These Are Our Favorite Holiday Sangria Recipes of All Time

During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, having an easy, crowd-pleasing, big-batch recipe in your back pocket is key — especially when it’s a cocktail. A pitcher of sangria will win over any crowd, and guests can serve themselves, meaning you don’t have to play bartender all night. Here are our 11 favorite holiday sangrias, ready for any and all wintertime festivities.

Cognac, sparkling wine, and apple cider combine to create an easy pitcher sangria that’s not overly sweet. Garnish with thinly sliced apples and pomegranate seeds for an extra-festive touch.

You can never go wrong with a classic red wine sangria, and you certainly don’t need to splurge when it comes to the bottle of wine. Here, we used an inexpensive Spanish Rioja, but a Merlot or a Malbec would also be great.

This sangria is appropriate any time of year, thanks to a bag of frozen mixed berries from Costco. Not only are the frozen berries cheaper than fresh, but they also act as your ice cubes, and won’t water down the drink!

This surprising combination of black tea, pomegranate juice, orange juice, and fizzy water is so delightful, you won’t miss the booze at all. Pack it full of fresh fruit and citrus slices for a party-ready punch.

This drink doubles as a drink and a centerpiece, thanks to a colorful garnish of fresh cranberries, diced apple, and lemon twists. We opted for Chardonnay here, but feel free to use your favorite white wine.

This vibrant sangria isn’t much more work than a mimosa, but it’s so much prettier. We call it breakfast sangria because it’s packed with our favorite breakfast fruits (oranges and grapefruits) and it’s lighter and more refreshing than a classic red wine sangria.

This gorgeous sangria is packed with cherries three ways: fresh cherries, cherry liquor, and cherry bitters. In the summertime, we love to use cherries from the farmers market, but around the holidays a bag of frozen pitted cherries will do the trick.

Fresh, fruity, and fizzy, this white wine sangria will be a hit at any party. Plus, it couldn’t be easier: Simply combine strawberries, cucumber, and orange liqueur in a pitcher, refrigerate for an hour, then top with sparkling wine and club soda just before serving.

If you’ve never had beer sangria, this is the perfect place to start. Lambic is the most wine-like beer — it comes in a variety of fruity flavors and has a higher alcohol content than most other ales.

Slightly sweet Moscato (we like 7 Daughters Moscato, which is less than $15 a bottle) combines with pretty white peaches, peach brandy, and fizzy peach seltzer for the ultimate holiday happy hour drink. In the wintertime, opt for frozen sliced peaches as the garnish.

Thinly sliced green pears are a fun and festive addition to a sparkling white wine sangria. If you can’t find pear liqueur, opt for St. Germain elderflower liqueur instead.