Homemade Spiced Sangria Recipe -- Easy, Paleo, All Natural Ingredients

A little while back, I arranged a meet and greet barbecue for the new and old ladies in my community, and I wanted to make some delicious things to serve there, including an alcoholic beverage, while still keeping down the costs. Sangria was what came to mind, a drink made with red wine and fruit, originating in Spain.

There are so many different recipes for sangria, but as long as they have the red wine and fruit they're authentic. While I made my recipe exactly as is written, feel free to play around with your sangria and make it to taste, using what you have available in the house. I made this while summer fruit were still very much in season, but if you don't have summer fruit available, use what you have, or even use canned fruit. Fruits you can use are any berries, apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, pineapple, mango, oranges, grapefruit, persimmons, cranberries, pomegranate, you name it.

I will note that while I used oranges in mine, if you want to let yours sit in the fridge and be able to also eat leftovers, note that fresh oranges or grapefruits will make it more bitter, the longer it sits, so leave out the citrus fruit if you don't like bitter or if you plan on having leftovers.

I added a large variety of spices to mine because I enjoy things that way, but feel free to play around with them or leave them out.

Additionally, I sweetened mine with jaggery syrup; feel free to use honey, coconut sugar, or sugar if you want to. The important thing is that it is sweet enough, not which sweetener you use.

I happened to use brandy since I had some in my house and many recipes for sangria call for brandy, but if you don't have that available, or simply to keep down the costs, feel free to leave that out.

In short, while this recipe was delicious as is, and I got many requests for recipes, this is totally a flexible recipe. Play around with it and make it with what you have available.

To serve this I like to put it in a large bowl with a ladle (punch bowl style) but you can also put it in a pitcher, ideally in a wide mouth, so that the fruit will come out together with the sangria.

Homemade Spiced Sangria Recipe -- Easy, Paleo, All Natural Ingredients

Ingredients:
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine (3 1/8 cup)
1 cup orange juice
2 cups water or seltzer
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger grated
2/3 cup jaggery syrup or other sweetener of choice to taste
1/3 cup brandy
4 plums
3 peaches
4 apples
3 oranges

Instructions:
1. Mix the wine, orange, water or seltzer and brandy together, then add the spices and sweetener, adjusting the sweetener to taste as needed.

2. Chop your fruit. You can do these in wedges or dice them, whichever you prefer. Peel your oranges first so you don't add the bitter peel.

3. Mix the wine with the fruit and refrigerate until chilled.

Enjoy!

Have you ever had sangria before? What was in it? Did you enjoy it? If you've made sangria before, what was in your recipe? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?