Sangria has been around for centuries and is very common to find in Spain, Greece and Portugal. It’s basically, wine, sugar and fruit (yum!). But I found the sugar too sweet in most recipes and since we try to cut out processed foods and excess sugar as much as possible – I knew there had to be another way.

There is! Amaretto. Amaretto adds sweetness and you won’t even miss the sugar. This is one of those items you can bring to a party and everyone will come up asking you for the recipe and wanting to know how you made it.In fact, my husband just ran into a couple he hadn’t seen in two years and they said “Your wife is the one who brought that Sangria to the pool party!” They remembered loving it.

There are two things that make this Sangria the bomb – Amaretto and time.

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Any fruit will add flavor, but I have to say melon is my new favorite. Our stores had yellow canary melons, which are are so sweet and yummy that I had to try it in the sangria. I made two pitchers to bring to a barbecue and it was a hit, not a drop was left!

If you can’t find canary melons, any melon (honeydew, galia, or cantaloupe) will work. The key is to make sure the melons are ripe and that you allow enough time for it to seep prior to serving, about 24 hours. The wine absorbs the sweetness of the melon, and will have more flavor the juicier the fruit.

The amaretto does sneak up on you though so make sure to serve it over plenty of ice with some of the fruit. You don’t want to get your Mother-in-Law, who never drinks, too tipsy on Christmas Eve–not that I would know anything about that (oops!). If melon isn’t your thing, you may like one of these other two recipes.

Additional Tips:

You can mix up the type of fruits you use – that’s the fun of Sangria.

Apples cut down on the sweetness of the melon.

Do not choose a sweet wine because with the amaretto and fruit it will be too sweet. Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio work well for this.

Ladle over ice with some fruit in each glass. You can even eat the fruit:)

You can also freeze the grapes and use them as ice cubes too.

Presentation is fun with Sangria.

It’s fun to choose clear glasses and clear pitcher so you can see the fruit. You can mix things up with a fun straw like this one, or a funny ladle like this.

But for a classic look, this pitcher, with these etched variety glasses so you know whose glass is whose, and ladle are great for company.

Don’t forget the reusable straws for a pop of color!

Salud!