This Fall spiced apple cider sangria is fresh, easy to make and perfect with either red or white wine. With warm flavors like cinnamon, apple and orange, this sangria is the perfect Fall cocktail.
I don’t know about you, but Fall is my faaaavorite time of year. The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, it’s my birthday (!), and we have so many delicious flavors like apple, cinnamon, pumpkin and more.
This Fall inspired apple cider sangria is my favorite recipe on Thanksgiving, but it’s honestly perfect all season long.
It takes about 5 minutes to prep and makes a generously sized pitcher so it’s perfect for all sorts of parties and get togethers.
This recipe features fresh fruit like apples and oranges, though it’s also great with the addition of pear and pomegranate, plus your favorite wine (red or white), apple cider, cinnamon and brandy to top it all off.
You could even top this off with prosecco to add some sparkles! Enjoy this alongside my sweet potato casserole, gluten free pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins.
Key ingredients
Red or White Wine: I love red wine for all things Fall/Winter, but you are more than welcome to use white (Pinot Grigio is good for sangria).
Either red or white pairs well with the apple and cinnamon, so you really can’t go wrong here!
Apple Cider: We’ll be using a generous 2 cups of apple cider for this recipe which adds some natural sweetness and plenty of apple flavor.
Apples: Honey crisp are my go to apple for everything and anything. Pies, crisp, muffins, and even sangria.
They’re crispy and perfectly sweet with a slight tartness that pairs really well with the rest of the flavors here. They tend to be pricy, so another tart variety like granny smith is also delicious in sangria.
Cinnamon Sticks: These are a must! Whole cinnamon sticks sit with the rest of the ingredients for a few hours and infuse a nice warm flavor into the sangria.
You definitely don’t want to use ground cinnamon, so be sure to grab some cinnamon sticks at the market.
Oranges/Orange Juice: Orange juice is typical in a classic fruit/Spring sangria, but works really well in this Fall version. It adds some extra sweetness and tartness so we don’t need any added sugar.
Brandy: The brandy really compliments the flavors of this recipe well, but if you prefer to leave it out, you can easily do so. You can also sub for another liqueur like triple sec.
How to make apple cider sangria
Chop the apples and slice the orange and add to a large pitcher.
Add in the cinnamon sticks, brandy, wine, orange juice and apple cider. Stir together with a spoon.
Let sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, but longer is better to really let the flavors mingle. The longer you let it sit, the better the flavor is, especially in regards to the apples and cinnamon.
If you can, make it at night or in the morning (depending on when you’ll be drinking it!), so it has a chance to sit in the fridge for 8+ hours.
Pour into glasses (see notes for the cinnamon sugar rim) and enjoy! If using white wine, it’s great with a splash of club soda to serve, but when using red I like to leave it as is.
Should I peel the fruit?
I usually don’t, but you can! The orange peel adds a nice strong flavor and gives the final recipe a bit more tang than if you were to remove the peels.
You can slice/chop the apples and oranges however you like. For this recipe, I roughly chopped the apple and sliced the orange with the skin on both.
Does it keep?
Once prepared, this apple cider sangria will keep in the fridge for about 2-3 days. Any longer than that and it will start to give off a stronger vinegar flavor.
DIY Cinnamon sugar rim
If you want to sugar the rim, (which I recommend!), mix together 3 tablespoons of fine white sugar plus 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Get the rim of your glass slightly damp with a wet papyer towel, then dip into the cinnamon sugar.
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Fall Spiced Apple Cider Sangria
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 1 750ml bottle wine I used Cabernet Sauvignon, but a white like Pinot Grigio also works
- 2 cups apple cider
- ½ cup orange juice
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 2 apples I used honeycrisp
- 1 orange
- ½ cup brandy
Instructions
- Chop the apples and slice the orange and add to a large pitcher.
- Add in the cinnamon sticks, brandy, wine, orange juice and apple cider. Stir together with a spoon.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, but longer is better to really let the flavors mingle. Pour into glasses (see notes for the cinnamon sugar rim) and enjoy!
Caitlin says
Hi! Any suggestion on how to make this non alcoholic?
Claire Cary says
You could try more apple cider and then pair it with some sparkling water. A bit of cranberry juice would also be good!
Diane says
If I’m using proseco, do I wait to add it on until closer to serving time? Don’t want to lose the sparkle. Thank you
Claire Cary says
I actually only recommend topping off with prosecco and not using it for the whole recipe!
April says
I like your suggestion about using prosecco but I wouldn’t add that until the end to keep the fizz. Would you maybe use a little bit of wine in addition to the brandy to marinate the fruit? Thanks so much.
Claire Cary says
Definitely suggest only adding prosecco at the end!
Olivia says
If I want to use Cointreau instead of brandy, what is the amount of Cointreau to use? Thank you! Excited to try this!
Claire Cary says
I would probably use half the amount!
Annie says
Delish! I only had frozen OJ concentrate, so threw that in there. Added the sangria base to glass with ice and topped with Fresca. Yum!!
Jacky says
Hi I can’t wait to try this when you say apple cider is it the alcoholic type of juice type?
Claire Cary says
Just regular, the juice type!
Heidi says
I’ve made this 2 years in a row for Thanksgiving and it has been a big hit!
Alexa says
I’m going to try this got thanking! Have you ever tried this warmed up?
Claire Cary says
I haven’t tired it, but I think it would be really good! Especially with red wine! Let me know how it goes 🙂