The Best Holiday Cranberry Sangria (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years)

This fragrant thanksgiving sangria is a bold blend of red wine, sparkling cider, rum and cranberries with a hint of spice! It's the best cranberry sangria recipe!

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This fruity and boozy holiday season or thanksgiving sangria not only tastes delicious but also looks very festive. A blend of easy cranberry simple syrup, cranberry juice, red wine, spiced rum and sparkling apple cider makes for a super yummy, slightly bubbly fall cocktail. It is easy to make, can be prepared a couple of days in advance and even turned into a non-alcoholic holiday drink. The guests at your next thanksgiving or christmas party won’t be able to get enough of this crowd pleasing, slightly spiced holiday punch. But you’ll want to drink this cranberry sangria year round!

close up of a glass of thanksgiving sangria

Table of Contents

What is Sangria?

Sangria is a mixed alcoholic drink originally from Spain. It usually contains fruit juice, wine, liqueur, sweeteners, sparkling water and fruit. There are red or white sangrias. The color depends on the wine. Red sangria is made with red wine, and white sangria with white wine. Use different fruits and flavors to make a fall sangria, holiday sangria, summer sangria or sangria for any occasion.

Notable: fruity and boozy holiday cocktail with just the right hint of spice
Main Ingredients: water, sugar, cranberries, ginger, cinnamon sticks, whole allspice, cranberry juice, red wine, rum, sparkling apple cider, pear
Cooking Method: stovetop
Cooking Time: 15 minutes prep time and 4 hours chill time
Diets: dairy free, vegetarian, vegan
Special Equipment Needed: saucepan, fine-mesh strainer, mixing bowl, large pitcher

sparkling cider poured into pitcher to make sangria

two glasses of cranberry sangria with cranberries and cinnamon sticks

Ingredients

You may have all of these fall sangria recipe ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store. See recipe card below for ingredient amounts and print the recipe. We like to use seasonal fruit for a Thanksgiving or holiday sangria. You can substitute for your favorite mix of fruit. You can make the simple syrup to use in many different fall cocktails for holiday parties or use in your Thanksgiving dinner fruit salad.

Simple Syrup Ingredients:

1 cup water
½ cup sugar
1 cup cranberries fresh or frozen
4 inch piece of ginger peeled and divided
2 cinnamon sticks
½ tsp whole allspice

Additional Sangria Ingredients:

1 cup 100% cranberry juice
1 750ml bottle Pinot Noir red wine (Make this a white wine sangria by using a dry white wine or a crisp white wine like pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc)
½ cup spiced rum
1 750ml bottle apple sparkling cider
1 Bartlett pear thinly sliced
½ cup fresh cranberries

Optional Garnish:

cranberries
pear, diced
ginger
rosemary sprigs
orange slices

WHAT TO MAKE NEXT: If you love bold and fruity drinks then you’ll love our amazing Red Wine Sangria. This blend of red wine, citrus, and strawberry with a hint of booze and bubbles goes really well with Spanish or Italian food.

Instructions

This section shows how to make holiday sangria on the stovetop, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full step-by-step instructions, photos and nutritional information see the recipe in the recipe card below. You can print the recipe with or without photos.

Recommended Tools

Fine-mesh strainer – This helps remove any small spice particles that you don’t want in your finished sangria.

Medium or Small Saucepan – Make the simple syrup over the stove in a small dutch oven or saucepan.

MAKE SIMPLE SYRUP: In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine water, sugar, cranberries, ⅓ of the ginger, 2 cinnamon sticks and allspice. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Then simmer on low heat for about 5-7 minutes.

cranberry simple syrup ingredients in a saucepan

STRAIN AND COOL SYRUP: Pour the syrup over a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium mixing bowl. Reserve the cinnamon sticks and discard the cranberries, ginger and allspice. Then set the syrup aside until cooled.

fine-mesh strainer with cranberries and cinnamon sticks

cooled simple syrup in a bowl with a spoon

MAKE SANGRIA: In a large pitcher, combine simple syrup, cranberry juice, red wine, spice rum, sparkling cider, pear and fresh cranberries. Chill for at least 4 hours. Then stir again and serve.

Stef says….

I love serving fruity and refreshing sangria at summer parties and bbqs. Two of my absolute favorite flavors are Strawberry Sangria and Summer Peach Sangria. There is just nothing better than sipping a fun and fruity cocktail in the summer sun!

red wine added to a pitcher of thanksgiving sangria

WHAT TO MAKE NEXT: If you love festive and spiced holiday drinks then you’ll love Stef’s Homemade Eggnog. Rich and creamy it is the perfect drink for holiday evenings and parties.

Make Ahead

You can make christmas sangria up to 3 days ahead of time. Store it in the fridge until ready to serve. We recommend adding the fruit only a couple of hours before serving, this way it looks fresh and appetizing. Add the sparkling apple cider shortly before serving.

Cranberry Sangria Recipe Tips

Follow these tips to make the best thanksgiving sangria.

Tip: Use GOOD red wine. Your sangria will only be as good as the wine you use.
Tip: Use ripe, fresh fruit for best flavor.
Tip: If possible, make the sangria the night before. This allows the flavors to blend properly and intensify. Add the sparkling apple cider right before serving.

How To Store

Refrigerate: Leftover thanksgiving sangria can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. After that point it will begin to sour. We recommend removing the fruit before storing, otherwise it might lose its texture and start to look unappetizing.

Freeze: Sangria can be frozen. Separate the fruit from the liquid before transfering to a freezer safe container. You can freeze sangria for up to 3 months.

Defrosting: Let the holiday sangria thaw in the fridge overnight.

Andrea says….

This “Best Ever” Sangria Recipe is always a big hit with friends at summer backyard gatherings. Even though there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, it is absolutely worth making. Once you’ve invested in the ingredients you can make it all summer long!

two glasses of christmas sangria with a pear

Common Questions

Can I make this holiday sangria recipe non-alcoholic?

Yes! Simply use grape or pomegranate juice instead of red wine, skip the rum and instead of the sparkling apple cider you can use sparkling apple juice, ginger ale or ginger beer, for example.

How can I make this sangria look even more festive?

To begin with, you can add sprigs of rosemary or cinnamon sticks to each glass. Moreover, you can add a sugar-cinnamon rim to the sangria glasses. Simple set out two flat plates, put a little bit of water on one and some cinnamon sugar on the other. Dip the rim of each glass into the water and then into the sugar mixture. Voila!

The Best Holiday Cranberry Sangria (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years)

What is Sangria?