This strawberry sangria made the Spanish way, with strawberries, dry rosé, and orange liqueur. Here’s how to build the pitcher and how long to chill it.
If you love berries and you love sangria, then you must drop everything and make this now. Here’s my perfect strawberry sangria! Many American-style sangria recipes are just glorified fruit juice, but this one is Spanish style, full of nuance and character.
Here the berries sing and the dry rosé notes peek through just enough. Serve it with a splash of sparkling water and a skewer of fruit, and it’s pretty perfect, I think! (In fact, it reminds me of my popular frozen rosé recipe!)
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Sangria
- It’s delicious. SangrÃa is a classic Spanish wine punch. Usually American versions of the stuff are so sweet and fruity, I’d barely call them sangria! But this strawberry sangria tastes like actual strawberries, and it has a deliciously balanced flavor with rosé wine.
- It’s also easy. 20 minutes of maceration, one hour in the fridge, and you’re done!
- It’s perfect for parties: the pitcher looks beautiful and it makes a large quantity at once.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The classic Spanish version is red sangria, made with red wine and chopped fruit, but Spaniards also drink white sangria, a version made with white wine. This strawberry sangria is a spin that uses a strawberry puree and rosé wine for a creative spin. You’ll need the following ingredients:
- Fresh strawberries: Make sure they are ripe and juicy; I would not substitute frozen.
- Granulated sugar: If you love a sweet sangria, you can double the sugar.
- Dry rosé wine. Or if you like a sweeter drink, you can use a sweeter rose.
- Orange liqueur. Use triple sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier: this adds intrigue to the flavor.
- Orange and lemon. Fresh citrus also adds flavor notes.
- Fresh mint steeped in the pitcher adds a final herby note.
The Best Wine for Strawberry Sangria: Rosé vs. White Wine
Rosé wine is my top pick, both because of the color and because a dry rosé already has strawberry notes. Some inexpensive great dry rosé wines are Grenache, Cinsault, and Spanish Garnacha rosados.
White wine also works and is what many strawberry sangria recipes call for. I’d use a dry white like Albariño, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc. The drink turns a soft blush instead of pink.
As a note, if you like more of a sweet style Sangria, you can also choose a sweeter wine of either type.
How to Make Strawberry Sangria
After living in Spain for a few months, I inherited a passion for Spanish foods done right! So this sangria method is Spanish-style, inspired by our favorite chef, Jose Andres. Strawberry flavored sangria is not traditionally Spanish, so we simply used the signature methods to create this unique spin. Here are the main steps (or jump right to the recipe):
- Macerate the strawberries, then puree: Place sugar on the sliced berries and let them stand at room temperature: this technique is called maceration (you may have done it for strawberry shortcake). Blend the berries in a blender until smooth, then strain them through a fine mesh sieve to remove the strawberry seeds.
- Add liquids: Add the puree, wine and triple sec or Grand Marnier to a pitcher, and throw in some orange and lemon slices and some fresh sliced strawberries.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This allows the flavors to meld and develop! After 1 hour, you’re good to go: but you can refrigerate for up to 4 hours if you want to make it in advance.
Grand Marnier vs. Cointreau vs. Triple Sec
What’s Grand Marnier and do you have to buy a whole new bottle for this strawberry sangria? Here’s a little breakdown on this top shelf orange liqueur and a few substitutes:
- Grand Marnier: Grand Marnier is a French liqueur that blends Cognac, bitter orange and sugar. It’s the highest end of the orange liqueurs, but only by a few dollars per bottle.
- Cointreau: Cointreau has an orange perfume flavor and is used in lots of cocktails, most famously the classic margarita. It’s great in this sangria!
- Triple Sec: Triple sec is the lowest end orange liqueur. The flavor is not nearly as developed as the other two, but it works!
- Brandy: You can also use brandy instead, since it’s traditionally used in sangria as well. It works if you have a bottle on hand!
Make Ahead Tips
You can make this strawberry sangria in advance, but don’t go beyond 4 hours in advance. Why? The fruit starts to become soggy and the flavors fade. So, don’t plan to make this drink too far in advance!
You can cut up the fruit and even make the strawberry puree beforehand. But don’t start the actual instructions until you’re no more than 4 hours away from serving time.
More Types of Sangria To Try
- Red Sangria
- White Sangria
- Watermelon Sangria
- Peach Sangria
- Apple Sangria
- Fall Sangria
- Frozen Sangria
- Sangria Margarita
Dietary Notes
This strawberry sangria recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Classic Strawberry Sangria
Pin RecipeStrawberry sangria is the best fruity drink, full of berry flavor and rosé wine! Here’s how to make this stunning cocktail…Spanish style.
- Prep Time: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole fresh strawberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 750 ml bottle dry rosé wine or dry white wine, chilled
- ½ cup triple sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier
- 1 handful mint leaves
- 1 orange, sliced into rounds
- 1 lemon, sliced into rounds
- Soda water, for serving (optional)
- For the garnish: Fresh mint, cocktail skewers
Instructions
- Reserve 6 strawberries and set aside. Slice the remaining strawberries and place them in a blender. Sprinkle them with the sugar and stir.
- Let the strawberries stand for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then add ½ cup of the wine to the blender and blend until strawberries are fully pureed. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer / sieve into a large pitcher and use a spatula to press the strawberry puree through. Discard the seeds.
- Add the remaining wine and triple sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier to the pitcher. Then add the fresh mint, orange and lemon rounds. Slice the 6 reserved strawberries and add them to pitcher.
- Stir and refrigerate the pitcher for at least 1 hour, or up to 4 hours. (Don’t go beyond 4 hours or the fruit texture starts to degrade.)
- To serve, pour the sangria into ice-filled glasses and top with a splash of soda water (if desired). Add fruit to each glass, preferably on long skewers for easy snacking.
More Strawberry Drinks
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/VoaQvBb
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