Description
This simple mulled wine recipe is ready in 40 minutes and perfect for the holidays. Customize it how you like, get cozy, and sip away!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice, preferably without pulp*
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 1 orange*
- 10 whole cloves
- 1 bottle red wine (merlot works well, see notes for vegan wine suggestions)*
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Before getting started I like to slice the orange in half. Keep half the orange to garnish your glasses and use the other half in the mulled wine while it cooks. Poke the whole cloves into the half of the orange that will be used for heating the wine. I find it easier to poke the cloves into the orange and then slice the orange into rounds. (See the photos in the blog post for a reference).
- Start the mulled wine by adding the water and sugar to your pot. Bring the mixture to a low boil and boil until the sugar dissolves.
- Reduce the heat and add the orange juice, cinnamon, star anise, and the sliced rounds of orange studded with cloves. Cook for 1 minute.
- Reduce the heat further to a very low simmer and add the wine (you do not want the wine to boil as the alcohol will boil off and the taste will turn bitter!). Warm the wine very gently for 30 minutes with the lid off.
- Serve with a cinnamon stick and the fresh slices of orange.
- To make this recipe in your slow cooker you can boil the water and sugar on the stovetop and then add everything to your slow cooker and heat for 1 hour or until warm. Switch the slow cooker to “keep warm” and serve when ready. Alternatively, make the mulled wine on the stovetop and transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm if you will be sipping on it throughout the night.
- Store completely cooled mulled wine in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat gently on the stovetop. Make sure to check out our spiked apple cider based Hot Wassail holiday drink too!
Notes
Approximate Cost: Roughly CAD $1.10 in addition to the bottle of wine. We typically buy a $15 bottle of red wine. A great thing about mulled wine is that you do not need to splurge on the wine.
Merlot and Zinfandel are often suggested as the best varieties of red wine to use for mulled wine. I have made this recipe with bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and enjoyed them more than mulled wine made with bottles of Merlot so feel free to choose red wine that you like and that you have available to you!
If you would like to purchase a vegan wine as most wines do contain animal derived ingredients, the website Barnivore is a helpful vegan wine directory. I also find it helpful to do a general search for local vegan wineries and see what pops up in your area!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Hot Drinks
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: European