Sangria is a favorite drink of mine and this easy red wine sangria with Aperol is my favorite go to recipe for making it. This red wine sangria has a few simple ingredients that you need to make it.
Once you mix all these ingredients together, you will be on your way to having a delicious sangria that rivals the best Spanish restaurants! I swear it is that good!
Normally sangria can be a bit time consuming and let's face it, sometimes not worth making for a large crowd because of all the time it takes to make it and let it sit. If I am entertaining for a crowd or even just a couple people, I need to know the libations are moving along smoothly and available for when guests need it.
My fridge does not have the space for multiple pitchers of sangria that I would need to make ahead and let steep for hours. I have tried this and I just gave up on the whole idea of entertaining with sangria.
At least until I was lazy and wanted a quick drink and made this recipe. It was so good that now I like to use this easy recipe for making sangria for a crowd.
The ingredients you will need for this red wine sangria recipe are:
Orange juice
Aperol
Red wine (preferably a nice Spanish wine)
Lemon juice
Oranges for garnish
If you are not familiar with Aperol it is an Italian apertif liquor made mainly from rhubarb and it is bright pink in color. I love this stuff and have so many uses for it as an easy cocktail.
It really works well for this recipe and I have never gone back to making traditional sangria after making my sangria this way. It just works!
As I talked about earlier, the whole idea of why this sangria is great is because it does not need time to sit and let flavors come together. If you find yourself running low on your sangria pitcher, you just grab your three ingredients and top off your pitchers. It takes seconds and it tastes totally authentic.
The steps to making this easy red sangria are:
Grab a pitcher.
Pour your wine, orange juice, Aperol and lemon juice into the pitcher.
Serve with glasses full of ice.
Optional: serve with orange slices in the glasses.
Now, you can measure everything out so it is perfect but I usually just eyeball it all. For this recipe I wrote it out so you know the proportions but you can customize it to your taste.
It also will not be ruined if you eyeball it, say if you were too busy chatting while re-filling those pitchers! Honestly, this happens to me all the time when entertaining so I can vouch for it turning out well even if the ratios are a little off.
This easy red sangria with Aperol can be served any time of year. I love sangria in the winter because of it's fruity notes and in the summer because it is so refreshing.
This is such a great drink recipe to have on hand because it is so versatile. Needless to say, it will go really well with Spanish dishes you might be preparing or for an outdoor BBQ. I love it alongside these goat cheese and pepper crostini or my chorizo and pork burgers.
The uses for this are endless and this sangria will be loved by everyone who drinks it.
If you do find yourself with leftover sangria, it stores really well in the fridge for a few days. So there is no waste if you decide to make this just for one or two people.
Tips and questions about making this easy sangria:
What is the best wine for making this sangria?
Preferably a drier good quality Spanish wine. You can also use pinot noirs and that has great results.
Is this sangria strong?
I like to say that no it will not be strong in flavor but it will have two types of liquor in it, wine and Aperol. Because this recipe does not use the traditional brandy that sangria uses (since it is using Aperol) it will be a little less strong than traditional sangria.
How many glasses do you get from apitcher of the sangria?
You should get 3-4 glasses from one pitcher of sangria, depending on how big your glasses are that you are using.
There is a lot of versatility in making a good sangria. There will always be a wine component, a fruit component and a second alcohol added.
If you follow these three basic components when making a sangria, you will be well on your way to so many great variations all throughout the year.
I hope you give this easy red sangria recipe a try. I feel pretty strongly that you will love it as much as I do.
For more Aperol recipes
Easy Red Sangria with Aperol
Equipment
- large drink pitcher
Ingredients
- 2 cups red wine a little more than ½ a bottle
- 2 cups orange juice
- 2 lemons juiced
- 4 shots of Aperol about 6 ounces
- 1 large orange cut into slices and those slices cut in half. optional but recommended.
Instructions
- Grab a large pitcher
- To your pitcher, add your wine, orange juice, lemon juice and Aperol and mix together.
- Grab 4 glasses and add ice al the way to the top of the glasses.
- Add 2 orange slice halves to each glass.
- Pour your sangria over the ice until it reaches the almost to the top of the glass.
- Repeat as necessary and enjoy!
Kevin says
This was so good. The Aperol really worked great with the Sangria