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A cup of homemade Mulled Wine makes cheeks rosy and warms from the inside out. This delicious blend of wine, fruit, and fragrant spices will become your new holiday tradition.
I love Mulled Wine because it makes the whole house smell absolutely incredible and puts everyone in the Christmas spirit. If you’re entertaining, this couldn’t be easier. All you need is maybe 5 minutes of prep and a few minutes to cook.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Wine: Choose an affordable, bold red wine like a malbec, Syrah, or Cabernet Sauvignon. Consider a high-quality boxed wine too. Buy more than you think you need, though. Your guests will inhale every last drop, this recipe is so good. If you’re using white wine, choose an unoaked dry white wine like a pinot Grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- Orange juice: Apple cider works just as well, too.
- Spices: A sachet is a fancy term for spices tied up in a piece of cheesecloth with twine. You could also use a tea ball or loose leaf tea bag to hold them. It makes it easier to pull these small ingredients out of the mulled wine later. Or, you can just add everything straight to the pot since you strain the mulled wine at the end.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a large non-aluminum pot over medium-low heat, combine wine, orange juice, orange slices, sugar, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Simmer until steam begins to rise from the pot and the mixture is hot, about 10 minutes (do not boil).
- Strain (or remove spice bundle) and keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. Serve warm garnished with orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and star anise if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes eight 1-cup servings (and is easily doubled or tripled for your crowd).
- Storage: Mulled wine can be refrigerated for up to a week. Just bring it to a simmer before serving.
- Garnish: Cinnamon sticks, anise pods, orange wheels, or a curled orange peel.
- Non-alcoholic: All you have to do is replace the wine in the recipe for a good Concord grape juice (like Welch’s) and omit the orange juice and the sugar. Then add the citrus slices, spices, and proceed with the recipe as directed.
- Spiked mulled wine: Completely optional, but very delicious. Brandy, cognac, or bourbon added to mulled wine in small amounts gives the drink a nice depth of flavor, much like sangria.
- Slow cooker: Make the mulled wine in a crockpot on LOW for easy open house serving.
Mulled Cider
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Mulled Wine
A cup of homemade Mulled Wine makes cheeks rosy and warms from the inside out. This delicious blend of wine, fruit, and fragrant spices will become your new holiday tradition.
Ingredients
- 2 (750 mL) bottles red wine (see note 1)
- 3/4 cup orange juice (see note 2)
- 2 oranges sliced into wheels and halved, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or honey or maple syrup, or less to taste
- 12 whole cloves (see note 3)
- 4 cinnamon sticks plus more for garnish
- 4 star anise plus more for garnish
Instructions
- In a large non-aluminum pot over medium-low heat, combine wine, orange juice, orange slices, sugar, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Simmer until steam begins to rise from the pot and the mixture is hot, about 10 minutes (do not boil).
- Strain (or remove spice bundle) and keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. Serve warm garnished with orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and star anise if desired.
Notes
- Wine: Choose an affordable, bold red wine like a malbec, Syrah, or Cabernet Sauvignon. Consider a high-quality boxed wine too. Buy more than you think you need, though. Your guests will inhale every last drop, this recipe is so good. If you’re using white wine, choose an unoaked dry white wine like a pinot Grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- Orange juice: Apple cider works just as well, too.
- Spices: A sachet is a fancy term for spices tied up in a piece of cheesecloth with twine. You could also use a tea ball or loose leaf tea bag to hold them. It makes it easier to pull these small ingredients out of the mulled wine later. Or, you can just add everything straight to the pot since you strain the mulled wine at the end.
- Yield: This recipe makes eight 1-cup servings (and is easily doubled or tripled for your crowd).
- Storage: Mulled wine can be refrigerated for up to a week. Just bring it to a simmer before serving.
- Garnish: Cinnamon sticks, anise pods, orange wheels, or a curled orange peel.
- Non-alcoholic: All you have to do is replace the wine in the recipe for a good Concord grape juice (like Welch’s) and omit the orange juice and the sugar. Then add the citrus slices, spices, and proceed with the recipe as directed.
- Spiked mulled wine: Completely optional, but very delicious. Brandy, cognac, or bourbon added to mulled wine in small amounts gives the drink a nice depth of flavor, much like sangria.
- Slow cooker: Make the mulled wine in a crockpot on LOW for easy open house serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 113kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 6mgPotassium: 182mgFiber: 3gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 172IUVitamin C: 39mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Absolutely Delicious!