Watermelon Sangria is a refreshing summer cocktail made with fresh watermelon, lime juice, orange liqueur,, and crisp white wine.
Throw some burgers and vegetable kabobs on the grill, grab a Watermelon Sangria, and toast to summer at its finest.
This Watermelon Sangria recipe is the perfect beverage to add to your summer party menu.
Whether serving with appetizers, like Watermelon Salsa or Bruschetta, or enjoying with Grilled BBQ Chicken and Baked Beans, this delicious delicious summer cocktail is refreshing, crisp, light, and bursting with watermelon flavor.
It also happens to be exceptionally easy cocktail to whip up!
Ingredients Needed
- Watermelon: Fresh, juicy, ripe watermelon is best for making watermelon sangria. Be sure to not use watermelon that is pale in color, as it will lacks flavor and sweetness.
- Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice adds tartness and brightness to this sangria. It is crucial to use fresh limes and squeeze them yourself, rather than using bottled lime juice.
- White Wine: I recommend using a dry wine like pinot grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or chardonnay. Avoid sweeter white wines like Moscato, unless you like your sangria really sweet.
- Triple Sec: The citrus flavors of orange liqueur add a nice dimension and flavor to the sangria. Grand Marnier, Brandy, and Cointreau are all delicious, albeit pricier substitutes for the triple sec, and will add a rich undertone to this sangria as well as delicate notes of citrus.
- Seltzer water: I love finishing off this cocktail with a bit of seltzer water to keep the sangria bubbly and light, but that is an unnecessary addition, as this Watermelon Cocktail is perfectly delicious without the addition of seltzer.
- Blueberries: The addition of blueberries is optional but adds a nice pop of color and makes this sangria patriotic.
How to Make Watermelon Sangria
- Step One: Blend Watermelon. Making watermelon "juice" is as easy as placing cubed watermelon into a blender and blending.
- Step Two: Strain. After blending, it is crucial to to strain the watermelon juice over a fine mesh strainer, or your sangria may have chunks or pulp which is very unappetizing.
- Step Three: Combine Ingredients for Sangria. In a large pitcher, combine the strained watermelon juice, fresh lime, juice, triple sec, and white wine, stirring to incorporate.
- Step Four: Chill. As long as your white wine was chilled prior to preparing this sangria, you can enjoy this cocktail immediately. If your wine was at room temperature, it is best to chill the sangria mixture for 1 to 2 hours to allow it to fully chill.
- Step Five: Garnish & Serve. This watermelon sangria needs NO adornment! However, I love to top off my cocktail with some chilled seltzer, a few blueberries, and a watermelon star. The watermelon star is made by cutting watermelon slices into stars with a star cookie cutter. Easy, cute, & festive!
recipe modifications
Like it sweeter? Add ¼ cup of honey or granulated sugar to your watermelon cubes prior to blending. Alternatively, swap out the dry white wine for a sweeter wine, like Moscato or Sweet Riesling.
Bubbly Alternative: If you love the bubbly fizz, but don't want to use seltzer water, swap out the white wine with chilled champagne, prosecco or rose. For the ultimate bubbly experience, I recommend combining the watermelon juice, lime juice, and triple sec together and waiting to add the champagne until right before serving. To serve, combine 1 part watermelon mixture with 2 parts bubbles.
Minty Watermelon Sangria: For a refreshing mint flavor, add 10-15 mint leaves to the sangria when mixing together the watermelon juice with the lime juice and wine.
More Refreshing Beverages
If you enjoyed this simple, refreshing Watermelon Sangria, please be sure to leave a comment below.
Watermelon Sangria
Ingredients
- 7 cups ripe, seedless watermelon diced
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice about 2 limes
- 1 (750ml) bottle dry white wine
- ¼ cup triple sec
- 1 liter plain seltzer water optional
- 1 pint blueberries optional
Instructions
- Place the 7 cups of cubed watermelon into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the watermelon juice using a fine-mesh strainer to remove any seeds or pulp, reserving the juice.
- Add fresh watermelon juice, lime juice, triple sec and white wine to large pitcher. Stir to incorporate.
- If your wine is fully chilled, you can serve immediately. If not, chill for 1 to 2 hours before enjoying this cocktail.
- Right before serving, gently stir the watermelon and wine mixture together again. To serve, pour 2 parts of watermelon sangria over ice and top with 1 part chilled seltzer water.
- Garnish with fresh blueberries and watermelon stars if desired.
Eden
This watermelon sangria was so refreshing and perfect for the very hot day we had today! We loved it!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so happy to hear you found this refreshing Eden--thanks for sharing!
Caroline Y
The absolute BEST summer cocktail ever. I made it for my girlfriends and everyone wanted the recipe!
Allyssa
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make sangria recipe! Will surely have this again!
Martha
I just made this and it came out incredible!!! Fresh summer cocktail. I omitted the triple sec and used a fruitier wine to add a little bit of sweetness.
My go to cocktail for the summer to take advantage of watermelon season. Thanks for this great recipe
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Martha! I love the idea of using a fruity wine myself. Thanks for sharing.
Liz @ Books n' Cooks
Love this idea. It sounds so light and refreshing, the perfect cocktail to enjoy on a hot day without feeling like you're overdoing it.
Kristen Chidsey
Yes, perfect for a hot day for sure!
Sam @ Bites of Wellness
I am crazy about watermelon everything !! I always have at least 1 watermelon in the house all summer long!
Kristen Chidsey
Same here! Watermelon is just the perfect summer fruit. You will love this Sam.