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Fruity Sangria Recipe That’s So Easy and Delicious

Leave a Comment / APPETIZERS, DRINKS, ENTERTAINING / Recipes, Tapas

I just love this fruity sangria recipe! My hubby said it was the best sangria he’s had, and we have had our fair share of sangria ???

Sangria is just such a party drink! You can dress it up with whatever fruit you fancy and make it more or less strong, just right for your crowd. Can you just picture yourself with a pitcher of sangria (to share, of course), a nice cheese board or some BBQ tapas on a lazy Saturday afternoon? I know I can!

What is Sangria?

Some of you may be wondering what I’m going on about. Is sangria a cocktail? Is it a wine?

Sangria is a Spanish wine punch made with red wine, liquor, fresh fruit, a little mixer, and a dash of sweetness. It’s usually served with Spanish tapas, cheese boards or appetizers. Sangria is served cold, with ice cubes. It’s like a wine cooler but sooo much better!

Sangria is definitely on the sweet side so you can easily drink more than you realize. It tastes so good and refreshing that I can overindulge (I’m a lightweight and feel tipsy after two glasses of wine). That’s why I usually water down my glass with a little extra ice.

What’s The Best Wine For Sweet Sangria?

You can use any sweet red wine, but it doesn’t have to be a specific one. I used Merlot for this fruity sangria recipe, but you can use pinot noir, zinfandel, or a red blend. Depending on the wine you use, you may want to adjust the amount of sweetness you add.

The other beauty about sangria is that you can use a cheap red wine, so it’s perfect for a crowd. You can also adjust the potency by adding more or less of the mixers and ice cubes.

What Fruit Goes In Sangria?

Oranges and limes are the most common fruit for sangria. My fruity sangria recipe has oranges, limes, and apples, but you can add other fruits if you like. For example, you can try it with blueberries, grapes, or strawberries. However, it shouldn’t be something that can get too mushy, so I would avoid bananas.

How To Make Sweet Sangria At Home

You can buy sangria ready-made at the store and just add fruit. But what’s the fun in that? Sweet sangria is easy to make and only takes ten minutes. Here are the ingredients you need for this fantastic wine punch. You can start out with my fruity sangria recipe and then adjust the amounts of each ingredient to suit your tastes. I tend to like my sangria on the sweet side and not so boozy, but you can add more or less of brandy, less mixer or simple syrup to suit your palate.

Red Wine – you can use merlot, pinot noir, zinfandel, red blends. Cheap wine is fine!

Mixer – you can use lemon-lime soda. I used Sprite.

Brandy – if you don’t normally have brandy at home, buy a small bottle just for sangria. Cheap brandy is fine for this, too.

Triple Sec – this is an orange liquor. You can buy an inexpensive non-alcoholic version at the grocery store. Or you can use Cointreau or Grand Marnier if you have them on hand.

Simple Syrup – you can buy this where you find the cocktail mixers at your local grocery store. Or you can make it yourself. It’s just equal parts water and sugar heated together to give the sugar a chance to dissolve.

Orange Juice – I really prefer fresh squeezed for this. You don’t need a lot, about two oranges will do. Or use the orange juice you have on hand.

Fresh Fruit – definitely use oranges and limes and then add other fruits you like. I like to keep it simple so I go with oranges, limes and apples. Just don’t use Granny Smith, it’s not sweet enough.

Ice Cubes – Sangria is served cold, over ice. You can add more or less ice depending on the potency you want.

Tapas – you need this too! You can’t drink sangria without a little noshy food, it’s criminal!

OK, noshy is a made-up word that I love to use. So a definition is in order. Noshy means foods with the potential to be nosh.

Nosh Definition: (Origin: Yiddish) a snack or light meal

Sangria Y Tapas Are A Power Couple!

Sangria y tapas go together like white on rice. You can make a simple cheese board with one or two cheeses, some crostini and a little salami or prosciutto. Add a few olives and nuts in for good measure. Or you can try some of my tapas recipes.

Here’s a very simple cheeseboard you can make:

Manchego Cheese
Tetilla Cheese (if you can’t find this cheese, substitute a mild cheese like mozzarella)
Serrano Ham or Prosciutto
Spanish Chorizo
Spanish Olives
Candied Walnuts
Guava Marmalade

This fruity sangria recipe and the cheese board are quick and easy to put together and make for a lovely little party starter or date night. Cheers to you and yours!

Fruity Sangria Recipe That’s So Easy and Delicious

Author: Sandi Abbott
Prep Time: 10
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 6 1x
Category: cocktail
Method: mix
Cuisine: Spanish

Print Recipe

Description

This fruity sangria recipe is quick and easy to make and so delicious! It’s a great way to get the party started!

