Cranberry Sauce

This Cranberry Sauce recipe is super easy to make and tastes way better than the canned stuff! You can use fresh or frozen cranberries, and it's ready in just 40 minutes (only 10 minutes of cooking and 30 minutes of cooling down). Make it the day before Thanksgiving, and bring it out of the fridge right before dinner.

Looking for more Thanksgiving Recipes? Add my Sweet Potato Casserole to the party!

About This Recipe

One of the things I'm in charge of every year is making Thanksgiving dinner. I've actually been making it every year since I was 11 years old. I make all the sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole.

20 years ago, I found this delicious cranberry sauce recipe from some random grandma on Google. I've made it every year since without fail. It's jammy, tart, and sweet with the perfect amount of spice from cinnamon.

There are plenty of cranberry sauce recipes out there, but what this recipe does differently is that it has a cup of orange juice. Orange juice adds a bright citrus flavor that balances the extreme tartness from cranberries.

I'm one of those people who eat cranberry sauce with everything on my Thanksgiving plate. A spoon of stuffing? Better add a dab of cranberry sauce on that. Slice of turkey? Better smear on some cranberry sauce.

So, here's the recipe as I make it now - I've only made one small change from the original recipe: adding a fresh orange zest. It adds even more citrus flavor and a little bit of bitterness. Cheers to the random internet grandma who shared their recipe many years ago.

Key Ingredients

Cranberries: You can use either fresh or frozen. Make sure you rinse them under water and pick out any that look wrinkly or rotten.

Sugar: We will need 1 cup per 12-ounce package of cranberries. Many people are surprised by how much sugar is needed, but do you know how tart cranberries are? Very tart. If you don't add enough sugar, the sauce will be too sour.

Orange juice (plus the zest): I recommend using freshly squeezed orange juice, as we'll need the zest as well. Plus, freshly squeezed tastes much better and will make your cranberry sauce that much more tasty.

Water: For simmering the cranberries.

Cinnamon stick: Adds the perfect amount of warm flavor.

Salt: Just a pinch to bring out all the flavors.

Instructions

STEP 1: Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan.

STEP 2: Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook and stir for 10 minutes until all the cranberries have popped.

STEP 3: Let the sauce cool down for about 30 minutes, at which point it will thicken to a consistency like this.

📋 Recipe

Cranberry Sauce

My homemade cranberry sauce is super easy to make and way better than store-bought. Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Ready in only 10 minutes of cooking time.

5 from 2 votes

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Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Resting Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course condiment, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 2.5 cups

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh or frozen cranberries (rinsed)
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ ½ cup orange juice
• ▢ ½ cup water
• ▢ 1 cinnamon stick
• ▢ 2 strips orange zest
• ▢ pinch of salt

Instructions

 

• Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook and stir for 10 minutes until all the cranberries have popped.
• Let cool for 30 minutes, then it's ready to use. If the sauce is too thick, add a tiny bit of water at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. The sauce keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.

Did you make this?Let me know how it was!