Recipes for sangria abound, like this rosé sangria or this ruby sangria, or variations like tinto de verano, but including strawberry jam in the mix adds viscosity and extra depth of flavor to this strawberry sangria. Macerating fresh strawberries in red wine is an old Italian trick that I borrowed for this recipe, and it works wonders. To accentuate the berry flavor even more, I added a little Marsala in addition to the brandy. Fewer drinks could be more tempting—or better suited to a crowd—on a warm night.–Rachel Saunders
Strawberry Sangria FAQs
As we like to say around here, would you drink it on its own? Then that’s a great start. But if you need something more specific, a traditional route would be a Spanish or Portuguese red. Something bright and fruity, in particular. Here, the recipe uses Grenache (Garnacha in Spanish) for a stunning result. Tempranillo, another Spanish red is great. If your tastes wander farther afield, Italian Primitivo or Californian Zinfandel would do nicely, as would an Argentine Bonarda.
Strawberry Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 orange, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise into rounds
- 1 lemon, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise into rounds
- 1/2 cup high-quality strawberry jam, or more to taste (or substitute simple syrup)
- 1/4 cup strained fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup sweet Marsala
- One (26-ounce) bottle medium-bodied red wine
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, thickly sliced
Instructions
- Place the orange and lemon slices in a large pitcher or small punch bowl. Mash gently with a muddler or wooden spoon, taking care not to damage the pieces of fruit; you just want to bruise them enough for them to release their flavor.
- Add the jam and muddle a little more, then add the orange juice, lemon juice, brandy, Marsala, red wine, and water and stir very well. Stir in the sliced strawberries. Cover the sangria with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Refrigerate the sangria until cold, at least 3 hours.
- To serve, ladle the sangria into chilled glasses, making sure to include some strawberry slices in each serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Oh, wow, was this ruby red strawberry sangria tasty! Right in time for our first pool party of the season. Not only was it super flavorful and just sweet enough, but I also already had all the ingredients at home, so no extra shopping was required. The combination of smooth brandy and slightly sweet Marsala wine was unexpected but really yummy.
I used a bottle of California pinot noir as my wine—not too heavy and not too light in flavor. I thought it added a lovely sweetness and really made this a strawberry sangria. The appearance of the lemons, oranges, red wine, and strawberries was lovely. Everyone loved this sangria recipe!
Summer in a glass. This is a tasty but very sweet strawberry sangria recipe. The strawberry flavor really comes through, and there are background citrus notes that make this very refreshing.
I used 400 grams (14 oz) fresh strawberries, a nice local blended red wine, and 250 ml (1 cup) of a quality seedless strawberry jam for this recipe. I allowed everything to sit for 2 hours and then chilled it for another 3 hours until well-blended. It was very tasty but quite sweet. After chilling, we noticed that it had thickened, so we thinned it out with an additional cup of water before pouring.
I’ll certainly make this again but next time will use only 125 grams (1/2 cup) jam and add in the extra water to start. I found it a little sweet for my taste, but I can’t wait to try this again with strawberries fresh from the field.
I love, love, love sangria. Red or white sangria, I love it. I make it at home and I order it in restaurants whenever I see it on the menu. I liked this sangria a lot. I especially liked the fresh strawberries and the aroma the strawberry sangria gave off, which made me think of summer. The jam was sweet but was mostly balanced by the wine and Marsala.
One of my prerequisites for drinking sangria is that it must be ice cold and served over ice. So that’s exactly what I did, and it didn’t disappoint. This was a very refreshing drink on a warm Memorial Day!
I added a splash (1/4 cup) of Licor 43 since I had a bottle from another recipe. It made a nice citrus addition! I think topping each serving with a little splash of club soda would improve it even more.
Delicious. Sangria is definitely something we like to serve when we entertain or have a family gathering in the warmer weather. I don’t know that we’ve ever followed a precise recipe, and my Portuguese dad likes to add a variety of liqueurs and does a different variation each time. I wanted to try this recipe so that I could have a “tested and true” recipe in my repertoire. Found it!
I doubled the recipe and gave it a try. I found that the recipe as written would serve 6 rather than 8. Perhaps we’re a little heavy-handed with the pour, but no one was complaining. I couldn’t bring myself to add the strawberry jam, so to add sweetness, I mixed in 1 1/4 cups simple syrup, but that was for double the recipe. We’re not big on sweet drinks in our family and in fact, I think just 1 cup simple syrup would have been enough (that’s 1/2 cup for a single batch).
Make sure the strawberry sangria is well chilled. I made it the morning of and found the sangria was not chilled enough when we went to serve it. We added additional ice and it was better. Next time, I’ll make it the night before so it has a longer time to chill.
Very simple, very satisfying, a nice depth of flavors between the Garnacha, citrus, brandy, and marsala. Soft, not intense or sparkly. I held back on the strawberry preserves and used only 1/2 cup and I’m glad I did I think it would have been overly sweet otherwise.
Rather than waiting only for the strawberry sangria to chill after it macerated at room temperature for 2 hours, I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. My husband did request that I make it for his birthday this July. I might suggest placing some freshly sliced fruit in glasses for presentation and to see how it might provide a little more contrast because sitting in the fridge overnight may have softened all the fruit personalities a bit too much. Overall, it was refreshing. Definitely chill the glasses!
Nothing says summer like sangria- this looks incredible! Can’t wait to try this version!
We felt the same way when we first saw this recipe, Christina! Would love to hear what you think when you’ve tried it….