Ingredients

Scale

1 bottle Merlot (750 ml)

½ cup Sprite

3 ounces Triple Sec

2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges)

1 ounce Simple Syrup

1 ounce Brandy

1 Orange

1 Lime

1 Apple (I used gala, but any sweet variety is fine – just not Granny Smith)

Ice Cubes

Instructions

Slice the orange and then cut in half. Slice the lime and dice the apple. Set aside.

Pour the wine into a pitcher. In a cocktail shaker add the Sprite, Triple Sec, Orange Juice, Simple Syrup and Brandy. Fill with ice cubes and shake. Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the pitcher with the wine. Add the fruit and the ice cubes and serve with tapas!

Notes

If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can just mix in a bowl or a separate pitcher. By mixing with the ice cubes, the ingredients get cold and you won’t have to use as much ice, if you want the sangria to be a bit stronger.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 6

Keywords: Fruity Sangria Recipe, Summer Sangria, red wine sangria, red wine sangria recipe, sweet sangria, sangria y tapas, how to make sangria, merlot sangria, wine punch

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Easy Backyard Barbecue Menu with Skirt Steak Chimichurri

Leave a Comment / BBQ, ENTERTAINING, MENUS / Recipes

I love backyard barbecues that are easy, tasty, and filled with my favorite Latin flavors! This menu featuring skirt steak chimichurri is one of my go-to summer grilling favorites, and it was my Thanksgiving menu for many years. We live in Miami so backyard barbecues are great in November.

Sometimes I spend more time putting a menu together than I do cooking it. So I wanted to provide you with an easy backyard barbecue menu so you can spend more time chilling this summer. You’ll find that skirt steak is an easy and flavorful steak perfect for the grill and this Cilantro Chimichurri sauce is great on steaks, veggies, bread, plantain chips (mariquitas), just about everything!

Easy Backyard Barbecue Menu

You can pair this skirt steak chimichurri with a grilled vegetable salad and crusty bread for an all-grill meal that’s ready in under 30 minutes. Or you can enjoy the grilled skirt steak with congri rice and maduros, this is how I prepared it for Thanksgiving. (My family is not big turkey, so we went non-traditional most years.)

The first time I ate skirt steak chimichurri it was at a Nicaraguan restaurant and they paired it with congri rice and fried sweet plantains (maduros). The limey chimichurri and the sweet fried plantains were such a good combo!! You can make the rice ahead of time and just reheat and the maduros take no time to fry. If you have an outdoor grill with a side burner, it’s even easier because you can fry the maduros as the steak is grilling.

For starters, I like to have grilled sausage and peppers montaditos. These are appetizer-sized choripan, a popular Argentine street food made with chorizo and chimichurri sauce. You’ll find the chimichurri sauce will be doing double and triple duty in this meal.

To finish this crazy good backyard barbecue menu, we have caramel flan, a very traditional Cuban dessert that is easy and so very velvety sweet you’ll fall in love with it.

So here are the two menu options:

Backyard Barbecue Menu Option 1:
Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos
Skirt Steak Chimichurri
Grilled Vegetable Salad
Crusty bread
Caramel Flan
 
Backyard Barbecue Menu Option 2:
Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos
Skirt Steak Chimichurri
Congri Rice
Maduros
Caramel Flan

Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos

These little Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos made with Argentinian sausage are perfect for summer grilling! Slices of crusty bread are piled high with grilled sausages and peppers and onions and drizzled with chimichurri sauce. Montadito is a Spanish tapas that consists of little breads or slices filled with savory toppings.

You can pace your grilling so it’s laidback by starting with these chorizos on the grill as a first course. This way you don’t have a huge amount to grill all at once. While folks are enjoying their montaditos you can add the other items to the grill. The skirt steak and veggies cook quickly, in about ten minutes so you may want to wait a bit before you throw them on the grill.

This recipe serves eight people.

Cilantro Chimichurri

Chimichurri is originally from Argentina and Uruguay, but it’s popular all over Latin America. The traditional sauce has a lot of fresh chopped parsley and olive oil and smaller amounts of garlic, oregano, and vinegar. I opted for lemon juice in my recipe. You’ll need to double this recipe so you can have plenty for dipping, topping drizzling and slurping (I know, I’m over the top about this sauce!).

Cilantro chimichurri is the star of this backyard barbecue menu. Because you’ll use it as a skirt steak marinade and steak finishing sauce, it’s drizzled on the montaditos, and can also be used as a dipping sauce for the crusty bread. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a staple in your barbecues.

