Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (2024)

The BEST Cranberry Sauce Recipe is fresh, homemade, and make-ahead. With just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you can enjoy the absolute best homemade cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving.

Make this recipe a few days before Thanksgiving to save time and have one less thing to do on the big day!

Check out mySmall Thanksgiving Dinner Menuwith Recipes and a Printable Grocery list. I show you step-by-step how to make Thanksgiving dinner.

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (1)

CRANBERRY SAUCE

Cranberry Sauce is one of those foods the picky kid in me would never eat, but the adult in me LOVES! It really was love at first taste, and now I put fresh cranberry sauce on just about everything.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving leftovers is a roasted turkey grilled cheese with cranberry and brie sandwich. I love it dripping with cranberry sauce! yummmm I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

If you've never made a FRESH homemade cranberry sauce recipe because you thought it would be too difficult - think again! It's super easy! All you need is fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and about 15 minutes! You can even make this up to a week ahead of time and store in the fridge until Thanksgiving!

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (2)

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE

  1. In a saucepan set over medium heat, dissolve 3/4 cup of sugar in 3/4 cup of orange juice and then add 12 ounces of fresh cranberries. After several minutes the cranberries will start pop, pop, popping! Cook until the sauce gets juicier and the berries burst and break down, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat and add a pinch of salt. Give the cranberry sauce a little taste and adjust the flavor to your liking. If the sauce is too tart, add about a tablespoon or two more sugar at a time until the sweet/tart balance is just right for you. Smoosh the cranberries if you like or leave them chunky. It's totally up to you! Cranberry Sauce is delicious warm or cold, so serve it how you like it and enjoy!

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (3)

HELPFUL TIPS AND FAQ'S FOR MAKING THE BEST CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE

HOW TO BUY & STORE FRESH CRANBERRIES

Cranberries are only harvested in the fall and usually show in grocery stores in November. Only a small percentage of cranberries harvested are sold fresh, so when I see fresh cranberries in the grocery store, I stock up. Fresh cranberries can be frozen for up to a year!

Fresh cranberries are typically sold in bags in the produce section of your grocery store. When buying fresh cranberries, I recommend giving the bag a thorough check to make sure there aren't any soft or mushy berries. Also, look to make sure liquid hasn’t collected inside the bag, as that is a sign of rotten cranberries - nobody wants that!

Store fresh cranberries in their bag in the refrigerator up to a month. Or freeze them in their bags up to a year. I always buy extra bags of fresh cranberries to store in the fridge for use throughout the year. Also, because I have this irrational fear there will be some crazy cranberry shortage and I want to be prepared just in case.


CAN FRESH CRANBERRY SAUCE BE MADE AHEAD OF TIME

YES! Cranberry sauce is one of those Thanksgiving recipes I always recommend to make ahead of time. I usually make it the day before Thanksgiving and store it in the fridge, but it can be made up to a week ahead. Store fresh cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.


WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER CRANBERRY SAUCE

Leftover cranberry sauce can be used in a variety of ways. Here are some of my favorite ways to use leftover cranberry sauce:

  • Leftover Thanksgiving Casserole is a delicious recipe made from all your favorite Thanksgiving recipes and my best cranberry sauce recipe makes it taste even better!
  • Have you ever tried my Cranberry Pinwheel Cookies? If not, you're missing out! You'll want to make extra cranberry sauce just to have enough to make these cookies!
  • BBQ Cranberry Chicken is a delicious dinner recipe that's easy to make using leftover cranberry sauce.
  • Whip up some cranberry butter to spread on bagels or toast. Use it to top pancakes, waffles, or french toast for a special treat. Also makes a great sandwich spread.
  • Mix fresh cranberry sauce into yogurt and top with homemade granolafor a delicious breakfast. It makes a great addition to smoothies and oatmeal too!


Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Side dish

American

Yield: 6

Author: Life Tastes Good

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (4)

The BEST Cranberry Sauce Recipe is fresh, homemade, and make-ahead. With just 3 ingredients and 10 minutes of your time, you can enjoy the absolute best homemade cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving.

prep time: 5 Mcook time: 10 Mtotal time: 15 M

ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup orange juice
  • 12 ounces of fresh cranberries
  • salt to taste

instructions:

How to cook Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe

  1. In a saucepan over medium heat, dissolve 3/4 cup sugar in 3/4 cup orange juice. Add 12 ounces cranberries and heat for about 10-15 minutes until the berries burst and break down. Add a pinch of salt and adjust flavors to your liking.
  2. Allow to cool
  3. Garnish with orange zest if you like

NOTES:

Article last updated on 10/23/2019
When buying fresh cranberries, I recommend giving the bag a thorough check to make sure there aren't any soft or mushy berries. Also, look to make sure liquid hasn’t collected inside the bag, as that is a sign of rotten cranberries
Store fresh cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week

Products I Use (Paid Links):

Calories
136.78

Fat (grams)
0.14

Sat. Fat (grams)
0.01

Carbs (grams)
35.01

Fiber (grams)
2.10

Net carbs
32.90

Sugar (grams)
29.97

Protein (grams)
0.48

Sodium (milligrams)
98.59

Cholesterol (grams)
0.00

Nutrition label disclaimer: Nutrient values are estimates only. Variations may occur due to product availability and food preparation. To obtain the most accurate representation of the 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. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

COPYRIGHT © 2019 Life Tastes Good


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Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you get the bitterness out of cranberry sauce? ›

Add A Splash Of Vinegar

While citrus is a natural pairing for cranberry sauce, bright, savory vinegars like sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar play well with the bitter-tart berries. Start with a little, then add more gradually. It's easy to overdo it when in comes to bold vinegars.

