Tangy and slightly sweet with just the right amount of winter spice, this Holiday Cranberry Sangria is the perfect cocktail for any holiday party! With just 5 minutes of work, you’ll have a festive and delicious cocktail that will sure to be a hit at your gathering.

cranberry sangria - the perfect christmas sangria! Red sangria in a glass pitcher topped with oranges and cranberries next to two glasses filled with sangria on a marble board

This recipe is…

Around here, we’re BIG fans of batch cocktails. While wine is always a popular choice at holiday gatherings, a good pitcher cocktail just feels so much more festive. Plus, pitcher cocktails can be made in advance (and actually taste BETTER when refrigerated overnight), so you still get the ease of just pouring a glass of wine. It’s a win-win!

This cranberry sangria is the perfect Christmas sangria in my book. It has red wine, cranberry juice, orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and spiced rum to make a balanced, slightly tart-yet-sweet drink that will definitely have your guests going back for seconds.

Looking for more holiday recipes showcasing the sweet-tart flavor of these pretty red berries? Try our cranberry cheesecake bars, cranberry bacon cornbread stuffing, and cranberry augua frescas

Why You’ll Love This Holiday Sangria Recipe

  • With its crimson color and medley of wintery flavors, this easy batch cocktail is perfect for holiday parties.
  • 10 minutes start-to-finish!
  • Easy to make in advance and gets better when it sits overnight, so you can knock it off your hosting to-do list ahead of time.  

Holiday Cranberry Sangria Ingredients

You’ll need just a few ingredients to make this delicious cranberry sangria! Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) for this pretty holiday sangria recipe below.

Ingredients for Holiday cranberry sangria sit in a variety of bowls and plates on a light grey surface.
  • Red Wine. We opted for red wine over white because we thought it paired better with the cranberry juice and it feels more festive! We recommend using a fruity, medium-bodied red like a merlot.
  • 100% Cranberry Juice. Did you know that most cranberry juice is actually a blend of cranberry, apple, and sometimes grape juices? This is because, on its own, cranberry juice can be very tart. We call for just 1/2 cup here – a little goes a long way! Note that if you don’t use 100% cranberry juice, we recommend decreasing the amount of honey in the recipe.
  • Orange Juice. Orange juice pairs perfectly with the red wine and cranberry juice – and adds just a hint of sweetness to the recipe.
  • Honey. Honey is our sweetener of choice for sweetening drinks like this one because it dissolves easily and has a mild flavor.
  • Spiced Rum. We went back and forth about what liquor to incorporate in this cranberry sangria, but we finally landed on spiced rum because it perfectly rounds out the flavors in this drink and adds just a hint of holiday cheer.
  • Cinnamon Sticks. These go along perfectly with the spiced rum and add a little cinnamon spice to the sangria.
  • Fresh Oranges and Cranberries. Finally, we garnish with fresh orange slices and cranberries. These add a little bit of flavor and look gorgeous in the glass.

A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Recipe Variations and Modifications

Sangria is a really versatile cocktail! Here’s how you can adapt this recipe to your tastes, or what ingredients you have on hand.

  • Wine  –  using red wine like Merlot creates a deep crimson color that’s perfect for the holidays. But if you’d prefer, you can use a white wine, which will still get color from the addition of red cranberry juice.
  • Citrus – No oranges on hand? Lemons or limes are good substitutes.
  • Herbs – If you’d like, you can garnish your cocktails with rosemary sprigs for a festive, Christmas tree-like touch.

How to Make Holiday Sangria

Luckily, making this cranberry sangria requires very little effort! Here’s how you’ll do it.

Orange juice is poured over cranberry juice in a stainless steel bowl on a light gray surface.
Cranberries are tossed into a cranberry sangria mixture in a stainless steel bowl on a light gray surface.

Step 1: Pour the wine, juices, rum, and honey in a pitcher and whisk to combine, making sure that you scrape the honey up from the bottom of the pitcher. 

Step 2: Add the fresh fruit and cinnamon sticks, and refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours (or up to overnight). 

Recipe Tips

Chill out – We like this pitcher cocktail best once it’s been refrigerated for at least a few hours. But you can also serve it immediately over ice if you’re in a pinch!

For serving – We recommend using a 2-liter pitcher like this one for this recipe.

How to Serve Cranberry Sangria

Serve the cocktail in pretty cocktail glasses over ice. The fresh cranberries will float to the top of the drink, and you can garnish the drinks with extra orange slices or cinnamon sticks if you’d like. Sprigs of rosemary also look very festive!

How to Store Holiday Sangria

Refrigerate any leftover sangria for up to 2 days. (It will last several days longer if you discard the fruit before storing, and add fresh fruit just before serving.)

christmas cranberry sangria - overhead shot of Red sangria in a glass pitcher topped with oranges and cranberries next to two glasses filled with sangria on a marble board
cranberry sangria in a glass with fresh cranberries and ice on a marble board

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the ingredients of sangria?

Sangria is a popular cocktail that originated in Spain and Portugal that’s made with either red or white wine, and fruit. For this winter holiday sangria recipe, we also added rum, cranberry juice, oranges, and cinnamon for classic Christmas-y flavors.  

What fruit to use for sangria?

The sky’s the limit in terms of what fruit tastes good in sangria! But in-season fruit is always a good idea. For this holiday version, we stuck with winter fruits that feel festive and add lots of flavor: oranges and cranberries.

If you tried this recipe for Holiday Cranberry Sangria, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝comments below!

Holiday Cranberry Sangria

4.50 — Votes 2 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
This cranberry sangria is perfect for your next holiday party!

Ingredients  

  • 1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 bottle red wine, we recommend merlot
  • 1/3-1/2 cup spiced rum, to taste (may also use whiskey or brandy, if desired)
  • 1 1/2 cups orange juice
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries
  • 2 oranges, sliced
  • 2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions 

  • Whisk the cranberry juice and honey together, then stir in the wine, rum, and orange juice.
  • Add the oranges, cranberries, and cinnamon sticks, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
  • When you’re ready to serve, pour over ice and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

  • We recommend using a 2 liter pitcher like this one for this recipe

Nutrition

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 404mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 248IU | Vitamin C: 59mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1mg

Additional Info

Course: Drink
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 249
Keyword: christmas, cranberries, holiday, orange, punch, red wine

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Elizabeth Brownfield


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5 Comments

    1. Hi Anna! We haven’t tied using clear rum, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work… just might be be a little less flavorful.

  1. 4 stars
    Anxious to try this recipe.
    Is it possible to make it booze free?
    Any recommendations?

    1. Sure! We haven’t tried it with this exact recipe, but you could try adding some sparkling water in place of the wine and rum!