Grilled Skirt Steak Chimichurri

Another name for skirt steak is churrasco, which is very popular in Argentine cooking. Argentines are famous for their epic backyard barbecues that include skirt steak churrasco among other cuts of beef, chorizo, and blood sausage.

Skirt steak is perfect for grilling and can really absorb the flavors of the marinade. You can find inside and outside skirt steak at your local supermarket. The best cut to use in inside steak because it’s more tender. But I’ve used outside skirt to make my Grilled Steak Chimichurri with great results too (it helps that my son is great at grilling meats!).

This recipe serves four so you’ll need to double it if you have more guests.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

If you love the smokey flavor of char-grilled veggies, you’ll love this Grilled Vegetable Salad that’s a perfect complement for the skirt steak chimichurri. This recipe makes four servings, so you’ll need to double it if you have more peeps coming.

I like that all the elements of your meal can be cooked on the grill so you don’t have to keep running into the kitchen to finish some things. You can enjoy your backyard barbecue to the fullest, with a glass of wine or an ice-cold beer and great convo from your favorite guests.

Cuban Congrí Rice

Congri Rice is a traditional Spanish black beans rice side dish served with just about anything Cuban, especially meats and pork. It’s great with the skirt steak chimichurri. This is an authentic Cuban recipe and it’s one of my mom’s best recipes (aka Bean Train).

You can make the beans in the Instant Pot and then finish the rice on the stovetop. If you want to keep your summer grilling simple, I suggest you make the congri rice the day before and then reheat it. It’s great the next day. In fact, this is a recipe that you can freeze for later if you have any leftovers.

This recipe serves eight people, maybe more.

Fried Sweet Plantains (Maduros)

Fried Sweet Plantains, known as plátanos maduros, are a very common side dish in Cuban cooking. It’s usually served with savory meat dishes like this one. The trick to making these is to choose very ripe plantains. They are best when they are almost black. Each plantain will yield about 6-8 slices, so you may need to fry up a few of these sweeties.

Maduros cook quickly and can be done on the side burner while the steak is grilling. If you can’t find plantains in your supermarket produce section, try the frozen foods. You may find some Latin brands that are already sliced and just need to be fried for a few minutes.

End With a Traditional Cuban Dessert – Caramel Flan

Caramel flan is the most popular Cuban dessert served for any special occasion. It’s luscious, creamy, and ridiculously easy to make. You do need to make this flan recipe the day before, so it has time to chill.

What makes this dessert so amazing is the caramel sauce which is nothing more than melted sugar but tastes like so much more than that!

You can make the individual portions in ramekins which are so pretty or make the flan in cake pan or pie plate for easy serving. A cake also gives you more flexibility with the portions. This recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or oven. If you’re going to use the Instant Pot, you’ll need to by a flan mold insert.

I do hope you enjoy making this backyard barbecue menu as much as you’ll enjoy eating it! ¡Buen provecho!

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Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos For Easy BBQ Tapas

Leave a Comment / APPETIZERS, BBQ, ENTERTAINING / Recipes, Tapas

These little grilled sausage and peppers open sandwiches made with Argentinian sausage are perfect for summer grilling! They are super easy appetizers to make while you enjoy a glass of sangria as you’re grilling this summer. They can be a starter for an epic summer barbecue or part of a no-fuss tapas party. They are so satisfyingly delicious and fun to make!

What is a Montadito

If you’re not familiar with montaditos, it’s time you guys met. I know you’ll hit it off ?

Montaditos are a type of Spanish tapas that are mini sandwiches. They are similar to sliders and canapes. Basically, you pile on your favorite meat and toppings onto little bread sandwiches or bread slices. Once you get the hang of making them, you’ll discover all sorts of toppings to try. Consider this post your license to get creative on your own little bread canvases!

Grilled Chorizo Toppings

This little grilled sausage and peppers montadito is my take on choripan, a popular Argentinian street food made with grilled chorizo topped with chimichurri. My version is bite-sized, and also includes grilled peppers and onions with cilantro chimichurri sauce.

Chorizo is an Argentinian sausage you should be able to find at your local grocery store. But if you can’t, substitute Italian sausage.

Summer Chill Grill

I love how chill this grill recipe is! It takes very little prep and everything cooks together on the grill at about the same time. You just need to make the chimichurri sauce ahead of time. So once your guests arrive you can hand them a glass of wine or an ice-cold beer and drink and chill with them by the grill.

Throw the sausage, peppers, and onions on the BBQ while you hang out in the backyard with your guests. The sausages and veggies cook in about 10 minutes, and you can add the bread slices on the top rack as the other items are finishing up.

