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Cranberry Sauce

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By: Sarah BondUpdated: Dec 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

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A delicious take on the classic Cranberry Sauce side dish that requires only 3 ingredients, 3 steps, and 15 minutes!

A close up view detailing the texture of cranberry sauce

The season of festivities, family gatherings, and special home-cooked meals is officially upon us! To prepare you for the ultimate day of feasting, here’s an easy homemade cranberry sauce recipe that you can include in your lineup.

Here in the Live Eat Learn world cranberries have been the talk of the town recently! They’re a pretty resilient little fruit. My favorite cranberry fact? The same vines can produce berries for over a hundred years!

But, back to the recipe. This cranberry sauce is made with only three ingredients, and you can use your choice of fresh or frozen crans! We’ll offset the bitterness with some sugar and finish it off with tangy orange juice. The three flavors combined taste delicious and are something that even the kiddos will enjoy.

A white bowl filled with homemade cranberry sauce and garnished with two orange slices

Ingredients in this cranberry sauce recipe

For this dish you’ll need only three ingredients, which is pretty sweet if you ask me!

  • Cranberries: First up are the cranberries. You’ll need about 4 cups, so a 12 oz bag should do. You can go with either fresh or frozen.
  • Orange Juice: Next is 1 cup of orange juice. This adds a zesty, tangy flavor that pairs perfectly with the slight bitterness of the berries.
  • Sugar: Finally, finish off the sauce with ½ cup of sugar. Not only does it add a sweetness, it offsets a good portion of the bitterness that cranberries usually have.
A clear glass bowl filled with cranberry sauce

How to make cranberry sauce

Cranberry sauce is ready in just 15 minutes and requires only three simple steps: combine, cook, and cool!

Step 1: Combine the ingredients
To begin, add everything to a large pot.

A pot filled with cranberries and sugar

Step 2: Cook the sauce
Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally. Cook until the cranberries burst (about 10 minutes). The cranberries will look something like this when finished cooking, and will continue thickening as it cools.

A pot filled with simmering cranberry sauce ingredients

Step 3: Cool and let thicken
Remove the cranberries from the heat and let cool completely. It will thicken as it cools!

A pot filled with cooked homemade cranberry sauce ingredients

The perfect prep-ahead side dish

Homemade cranberry sauce is one of those dishes that tastes better with time. When you let it sit in the fridge overnight (or even for a day or two), it allows the flavors to really blend together! Feel free to make this a few days before you’ll need it. Just cover and stick in the fridge!

Mix and match ingredients

Something cool about fruit sauce is that you can use similar combos of the same ingredients for totally different flavors! For instance, you can actually sub in strawberries if that’s more your thing. You’ll just need less sugar because strawberries are already much sweeter than cranberries.

Additionally, you don’t have to use sugar for the sweetener! Honey tastes delicious, as does brown sugar! I recommend using a bit less to start, and then adding to taste if needed.

A white bowl filled with cranberry sauce and garnished with orange slices

More cranberry recipes

Whether you’re looking for a breakfast, snack, or dessert option, there’s a cranberry recipe for that.

  • Cranberry Orange Sweet Rolls
  • Cranberry Smoothie
  • Savory Roasted Cranberry Salsa with Pomegranate
  • Cranberry Bliss Bites

And be sure to use this homemade cranberry sauce in our Loaded Sweet Potato Rounds (with Cranberry and Goat Cheese) or dolloped onto this Cranberry Orange Oatmeal!

Cranberry Sauce

No ratings yet
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Author: Sarah Bond
Calories: 42kcal
Servings: 16 servings
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A delicious take on the classic Cranberry Sauce side dish that requires only 3 ingredients, 3 steps, and 15 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 1 12-oz bag cranberries about 4 cups, 340 g
  • 1 cup orange juice 226 mL
  • ½ cup sugar 50 g

Instructions 

  • Combine: Combine all ingredients in a large pot.
  • Cook: Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst (about 10 minutes).
  • Cool: Remove from heat and let cool completely. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving Calories: 42kcal (2%) Carbohydrates: 9.8g (3%) Protein: 0.1g Fat: 0g Saturated Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 0mg Potassium: 67mg (2%) Fiber: 0.8g (3%) Sugar: 8.3g (9%) Calcium: 4mg Iron: 0mg
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A flavor-loving nutritionist and sensory science specialist showing you how to make easy vegetarian recipes, one ingredient at a time.

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