Want to make an impression at your next party? Try Sangria for a Crowd. Even someone who doesn’t like wine will love this fruity concoction.
Sangria for a Crowd
Course: BeveragesCuisine: Spanish20
servingsYou’ll need to mix and store the sangria in a vessel that holds about 2 gallons.
Ingredients
3 bottles of red wine
1½ cups sugar
1 cup brandy
½ cup amaretto
3 oranges, or to taste, unpeeled and cut into 16ths
3 apples, or to taste, cored, unpeeled and cut into 16ths
3 lemons, or to taste, unpeeled, cut into 16ths, seeds removed
Directions
- Mix: pour the wine into a two-gallon mixing/storage container. Add the sugar and stir thoroughly. Add the brandy and amaretto and stir. Add the fruit (see notes) and stir.
- Steep: cover and refrigerate overnight, but no longer than about 24 hours.
- Hold: if you’re planning to serve the sangria immediately after having steeped it, you can skip all remaining steps.
- Once steeped, strain the fruit from the sangria and store the fruit and liquid separately, in the refrigerator. The fruit will keep for several days. So will the liquid. Reunite just before serving. The liquid also freezes perfectly. Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours; you’ll need new fruit for serving.
- Serve the sangria in a container (such as a pitcher or a punch bowl) that will accommodate a ladle. Store the container over ice, or add a decorative ice ring to the container.
Notes
- Once all the liquid is in the mixing vessel, add fruit to fill the vessel. You may not need the total amount called for.
- I
About the Ingredients…
As far as I’m concerned, just about any inexpensive red wine makes a good sangria, although I especially like cabernet sauvignon. It produces a sangria that has a hint of spiciness. A bit of internet sleuthing will find information along this line easily. And when I say “inexpensive,” I mean it. If I’m shopping for sangria wine, I’m looking for wines that are significantly less than $10 a bottle. Also, all the bottles don’t have to be the same kind of wine or come from the same kind of grape.
If a lower-quality wine is good for sangria, not so for the fruit. You want to use fresh, tasty fruit.
About Steeping…
A bit of research will reveal that two-to-three hours is the minimum amount of time you can steep sangria. Some people feel that it can steep for as many as three days. I find that overnight is best. Two overnights, and the fruit texture starts to deteriorate, and the liquid starts to become bitter – maybe not so much that it’s problematic, but it’s headed down that path, and has already left the station even if it hasn’t gotten very far yet.
If you’re making multiple batches for a party, you may not have a container large enough for all of it to steep. Do this: divide the fruit between gallon-size Ziploc freezer bags. You’ll need about 1.25 bags per batch. Place the bags snugly into a roasting pan or the like. Divide the well-mixed wine mixture between the bags. Get a friend to help you if this seems like a looming disaster. Seal the bags tightly. Slide the roaster into the fridge. (I often use single-use, aluminum foil, all-purpose pans that I later use to serve food in at the party. A pan that is roughly 13″x10″ will accommodate four Ziplocs full of sangria.)
About Serving…
One batch of this recipe will make enough sangria for twenty people to have two six-ounce servings, if each serving consists of both liquid and fruit. Note that if you allow guests to serve themselves, many may pour liquid-only servings, in which case you’ll wind up with fewer servings. That’s why I suggest serving the sangria with a ladle: it’s harder for guests to get liquid-only servings.
If you’re serving the sangria in pitchers, but you don’t have enough pitchers to hold all the sangria, and you think that you’ll simply refill them over the course of the party, know that there’s a perception issue here: if guests are serving themselves, and they see what they think of as a small amount of something, they may serve themselves much less of it that they would otherwise. That may or may not be desirable; it’s something you want to consider.
Afterparty…
I don’t especially like leftover fruit from red sangria, but many people do. You could eat it as-is, or you could remove any peels or other parts that you may not want to eat, and serve the fruit with a garnish of sweetened, soft-whipped cream.
Sangria for a Crowd
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor and ⌘+C. Huge thank you to my food hero, Harold McGee. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #13 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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I love sangria! Thank you for the recipe. It is perfect drink for New Year’s party 😀
Thanks!
Nice! I’ve never let mine sit for a few hours. I need to do that!!! Happy New Year!
Oh, it makes a difference! 🙂
We are having a New Year’s Blues party during late January. The folks in our world did not need another Christmas party to go to, so we plan to have some fun for the after holiday funk.
This will be a wonderful, easy addition to our menu.
Thanks for sharing
What a great idea. I’ve often felt that our fall and winter holidays are misplaced. They come up on one another too early on, and then there’s that horrible stretch of January and February (and Valentine’s Day is of no real help at all).
I love Sangria!! We used to have parties often when we lived in Florida, and this was the number one drink everyone enjoyed. Happy New Year!!
It’s great for parties! Happy New Year to you, too!
Cheers! And, Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too!
Love this recipe, Jeff. I have the perfect vessel for making this and then keeping it till I put it into smaller pitchers for serving. I love your use of amaretto — that is new to me. As we are prepping for a trip to Spain, we will be making lots of tapas meals that require sangria. So thank you! Happy New Year!
Oh, well I hope you try it! I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Methinks sangria can be quite good fun at a Sunday barbecue party . . . well, that is how it is usually served here Down Under 🙂 ! Sugar is very much optional and other spirits besides brandy may be used . . . but, mineral water is also usually added to make it a light punch to drink in ‘copious’ amounts under the blazing sun . . . 🙂 !
I should’ve mentioned in the recipe that I always have a bottle of sparkling water or lemon-lime soda for people to add to their sangria. Thanks for reminding me of that. And yes, I could easily imagine this making an appearance at a summer BBQ. It certainly has at my house!
Happy New Year, Jeff. Happy I’m catching up just in time for this Sangria to make for NYE. I’m not sure I’ve ever had amaretto in sangria, but I happen to have a bottle I used in a dessert, and I love the sound of it. Lovely. And I love lighting in the middle photo — so dramatic. 🙂 ~Valentina
Thanks, Valentina, and Happy New Year to you, too! The amaretto is just perfect in this sangria. It’s become one of my favorite things to serve at parties.
Une délicieuse boisson
Merci et bon réveillon
You’re welcome, Delphine, and Happy New Year’s Eve to you, too!
I’m sure you have lots of happy guests when you serve your sangria at parties…it sounds great.
Thank you, Karen!
Muy buena receta de sangría.
Feliz Año Nuevo.
Un saludo.
Thank you, Lola!