Then, remove everything from the grill and slice up the sausages into thick diagonal slices and the peppers into ribbons. Place a slice of sausage on the toasted bread and pile on the peppers and onions and top with a drizzle of chimichurri sauce.

Summer Grilling Menu Idea

Once you’ve done a little noshing on these little choripan slices with your friends, you can start grilling your main dish. May I suggest churrasco steak with chimichurri sauce to keep the Argentine theme going? Keep it simple with a Grilled Veggie Salad so you don’t have to keep going in and out of the kitchen. Finish off with a little ice cream for dessert. It’s so easy, breezy!

Give these montaditos with grilled sausage and peppers a try and let me know how you like them. ¡Buen provecho!

Grilled Sausage and Peppers Montaditos For Easy BBQ Tapas

Author: Sandi Abbott
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 1x
Category: appetizer
Method: grilling
Cuisine: Argentine

Print Recipe

Description

These mini-sandwiches, called montaditos, are piled high with grilled sausages and peppers and onions and drizzled with chimichurri sauce. A delicious take on Argentinian choripan that’s perfect for your next barbecue.

Ingredients

Scale

1 loaf French Bread

1 package chorizo (Argentinian sausage) – 5 links

2 red bell peppers

1 large red onion

Chimichurri sauce

Instructions

Preheat: Heat a grill to medium heat.

peppers and onions

Prep:

Prepare the chimichurri sauce. You can do this one day in advance to give the flavors a chance to deepen.
Cut the bell peppers and remove the ribs and seeds. Cut in as large a piece as you can. I usually cut the tops and bottoms off and then cut the body into 3 large pieces that can lay flat on the grill.
Peel and slice the onion into thick slices (just under half an inch). If the slices are too thin they’ll fall apart on the grill.
Slice the baguette bread into ½ inch thick slices.
Brush the veggies lightly with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Let the veggies sit for about 10 minutes before putting them on the grill.
Brush the bread with oil and set aside until the last 2 minutes of cooking time.

Cook:

Grill the veggies until they have some char and color but aren’t burned. Grill the sausages until they are cooked. Don’t poke the sausages as you grill them because the juices will drain and you’ll end up with a dry sausage.
Sausage temperature should be about 160 degrees. Grill times will vary based on your grill and the thickness of the veggies. But following are my grill times:
Onions Bell Peppers: about 5 minutes per side for a total of 10 minutes
Sausages: 10 minutes total, turning them as you go so all sides get cooked evenly.
Bread slices: 1 minute on each side, total of 2 minutes, placed on the top rack for indirect heat (really depends on the thickness and where you place them on the grill). They should be lightly toasted.

Assembly:

Remove the veggies and sausages and give them a few minutes to rest. If you plan to remove the charred skin on the red bell peppers, place them under a foil tent to steam a bit to make the skin removal easier. (I like the char, so I skip this step)
Slice the peppers into ribbons. The onions will be easy to pull apart once they are off the grill.
Slice the sausages diagonally into about ½ inch slices.
Top each slice of bread with a slice of sausage, add a few ribbons of peppers and a few onion rings.
Drizzle with chimichurri sauce.

Notes

The measurements are pretty fast and lose. You can adjust the thickness the bread and sausages to your liking and pile on as much of the onions and peppers as you like. Same goes with the sauce. The more you add the messier they’ll be, though, so start small and see how it goes.

Calorie count includes chimichurri sauce, but prep time does not. The sauce takes about 30 minutes, but you should give the chimichurri sauce a few hours to let the flavors get to know each other.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 3 slices

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Cuban Appetizers To Make For World Tapas Day

Leave a Comment / APPETIZERS, CUBAN, ENTERTAINING / Recipes, Tapas

Tapas are the best party food, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate World Tapas Day than with these delicious Cuban appetizers. This is one holiday that’s totally worth celebrating because it’s just made for hanging out with friends, drinking wine, and noshing on party food. So, let’s get the party started with these fun and delicious Cuban appetizers.

World Tapas Day is either June 16 or 17, depending on the calendar you follow. But you can celebrate it anytime you feel like it. I like to celebrate it every month. And I’m sharing some of my favorite Cuban tapas recipes to help get you in tapas party mode.

Spanish Tapas Montaditos

I love, love, love montaditos and you will too when I ‘splain what they are. These Spanish tapas are made of little baguettes filled with delicious meats, cheeses, and other sweet and savory goodies. The Spanish root word for montadito is montar which means to mount. So, these little pieces of bread are mounted with tons of delicious toppings. I like to think of them as my little bread canvas where I can get creative and inventive. Here are two fun Cuban tapas recipes to try.

