Kick your holidays up a notch this year with perfectly tart, sweet, and easy-to-make Cranberry Sauce!

If you’re serving this easy sauce for Thanksgiving or Christmas, consider serving it alongside these Mashed Potatoes, a Wild Rice Salad, Roasted Vegetables, Thanksgiving Dressing, and/or this Watergate Salad.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is one of my husband’s favorites. (Sadly for him, we don’t eat it much outside of Thanksgiving…) But because it’s his favorite, I wanted to create an extra-special recipe for him so he could enjoy it the one time of the year he gets to eat it. 🙂

What I’m sharing today is the best Cranberry Sauce I’ve had! It’s just the right amount of sweet while still remaining true to the delicious tart profile of cranberries. The texture is perfect and this sauce is so easy to make, you’ll never want to go back to the cans!

And as it turns out, making this sauce homemade is not as difficult as you’d think.

Making Cranberry Sauce

How do you make homemade Cranberry Sauce?

Start by combining white and brown sugar with cranberry and orange juice. Over medium heat, whisk to dissolve the sugar and then stir in the fresh cranberries.

Watching closely and stirring occasionally, the cranberries will begin to become soft, break down, and thicken the sauce (thanks to the natural pectin in cranberries). You can use a spoon to smash some of the cranberries as they become tender. Let stand off the heat and the sauce will continue to thicken.

So now that we know how to make cranberry sauce; how do we make it the very best?…Making Cranberry Sauce

How to make it the BEST

Because let’s be honest, if we’re going through the trouble of making homemade Cranberry Sauce, it better taste good! 🙂

The majority of recipes combine 1 cup of sugar, a bag of cranberries, and 1 cup of water. To make it the best, though, we’ll be making some tweaks: reducing the sugar (and switching out some of the white for brown sugar) and replacing the water with cranberry and orange juices.

The cranberry juice adds an extra layer of tart cranberry flavor while the orange juice adds an additional layer of flavor and sweetness to create a hint of cranberry-orange in the sauce.

Fresh juices make all the difference! They’re definitely the “secret” to this sauce!

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce FAQs:

Is canned Cranberry Sauce good for you?

Cranberries are really good for you, but they are naturally very tart. Consequently, most cranberry products you purchase will have added sugar. Canned sauce typically has quite a bit of sugar and isn’t a healthy food for that reason. Homemade cranberry sauce also has quite a bit of sugar, but you are able to control the amounts and you’ll know EXACTLY what is in it when you’ve made it at home.

Quick Tip

Cranberries are a great source of vitamin C and vitamin E. Both vitamins have crucial antioxidant nutrients — these nutrients help keep your body healthy.

Can you make Cranberry Sauce from dried cranberries?

While I highly recommend making it from fresh cranberries, it can be done with dried cranberries! Check out this recipe for more information. If you’re wondering if you can substitute dried cranberries for fresh in this recipe, I would not recommend it.

Is Cranberry Sauce served hot or cold?

One of the best things about this sauce is that it can be made ahead of time so you won’t have to stress about making it during a busy day of prep.
 
You can prepare the sauce as early as a week in advance and store it in the refrigerator. Let the sauce cool to room temperature, and then place it in a covered container in the refrigerator. Generally, Cranberry Sauce is served chilled or at room temperature. But you know what? You’re in charge of this recipe, so if you want to serve it hot, that’s up to you! Just note that it won’t be as jelled when warm.

Cranberry Sauce

Serve this sauce alongside:

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4.72 from 7 votes

Cranberry Sauce

By Chelsea Lords
Kick your holiday meals up a notch with homemade Cranberry Sauce! It's sweet yet tart and the perfect touch.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 -8 as a side

Ingredients 
 

  • 1/2 cup 100% orange juice
  • 1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice
  • 1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark; I like dark best!)

Instructions 

  • Wash and dry the cranberries. Make sure to check the cranberries for any stems or bad cranberries and remove. (Nothing ruins a good sauce like  branches in it!)
  • In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve both sugars in the orange and cranberry juices. 
  • Once the sugar is dissolved, stir in the cranberries and a pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer. Stir to blend and simmer for an additional 7-12 minutes. (Watch carefully, as the sauce can bubble up a bit!) Some of the cranberries will burst and some will remain whole -- you can mash up more cranberries as desired. (If the sauce is thickening too quickly, lower the temperature a bit, and alternatively, if it isn't thickening, increase the temperature a bit.)
  • Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken more as it cools. Store for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 77IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

 

Take your holidays to the next level this year with this delicious homemade cranberry sauce recipe. Sure to be an instant family classic! via chelseasmessyapron.com #cranberry #sauce #recipe #homemade #easy #quick #thanksgiving #christmas #holiday #holidays

Meet Chelsea

Hi there! I’m Chelsea–the recipe developer, photographer, writer, and taste tester behind Chelsea’s Messy Apron (although my little ones help me out quite a bit with the taste testing part!). I LOVE getting creative in the kitchen and then posting my creations here for you to enjoy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

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4.72 from 7 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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15 Comments

  1. Cynthia says:

    Would you happen to have a variation of this recipe for dried cranberries (the ones known as craisins)?

    Reply
    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      No, but definitely something I’ll look into! Thanks Cynthia! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Suzanne says:

    If I don`t have cranberry juice, can I use just orane juice? Thanks

    Reply
    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      Sure!

      Reply
  3. Ingrid says:

    I used to make it with frozen cranberry concentrate, but for some reason no longer find it in the stores near me. Do you use unsweetened or sweetened cranberry juice for your recipe?

    Reply
    1. Chelsea Lords says:

      I buy the 100% cranberry juice. So I believe it’s not sweetened! 🙂

      Reply
  4. JEAN says:

    My grandson’s love to take the leftover cranberry sauce and make jelly and peanut butter sandwiches for school.

    Reply
  5. Becky says:

    5 stars
    My husband made the cranberry recipe and it was very good.

    Reply
    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      So happy to hear it! Thanks for the comment Becky 🙂

      Reply
  6. Cheryl Busuttil says:

    5 stars
    Why only make this once a year for Thanksgiving and Christmas? Grab several bags of the fresh berries, wrap them in an additional freezer bag and add the date. You can make this cranberry sauce all year long. Also, you can make some incredible freezer jam using cranberries or with a variety of fruit: berries, apple.

    Reply
    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      Great ideas; thanks for sharing! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Susan Dubose says:

    5 stars
    The red color looks so good. I will definitely try this homemade sauce. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      You’ll love it! It’s so delicious! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Elliott says:

    5 stars
    I have been making my Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice and Suger for over fifty years. It is the best!!!

    Reply
    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      Isn’t it the “secret”?! So good!! You’ll have to try some cranberry juice too! Thanks for the comment 🙂

      Reply