Copycat Olive Garden Watermelon Sangria Recipe
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Jump to RecipeThis delicious Olive Garden copycat watermelon sangria recipe is light, refreshing, and loaded with sweet and juicy summer fruits. A wonderful and fruity drink that’s easy to make on a summer day.
With Moscato wine, fresh watermelon, ginger ale, oranges, and strawberries this tasty sangria takes just minutes to make, and it’s great to make ahead of time for company.
Want more fruity drink recipes? Try our favorite coconut water mango smoothie, hibiscus margarita, or our favorite blueberry lemonade gin fizz!
If you love the Olive Garden watermelon Moscato sangria and want to make your own version at home – this easy recipe is a perfect to enjoy on a hot day. This version skips the simple syrup and has sweet dry wine blended with watermelon, and chilled with fresh fruit. Please note this isn’t Olive Garden’s official recipe, it’s my homemade version of their classic cocktail.
This Olive Garden copycat recipe makes a large pitcher of sangria (about 64 ounces) – so it’s perfect for company. Feel free to make it ahead too, the best part is that it gets even better the next day!
Why This Recipe Works
- It’s a sweet, delicious, and light sangria with wonderful flavor.
- A perfect summer drink idea for a BBQ, cookout, or pool party.
- ​Refreshing and made with simple ingredients like wine, fresh fruit, and ginger ale.
- A great make-ahead drink for entertaining.
- This sangria is easy to make – follow our step-by-step photo instructions below!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Moscato wine – a light and sweet white wine, Moscato is delicious and wonderful in this sangria. See other options below for different wines.
Watermelon – I used fresh watermelon, and blended it the white wine to get all the wonderful watermelon juice infused with the wine.
Ginger Ale – while not found in traditional sangrias, ginger ale is a classic ingredient the OG uses in their version.
Strawberries and oranges – add a wonderful flavor to the sangria, the fruit soaks in the sweet Moscato wine for a wonderful drink.
What Wine is Best for Sangria?
Olive Garden uses sweet Moscato wine for their version, but here are some other great options below. Since these are all sweeter than Moscato, you may want to add an extra 4-6 ounces of ginger ale to get the sweetness right like at the restaurant.
You can use other white wines like pinot grigio (my favorite!), sauvignon blanc, or chardonnay. Add sparkling white wine or champagne for a bubby version. Or you can make this with rose wine or red wine for a richer fruitier flavor.
How To Make This Sangria
Step 1: Prep your watermelon – carefully chop the watermelon, and remove the rind. Cut the inside ripe watermelon pieces into cubes and place them in a blender.
Step 2: Add the Moscato wine to the blender with the watermelon. Blend for 1 minute until all the watermelon has combined.
Step 3: Place some cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer over a bowl or pitcher, and pour the watermelon and wine mixture through it. You want the wine and watermelon juice to strain out from the watermelon pulp.
Step 4: Once the watermelon mixture has strained, discard the pulp. Slice your oranges and strawberries and add them to the watermelon wine mixture.
Step 5: Top the wine with ginger ale and stir well to combine.
Step 6: Fill wine glasses with ice. Pour the sangria mixture over the ice and enjoy.
Recipe FAQs
I like using fresh summer berries and oranges for a wonderful flavor. You could also add chunks of fresh watermelon, apples, peaches, or any delicious ripe fruit you prefer.
Absolutely – to make ahead, follow all the steps but omit the ginger ale until right before serving. This will preserve some of the soda’s fizziness when serving, adding a wonderful texture.
Absolutely! This recipe works well as a batch cocktail for a large gathering. You will likely need to blend the water melon in 2 batches in the blender.
More Easy Cocktail Recipes
- Coconut Water Margarita
- Blood Orange Vodka Cocktail
- Warm Spiked Apple Cider with Cinnamon Whiskey
- Gin and Lime Cocktail, The Classic Gimlet
- Spicy Mango Jalapeno Margarita
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Olive Garden Watermelon Sangria Copycat
Equipment
- Blender
- Pitcher
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 750 ml Moscato wine
- 2 cups watermelon cubed
- 6 ounces ginger ale
- 2 oranges peeled and sliced
- 8 ounces strawberries sliced
Instructions
- Prep your watermelon – carefully chop the watermelon, and remove the rind. Cut the inside ripe watermelon pieces into cubes and place them in a blender.
- Step 2: Add the Moscato wine to the blender with the watermelon. Blend for 1 minute until all the watermelon has combined.
- Step 3: Place some cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer over a bowl or pitcher, and pour the watermelon and wine mixture through it. You want the wine and watermelon juice to strain out from the watermelon pulp.
- Step 4: Once the watermelon mixture has strained, discard the pulp. Slice your oranges and strawberries and add them to the watermelon wine mixture.
- Step 5: Top the wine with ginger ale and stir well to combine.
- Step 6: Fill wine glasses with ice. Pour the sangria mixture over the ice and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
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I loved developing this copycat cocktail recipe for you – if you make this sangria, let us know how it turned out by leaving and rating and review below!