Cuban Ropa Vieja Montaditos

These impressive little Cuban ropa vieja appetizers are perfect for a tapas party! They come together quickly and can be assembled and finished later. If you don’t have ropa vieja leftovers, you can get the recipe here and enjoy it for dinner the night before. If you don’t have ropa vieja, you can try pulled pork, or use whatever leftovers you do have on hand. Top with a little cheese and olive, pepper, or a little spicy sauce.

Smoked Salmon Toast (Montadito)

I called this recipe Smoked Salmon Toast, but you can also call it a montadito. These smoked salmon toasts are an easy Cuban tapas recipe to make and requires no cooking. Smoked salmon and avocado piled high on a crostini with a lemon and caper gremolata is the perfect dish for breakfast, brunch, or a tapas party. Now, I know these are technically not Cuban, but they are made by a Cuban, and avocado toast is a Cuban thing anyway… we were eating avocado toast (aka pan con aguacate) way before it was trendy ??❤?

Grilled Sausage And Peppers Montaditos

These little grilled sausage and peppers montaditos made with Argentinian sausage are perfect for summer grilling! Enjoy a glass of sangria as you’re grilling this summer. They can be a starter for an epic summer barbecue or part of a no-fuss tapas party. They are so satisfyingly delicious and fun to make!

Pan Con Tomate Traditional Spanish Tapas

This simple and delicious Pan Con Tomate is a traditional tapas recipe that’s super quick and easy to make. It requires no cooking and can really be done with just the four basic ingredients in ten minutes tops. Try it with a little prosciutto, wine and cheese. You’ll love, love it!

Chicken Croquettes Are Party Platter Favorites!

Chicken croquettes are party animals! They are the life of every Cuban party and it’s no wonder. Croquettes are crunchy on the outside with a creamy chicken filling made with béchamel sauce. They are also great as a snack or for breakfast. You can switch things up by swapping the chicken filling with ham or fish. So perfect for tapas!

Cuban Appetizers with Leftover Picadillo

I love to turn my leftovers into tapas party food, especially Cuban picadillo. It’s the perfect filling for tons of Cuban appetizers, like empanadas and stuffed tostones cups. Oh, and quesadillas… not a Cuban appetizer but in the Latin family ?

Beef Picadillo Empanadas

These cheesy ground beef empanadas are a very popular Cuban appetizer that’s easy to make and can be fried or baked. I filled these empanadas with picadillo, but you can try other savory fillings. Ropa vieja (used in the montadito recipe above) would also be great here.

Picadillo Ground Beef Quesadillas

Quesadillas are another great canvas for creating delicious tapas. I love using my leftover picadillo to make these cheesy ground beef quesadillas, but you can use any leftovers you have on hand. That’s one of the many things I love about quesadillas! Just open up your fridge and pull out your leftovers, a little cheese, some peppers, and onions and you got the makings of some great party food.

Stuffed Fried Plantain Tostones Cups

Tostones are twice-fried green plantains and a go-to side dish for many Cuban dishes. But they can hold their own as a Cuban appetizer, especially if you turn them into tostones cups. Follow my tostones recipe to make these fun little cups and then you can fill them with picadillo or ropa vieja topped with cheese. Or fill them with shrimp ceviche cocktail.

Crunchy Malanga Fritters Are Great As An Appetizer or Side Dish

These malanga fritters (aka frituras de malanga) are a super crunchy cuban appetizer perfect for tapas. If you’re not familiar with malanga, it’s a root vegetable that’s creamier and more nutrient-dense than potatoes. They are great on their own, with a little dipping sauce or as a side for soups, stews or salads.

Shrimp Ceviche Cocktail

This Shrimp Ceviche Cocktail recipe is easy to make and is a great, refreshing appetizer for summer parties! I like to serve them with plantain chips or tostones cups, but they are also wonderful with tortilla cups. Ceviche is a popular Latin American appetizer and is usually made with lime juice, onions, and peppers. This version has a tomato base and spicy habanero peppers for a little heat.

Cuban Deviled Eggs

These Cuban deviled eggs, or huevos endiablados, are made with saffron. This Spanish spice is usually used to make paella and adds a subtle and distinctive flavor to this classic deviled egg recipe. Top it with bacon or a Spanish olive and they make a great appetizer for your next tapas party.

Now no tapas party would be complete without a pitcher of sweet sangria. Make a pitcher to enjoy with the great apps by using my Fruity Sangria recipe.

So, now that you’re fortified with some great Cuban tapas recipes and a pitcher of sangria, go forth and party.

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