Keep the Halloween spirit alive with this sangria cocktail and mocktail recipe! This spooky red drink is sweet with fruit juices, apple cider, sparkling red wine (alcoholic or non-alcoholic), and plenty of frozen fruits.
Welcome to Day 3 of my Halloween Drink Week, y'all! We're celebrating spooky season with spooktacular drinks: festive cocktails, mocktails, and family-friendly drinks that will make any Halloween party an absolute blast! Happy Halloween!
Looking for more recipes that are perfect for Halloween? Try my Purple People Eater Halloween Mocktail, a Halloween Charcuterie Board, or my Halloween Mimosas!
Spooky Halloween Sangria Recipe (Cocktail or Mocktail)
The fall weather is finally here, my loves. It's high time we start getting into all the fall season recipes!
Planning our halloween night also means planning a spooky halloween party for our son's friends and their parents...so this spooktacular addition to our festive fall tablescape!
My red Halloween sangria is perfectly simple, yet totally spooky twist on the classic: a deep red color, fall flavors, dark frozen fruits to really give that moody feel, and of course, I had to make it creepy with lychee eyeballs that I had leftover from my Purple People Eater mocktail.
While this post's main focus is on the mocktail, I do have instructions on making it a cocktail for those who imbibe! Your next halloween party isn't complete without a glass of sangria, honey!
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Jump to:
- Spooky Halloween Sangria Recipe (Cocktail or Mocktail)
- Why You'll Love this Easy Halloween Sangria Recipe
- What is Sangria?
- Equipment needed
- What you Need for this Spooky Sangria
- Step By Step Instructions To Make This Halloween Mocktail
- Variations and Substitutions
- Storage Instructions
- More Halloween Party-Ready Drinks
- Halloween Sangria
Why You'll Love this Easy Halloween Sangria Recipe
- Easily Customizable Sangria Recipe - instead of dark moody fruit, you can keep it classic with orange slices and apple slices. Got an adult halloween party? Pour in the brandy and cabernet sauvignon!
- The Perfect Party Punch - with all the frozen fruit keeping it cool (and not diluting the sangria!) and having the option to make it non alcoholic, it's a fabulous addition to the beverage line up for your next Halloween bash.
What is Sangria?
Sangria, "bloodletting" in Spanish, and this Spanish drink is the successor of a drink from the West Indies called sangaree, made from madeira wine, citrus, sugar, and spices as a type of refreshing drink and medication.
Sangria is made with red wine, usually rioja wine, from the Rioja region of Spain, along with orange liqueur, brandy, and fresh fruits. It's also made in a big batch, where as sangaree was made as a one-serving cocktail.
Sangria recipes differ from region to region, so using your favorite bottle of red wine with fresh fruit isn't going to hurt anyone's feelings.
Equipment needed
What you Need for this Spooky Sangria
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Sparkling Red Grape Juice OR Non-Alcoholic Red Wine - if you're making this an alcoholic sangria, use red wine.
- Frozen or Fresh Fruits - black grapes, blood oranges, and pomegranate arils are in season this time of year so enjoy these fruity flavors! I used frozen fruits to be able to get those tasty blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries in
- Fruit Juice - cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice all work here.
- Brandy - if you're keeping this a cocktail, use your favorite brandy!
- Apple Cider - it's in season and so tasty in our drink!
- Club Soda - this gives us some serious bubbles.
- Canned Lychee Fruit and Blueberries - I love making creepy edible eyeballs with this combo!
Step By Step Instructions To Make This Halloween Mocktail
Step 1 | Place all the fruit into your pitcher except most of the lychees and some of the frozen blueberries
Step 2 | Pour the red wine (or non-alcoholic red wine), fruit juice, brandy (if using) and apple cider over the fruit. Let it chill and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to give the fruit enough time to really get the flavors mixing together.
Step 3 | Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, and then top with a bubbly soda in the pitcher and stir. Then get your favorite wine glasses and pour in the sangria! Garnish with cinnamon sticks, rosemary sprigs, gummy worms, or edible eyeballs.
Variations and Substitutions
- Add in ginger ale or sprite instead of club soda.
- Swap in plum juice, blackberry juice, or strawberry nectar.
- Add your favorite fruits to the mix, frozen fruit is available year round after all!
- A great red wine to use is pinot noir if you're making the Halloween cocktail version.
- You can serve over ice, and if you do, freeze some plastic spiders in the ice for extra creep-factor.
- Serve in a punch bowl or cauldron for a witches brew type of vibe.
- I always am a proponent of (safely!) using dry ice for my halloween cocktails and mocktails. It's easily found at many stores, so give your local grocery store a call and ask if they have any!
Storage Instructions
Keep the sangria in the fridge for up to a week! The flavors will just get better over time.
More Halloween Party-Ready Drinks
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Halloween Sangria
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen fruit of choice
- 1 750 mL bottle of red wine (non-alcoholic or alcoholic) or red grape juice
- ½ cup pomegranate or cranberry cocktail juice
- 1 cup apple cider
- ⅓ cup brandy, optional
- 1 12 oz can ginger ale or sprite or club soda
- 1 can peeled lychee, drained, for garnish
- Frozen blueberries, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the frozen fruit in a large pitcher.
- Pour red wine, apple cider, fruit juice, and brandy, if using, into the pitcher. Stir well, and keep the sangria refrigerated until ready to serve. It can be served immediately as well.
- When ready to serve, top with the club soda or ginger ale and garnish with reserved lychee eyeballs fruit and serve over ice.
- How to Make Lychee Eyeballs
- Take each canned lychee and place a frozen blueberry into the hole in the center of the lychee.
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