Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is always tastier than the store-bought kind, PLUS you can customize your ingredients for different flavors - cranberry pear, cranberry orange, cranberry ginger, spicy cranberry (with hot chili peppers). The sky's the limit!

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Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce on a wooden table. Cranberry Sauce in a saucepan, coating a wooden spoon. Cranberry Sauce on a white plate with mashed potatoes, chicken and green beans.

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Cranberry Sauce

  • Prep Time: 5 m
  • Cook Time: 20 m
  • Total Time: 25 m
  • Servings:
    8
    2 cups

Ingredients

  • ½ cup orange juice or water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 4 cups fresh cranberries 1 (12-ounce bag)
  • pinch salt
Optional Ingredients
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest
  • pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Combine the orange juice (or water) and sugar in a 2 to 3 quart saucepan and bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar. Add the cranberries and cinnamon stick (if using).

  2. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, or until all the cranberries have popped and broken down into a sauce. Add orange zest and nutmeg (if using).
  3. Cool to room temperature and serve or refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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Comments (12)Post a Reply

  1. 5 stars
    I’ve made this recipe for two years’ worth of holiday dinners now and will be using it again today. SOOOO delicious and so simple to make! All my cranberry-loving relatives and friends rave about it. Just watch out… it is seriously addictive.

    1. You can store fresh cranberry sauce in the fridge for up to two weeks. Any longer than that it is best to freeze it. So if you can wait a couple weeks to make your cranberry sauce then you wouldn’t have to freeze it.

    1. You can can your cranberry sauce using the water bath canning method. The jars should be processed for 15 minutes and if canned properly should last up to a year.

  2. I use this as my base recipe. After the cranberries have cooled for 15 – 20 minutes, I add a can of drained and coarsely chopped mandarin oranges, chopped pecans and chopped celery. I call it “cranberry salad”, instead of sauce. The family loves it.

  3. 5 stars
    I absolutely love this recipe and have been making it since 2019. Are usually have to double or triple the recipe when I make it. I’m wondering if this can be canned in a hot water bath?

    1. Yes, you can can the cranberry sauce by processing the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

  4. I was never a cranberry lover. I come across this recipe a few years ago and fell in love with it. I now have been making this every year for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I LOVE this, I can’t eat turkey without this sauce. Thank you so much for this recipe.

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