Red wine sangria may be more traditional, and I love rosé sangria in early summer, but this easy white sangria is what I serve when the summer heat really hits hard. It’s just so refreshing! Made with easy-drinking white wine and lots of summer fruit, this white sangria recipe is a simple, quick, easy make-ahead cocktail that everyone loves.
Reasons To Love This Easy White Sangria
- It’s EASY to make: Unlike a lot of cocktail recipes, you don’t need any special equipment to make white sangria! A few ingredients and you’re done.
- Ideal make-ahead cocktail for summer parties: White sangria actually needs time to sit in the fridge so that the flavors can meld and the drink can fully chill, so it’s a great recipe to make way ahead of time.
- Flexible and adaptable: If you want to make your white sangria with prosecco instead of white wine, or add a little fizz (and lower the ABV) with some seltzer, you can totally do that. If peaches aren’t in season yet, but you’ve got some other stone fruit or berries, you could use those instead of peaches. Bottom line, my white sangria recipe is very flexible!
- Two words: Frozen grapes! Admittedly, these do require you to think about making sangria a day or two (or more) ahead of time. But they’re such a great white sangria trick for hot summer days because they’ll keep your sangria cool without watering it down the way traditional ice cubes would.
How To Make White Sangria
- A day or two ahead of time: Freeze grapes.
- At least two hours ahead of time: Combine everything but the frozen grapes in a large pitcher. Pop it in the fridge to chill. (You could do this the night before, if you want to really work ahead.)
- Serve! Stir the frozen grapes into the sangria right before serving.
The Best Wine For White Sangria
The best wine for any sangria (red or white) is one that you don’t mind drinking on its own! When I buy wine for white sangria, here’s what I look for:
- Wine that’s not too expensive. You’re going to add a lot of stuff to it, so this is not the moment to buy a super-special bottle. I usually buy a bottle in the $10 to $15 range for making sangria.
- Wine that is crisp and dry. Fruit and brandy or orange liqueur add a lot of sweetness to the sangria, so it’s best to start with a very dry white wine so that your finished sangria is pleasantly sweet, not syrupy. Sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio are easy to find white wines that are often on the dry side.
- Wine you love: Get something you like to drink straight-up and you won’t go wrong!
Optional Variations
- Use fruit brandy instead of triple sec. Apple or apricot brandy are both classic white sangria ingredients, and you could swap in one of those if it’s what you have on-hand, or if you prefer a stronger boozy punch! Orange liqueur is a bit sweeter, too, so if you want a drier white sangria, you might opt for brandy.
- Use a different kind of fruit: Most summer fruit would be delicious in this recipe. I have a thing for peaches in summer (who doesn’t?!) but if you want more color, fresh strawberries, plums, apricots or even green apples all work well here, too.
- Make it fizzy! If you want to lighten this drink up, serve it topped off with a good pour of bubbly water. On a really hot day, it can be nice to make it extra refreshing, and lower in alcohol-per-serving by cutting the sangria with some seltzer water.
More Classic Summer Drinks
More Easy Summer Drink Ideas
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