Cranberry Sauce
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Ditch the can and impress your guests with this easy homemade cranberry sauce recipe—ready to brighten your holiday table in just 15 minutes!
Let’s swap out the old-school canned cranberry sauce for something fresher and tastier, shall we? I’ll admit, the jiggly, can-shaped version has its nostalgic charm, but homemade cranberry sauce is truly in a league of its own—and so easy to make! Simply boil fresh (or frozen) cranberries with sugar, water, orange juice, and orange zest, and in just 15 minutes, you’ll have a sauce bursting with bright, sweet flavors. The best part? You can make the sauce ahead of time and relax knowing it’ll stay perfectly fresh in the fridge for up to 10 days or in the freezer for two months. Serve it up alongside your favorite Thanksgiving turkey recipe (I love a dry-brined turkey) and turkey gravy, then give your post-feast turkey sandwiches a gourmet twist by mixing the leftover sauce with mayo for an irresistibly delicious spread.
“I usually use the recipe on the Ocean Spray bag. This is so much better! I can’t wait for my family to try it! I love the taste of the orange in it.”
About Fresh Cranberries
As the leaves start to turn, fresh cranberries make their seasonal debut, available from mid-September through the end of the year. These tart little gems are harvested in a unique way—the bogs they grow in are flooded, and the cranberries float to the surface for easy collection. But cranberries aren’t just for sauces! They can brighten up desserts and baked goods, like Nantucket cranberry pie, cranberry orange bread, or apple cranberry crumble. You can even use them to make cranberry chutney. Find them fresh in the produce section during the fall, and grab a few extra bags to freeze so you can enjoy them year-round.
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by zesting one of the oranges. A rasp grater is the best tool but any grater with small holes will work—just be sure to leave the white pith behind as it’s quite bitter. Always zest the orange before squeezing the juice out, as it’s near impossible to do afterward.
Combine the orange juice, water and sugar in a medium pot and bring to a boil.
Add the cranberries, orange zest and salt.
Boil gently for about 10 minutes.
Most of the cranberries should burst open, creating a thick sauce. You may need to mash them a bit with a spoon. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
How to Store Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce should be cooled completely before storing. Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
How To Freeze Cranberry Sauce
Fresh cranberry sauce freezes beautifully, so you can make it a month or two ahead of time to get a jump start on your holiday cooking. Allow the sauce to cool completely and then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let the cranberry sauce thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Video Tutorial
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Cranberry Sauce
Ditch the can and impress your guests with this easy homemade cranberry sauce recipe—ready to brighten your holiday table in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup fresh orange juice, from two oranges
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 (12 oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries (do not use dried)
- Zest of one orange, about 2 teaspoons
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over high heat, bring the water, orange juice, and sugar to a boil. Add the cranberries, orange zest, and salt and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of cranberries have burst open. (You may need to mash them a bit with a spoon.)
- Transfer sauce to a serving bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: Cranberry sauce will keep for 10 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: about 1/3 cup
- Calories: 126
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Sugar: 28 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Sodium: 43 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Everyone loved it, including the picky children! This is definitely our new family holiday favorite. Thank you for the recipe!
This was my first time to make cranberry sauce. It was so easy and delicious!! Everyone loved it! Thank you
I made this today. Unfortunately, frozen cranberries were all I could find. The sauce did not set up and thicken. I have no idea what went wrong. When I have made this recipe with fresh cranberries and it always was perfect.
Hi Kathy, Sorry the texture wasn’t quite right. The sauce is initially runny until it cools down. Did it end up thickening up? The frozen cranberries really shouldn’t make a difference.
This cranberry sauce is the best. It’s so perfectly balanced and adds beautiful color and bright flavor to the Thanksgiving plate. I love to mix a spoonful of the leftovers into plain greek yogurt – great snack. I look forward to this dish all year!
I didn’t have raisins, so I substituted dried apricots instead and used walnuts instead of pecans. It was awesome! Thanks so much for the recipe!
This is the best orange cranberry sauce I have ever made. The family loved it.
If you make this, don’t change a thing. My first. and now only cranberry sauce recipe I will ever make. Taste of orange right off the bat but not overwhelming. 5 stars for sure.
This is the BEST cranberry sauce recipe ever!! I followed the recipe exactly. Everyone in my family loved it and went back for seconds, including myself! Perfect amount of everything and balanced out SO well. Perfect amount of sugar and orange flavor, and loved the pinch of salt. Great consistency (not too runny, not too thick). I will never look for another cranberry sauce recipe again. Thank you!
I made this recipe today, Thanksgiving 2021, and it was great! I did not add to or change the recipe and it was a big hit! Thanks for sharing and Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Liz Shiroma
Carson, CA
I made this recipe today – Thanksgiving 2021 – EXCEPT: I added ~2 teaspoons of minced fresh rosemary. Delicious! It turned out beautifully. I decided to try this because my partner used rosemary as part of a rub for the poultry he cooked. I highly recommend both the base recipe (which I have made before) and my little variation. I have also made a similar recipe that calls for 1-2 cinnamon sticks and ~8-9 whole cloves, which you add at the beginning and remove before serving. (Believe me, it’s no fun biting into a whole clove.) I think you could add those spices to this recipe and get a good result as well.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s excellent. I love how simple it is – lets the fruit flavors really shine.