How to enhance cranberry sauce? ›

Adding a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon or orange zest, a tablespoon of chopped candied peel, or even a splash of juice to your canned sauce will brighten flavors and bring in some homemade flavor.

What brand is the best cranberry sauce? ›

Best Jellied Cranberry Sauce: Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. The Ocean Spray brand is pretty much synonymous with all things cranberry, so it's not really a surprise that they have their cranberry sauce dialed in.

How do you reduce tartness in cranberry sauce? ›

While you won't taste it, salt helps equalize the sweet-tart flavor of your cranberry sauce while making it a better pairing for the rest of your savory sides and, of course, the turkey.

Why does my homemade cranberry sauce taste bitter? ›

Dear Evelyn: I had the same problem when I first started making my own cranberry sauce. I found out that you should cook them just until they pop. Further cooking will make them bitter, and once that happens, you need to start again.

Why do you open cranberry sauce upside down? ›

But why? Ocean Spray says this is to get the cranberry sauce out in one intact piece. “The rounded part of the can that looks like the bottom has an air bubble in it,” Ocean Spray's representative explains. The bubble is there so you can “break the seal the sauce makes with the can.”

What thickens cranberry sauce? ›

Jelling. Homemade cranberry sauce is meant to thicken, or “jell,” while cooking. If it stays soupy, that could mean a couple of things. One possibility is that you may not have used enough sugar: Sugar helps the sauce firm up, so be sure to use the full amount called for in a recipe.

Why is my homemade cranberry sauce runny? ›

You must cook the sauce for at least 10 minutes at a full boil for the pectin to react with the sugar and create the proper gelled texture. It is also important to let the cranberry sauce cool at room temperature. Moving it to the refrigerator too soon may also affect the gel.

Is canned cranberry sauce better than homemade? ›

While there are some editors who prefer homemade cranberry sauce, the canned variety also has quite a following. "There's something so beautifully perfect about the texture of canned cranberry sauce, and none of those homemade mess will ever compete," says Senior Digital Food Editor Kimberly Holland.

What is the difference between cranberry sauce and jellied cranberry sauce? ›

Cranberry sauce can be served either as a gooey liquid or as a solid jelly. The jellied version is solid enough to retain the shape of the container in which it's placed whereas the sauce version is much more fluid.

What is the difference between whole berry cranberry sauce and jellied cranberry sauce? ›

The major variation you're likely to come across is "whole berry" versus "jellied." The only difference between them is that the jellied sauce is cooked until the berries have completely broken down. They both slide out of the can as a wobbly red cylinder.

Why is cranberry sauce so expensive? ›

But that's not the case for prepared cranberry sauces, where prices are up. Lochner pointed out that processors set those prices, not growers, and that there are higher input costs unrelated to berries — like “processing the fruit and getting it to market.” Ocean Spray isn't immune either.

What cancels out tartness? ›

How Do You Neutralize Sour Taste in Food? If a dish is too sour, add a little bit of sugar! Sweetness balances out sour flavors, so if something makes your mouth pucker, a dash of sugar may help soften the blow of the sour food.

What if I add too much water to cranberry sauce? ›

What to do if the cranberry sauce is too thin or loose. If you inadvertently added too much water, simply bring the cranberry sauce back to the stove top and bring it to a low boil, cooking it down just a bit to help thicken it up.

How do you fix too sweet cranberry sauce? ›

My cranberry sauce is too sweet now that I taste it. How do I fix it? Add a splash of red wine or apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt to lessen sweetness.

How do you sweeten bitter cranberry juice? ›

Add agave nectar to the cranberry citrus mixture to your taste. I started with 1/2 cup and ended up with 1 cup of nectar to the 9 cups of juice. You could also use 1/2 cup of white sugar or 1/2 cup of honey for this. Just taste test as you go to achieve your desired sweetness.

What can I do with bitter cranberries? ›

That said, the best way to tackle fruits that are way too tart is to balance their sourness with sweetness. In addition to softening their abrasiveness, tossing any unbearably bitter berries with sugar can also heighten nuanced flavors.

Why does my homemade sauce taste bitter? ›

Leaf states that this can be due to burning the sauce in the pot or simply dealing with a batch of produce that are overly acidic or metallic from canning or cooking. This can also come from under-ripe or low-quality tomatoes, as well as stirring in a hefty amount of tomato paste, per Boss The Kitchen.

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