headaches but diluting it into fruity deliciousness totally helps 🙂
xx Lorelai
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[…] first showed you how to cool off during the summer months with her post on How to Make Sangria the Easy Way. She gave the basic breakdown for how to whip up a delicious pitcher of sangria just to your […]
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