Virgin Sangria

A low FODMAP virgin sangria of cranberry juice and brewed tea steeped with grapes, strawberries, orange, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

Prep 15 min

Cook 1 min

Serves 6

Gluten-freeDairy-freeVegan

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) unsweetened 100 percent cranberry juice (no apple or pear blends)
• 3 3/4 cups (900 ml) brewed black or rooibos tea, cooled (or substitute water)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 red or green seedless grapes (about 56 g), halved
• 1 cup (150 g) strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 25 g per glass)
• 1/2 medium orange, sliced into thin half-moons
• Ice, for serving
• About 2 cups (480 ml) chilled sparkling water or cane-sugar lemon-lime soda, to top

Instructions

Build the base

1. In a large pitcher, combine the cranberry juice, cooled tea, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Stir until the maple syrup dissolves, then taste and add the last tablespoon if you want it sweeter.
2. Drop in the cinnamon stick.

Add the fruit and chill

1. Add the halved grapes, sliced strawberries, and orange half-moons to the pitcher. Press the fruit down gently with a spoon so it sits under the liquid.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight, so the fruit steeps and the flavors come together.

Serve

1. Fill wine glasses or tumblers with ice. Pour the sangria base over the ice, spooning some of the soaked fruit into each glass.
2. Top each glass with 2 to 3 ounces of chilled sparkling water or cane-sugar lemon-lime soda. Stir once and serve.

Tips & Substitutions

• Skip the apple and pear. Classic sangria is built on apple and pear slices, which are high in excess fructose and sorbitol. Grapes, strawberries, and orange give you the same look and float, and each glass stays within low-FODMAP portions.
• Choose 100 percent cranberry juice. Cranberry "cocktail" and most bottled cranberry drinks can be sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or blended with apple juice. Read the label for a single fruit: cranberries.
• Batch it ahead. The fruit and juice need a few hours in the fridge to steep, so this is a make-it-in-the-morning drink for an evening party. Hold the sparkling water until serving so each glass stays fizzy.
• Pick the topper carefully. Plain sparkling or soda water keeps it simple. If you want a sweeter finish, use a cane-sugar lemon-lime soda and check the label for no high-fructose corn syrup, apple juice, or fruit-juice blends.
• For the boozy version. Dry red wine is low-FODMAP at Monash's 150 ml (about 5 ounce) serve. Stir a bottle into the pitcher in place of the tea for a traditional alcoholic sangria that still skips the apple and pear.
• Prefer it flat? Top with still water instead of sparkling if you'd rather skip the bubbles.

Why This Works

• Cranberry juice and grapes carry the flavor. Unsweetened cranberry juice is low-FODMAP at about 30 ml per glass, and grapes are low-FODMAP only at about 10g per serve, so the pitcher uses 8 grapes for 6 glasses. Together they give the tart-and-sweet base that red wine usually brings.
• Strawberries and orange stay in range. Monash puts the low-FODMAP serve of strawberries at 5 medium (65 g) and a whole orange tests low, so the 25 g of strawberries and few orange slices in each glass stay within tested serves. Look up any fruit in the FODMAP Foods app to see how its rating changes with portion size.
• Maple syrup replaces the honey. Sangria is often sweetened with honey, which is high in excess fructose and fructans above about ½ teaspoon (4g). Pure maple syrup is low-FODMAP at 1 tablespoon and adds the same rounded sweetness.
• Apple and pear are the swap-outs. The classic sangria fruits are the FODMAP problem, not the wine. Building on cranberry, grape, strawberry, and orange keeps each of the six servings low-FODMAP.

Storage

The fruit and juice base keeps in a covered pitcher in the fridge for up to 2 days at 40°F (4°C) or below, and the flavor deepens as the fruit steeps. Add the sparkling water and ice only at serving so the drink stays cold and fizzy. The soaked fruit is fine to eat or spoon into glasses. Don't freeze the pitcher, since the fruit turns mushy once it thaws.