This straightforward cranberry sauce recipe is tart, evenly candy, and scented with orange. Prepared in quarter-hour, it is a traditional, scrumptious vacation facet dish!
Meet my greatest cranberry sauce recipe! Straightforward to make with 5 components in beneath quarter-hour, it’s delectably tart, not too candy, and studded with entire cranberries. I’m not a turkey eater, and I nonetheless spoon this sauce throughout my Thanksgiving plate—it’s simply that good.
This home made cranberry sauce is an up to date model of a recipe I shared a number of years in the past. I’ve added extra orange juice and zest for vibrant, fruity depth of taste and shortened the cook dinner time, which is 1) handy and a couple of) implies that extra cranberries keep intact. Should you ask me, their bursty texture is what takes this traditional sauce to the subsequent degree.
I hope you strive it for Thanksgiving or one other festive dinner this vacation season. Infinitely higher than canned cranberry sauce, it’ll add a daring pop of colour and taste to your desk!
Easy methods to Make Cranberry Sauce
This cranberry sauce recipe calls for five easy components:
- Water and orange juice – They assist the cranberries cook dinner down right into a spoon-able sauce. The orange juice provides pure sweetness too. Squeeze it your self for the freshest, brightest taste.
- Complete cranberries – Contemporary cranberries and frozen cranberries each work nicely right here.
- Cane sugar – It sweetens the sauce and helps it thicken.
- And orange zest – I record it as non-obligatory, however I positively suggest utilizing it. It provides beautiful citrusy depth.
To make the sauce, you’ll basically begin by making a easy syrup. Mix the water, orange juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir till the sugar dissolves.
Deliver the combination to a boil and add the cranberries. Scale back the warmth to take care of a simmer, then cook dinner, stirring often, till the sauce is darkish purple. You need many of the berries to pop however nonetheless retain their form. The sauce would possibly nonetheless appear skinny at this level, however don’t fear—it’ll thicken because it cools.
Stir within the orange zest and take away the sauce from the warmth. Let it cool for at the least 20 minutes earlier than serving.
That’s it!
Discover the whole recipe with measurements under.
Recipe Ideas and Variations
- Don’t overcook it. Should you’re making home made cranberry sauce for the primary time, you is perhaps stunned how skinny it’s whenever you take it off the warmth. Don’t be tempted to maintain cooking it—the sauce will thicken to the right consistency because it cools. I like the bursty texture of the entire cranberries on this sauce. Should you cook dinner it for too lengthy, they’ll lose their form.
- Let it cool earlier than serving. It wants time to thicken! Let it cool for at the least 20 minutes at room temperature, or higher but, make it forward (see under).
- Make it sweeter. I take advantage of barely much less sugar than many traditional recipes do. Should you desire a sweeter cranberry sauce, improve the orange juice measurement to 1/2 cup and the sugar measurement to 1 cup.
- Make it your personal. This straightforward cranberry sauce recipe lends itself nicely to all kinds of variations! Add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, stir in dried cranberries or pecans for texture, or use brown sugar as an alternative of white. I like mixing in a teaspoon of grated contemporary ginger together with the orange zest.
Making Cranberry Sauce Forward
Leftover cranberry sauce retains nicely for as much as every week in an hermetic container within the fridge, so it’s an excellent vacation facet dish to make forward.
You may as well freeze it for as much as 3 months. Simply enable it to thaw in a single day within the fridge earlier than serving.
I hope you’re keen on this recipe as a lot as I do!
Extra Thanksgiving Aspect Dishes
Planning your Thanksgiving dinner? Add these traditional facet dishes to your menu too:
Cranberry Sauce
Serves 8
I like to make this straightforward home made cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. It is deliciously tart, not too candy, and filled with contemporary, bursty cranberries. It retains nicely within the fridge for as much as every week, so it is an excellent vacation facet dish to make forward.
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup contemporary orange juice, or extra water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 12 ounces contemporary or frozen cranberries
- Zest of 1 orange, non-obligatory
Stop your display from going darkish
-
Mix the water, orange juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high warmth. Stir till the sugar dissolves, then convey to a boil.
-
Add the cranberries and scale back the warmth to medium. Simmer, stirring often, for five to 10 minutes, or till the sauce is a deep purple and the cranberries have popped however nonetheless principally retain their form. The sauce will thicken because it cools.
-
Take away from the warmth and stir within the orange zest, if utilizing. Enable to chill to room temperature, then switch to an hermetic container and retailer within the fridge till able to serve.
