Homemade cranberry sauce is one of my favorite side dishes. While many people enjoy it for holiday meals I think it makes an awesome side dish for any time. This fresh made cranberry sauce is also perfect for using with other recipes.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe
When it comes to preparing your favorite holiday meal, ditch the canned cranberry and make this easy homemade cranberry sauce instead. This holiday side dish is the easiest from scratch cranberry sauce ever!
Every time I see that roll out of a can of cranberry sauce on the table I cringe. I have tried to love canned cranberry sauce and ever since I was a kid I just could not, no matter how much I tried to. Then I tried homemade cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries and oh my! It makes a world of a difference.
The flavors are so fresh and so tasty I can not get enough homemade cranberry sauce. If you are like me and don’t like the canned cranberry sauce, make this and try it. I am sure you will change your mind like I did. If you are a fan of canned cranberry sauce, I still suggest making your own homemade so you can see just how much better it is! Plus it is a super easy recipe to make too!
Holiday Dinner Recipes
- Mashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Apple Cider Gravy
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Pearl Onions in cream sauce
- Sausage apple stuffing
- Cheesy Potato Casserole
How to Serve Cranberry Sauce
Serve it cold or at room temperature as a side dish. You can also serve it warm if you prefer warm cranberry sauce. If you want to make it more of a dessert then you can add a dollop of whipped cream on top. It is important that the cranberry sauce is chilled completely when you are making it before you warm it up if you are serving it warm.
What Can I Make with Leftover Cranberry Sauce?
While cranberry sauce is usually served as a side dish for holiday dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas there are also many other tasty ways to use cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries.
While it is fantastic for making things like gobbler sandwiches and Thanksgiving leftover Charcuterie boards there are many other tasty ways to use up and enjoy this traditional Thanksgiving side dish.
- Swirl cranberry sauce into a bowl of yogurt and top with granola.
- Use as a topping for Belgian Waffles, homemade pancakes and french toast.
- Spread on top of toast of english muffins with some cream cheese.
- Add into a bowl of oatmeal.
- Use for glazing meat and chicken.
- Add to a fruit smoothie.
- Spread over toast or pancakes.
- Serve warm over chocolate or vanilla ice cream for a sweet dessert.
Tips for making cranberry sauce
Thicker sauce: The longer the sauce sits, the thicker it will be become.
Stronger orange flavor. More flavoring can be added by adding more orange juice and leaving out water.
Don’t skip chill time. Be sure to chill the the homemade cranberry sauce fully once made before serving.
Can I make homemade cranberry Sauce ahead of time?
Yes! One great thing about this homemade cranberry sauce is you can make days ahead of serving. Allow it to cool completely and then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Fresh made cranberry sauce will keep in the fridge for 10-14 days as long as it is stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
If you like having your cranberry sauce warm, you can simply reheat it in a sauce pan on the stove or in the microwave before serving.
How long does cranberry sauce last?
Fresh made cranberry sauce will keep in the fridge for 10-14 days as long as it is stored in an airtight container. Frozen cranberry sauce will keep for up to 1 year in the freezer.
Can I freeze homemade cranberry sauce?
You sure can! Just allow the cranberry sauce to cool completely and then pour in to plastic freezer bags. Squeeze the air out of the bag as you are closing it and lay the bag flat. Push the cranberry sauce around in the bag to make sure it is even and then lay the bag flat in the freezer. Frozen cranberry sauce will keep for up to 1 year in the freezer.
How do you thicken cranberry sauce?
If you want the cranberry sauce to be thicker then you can continue to cook it on the stove longer, however as the cranberry sauce cools it will thicken up. Cranberries have natural pectin that helps with the thickening process of making cranberry sauce without needing to add anything to it.
Cranberry Sauce Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries
- water
- Orange juice
- Granulated white sugar
- orange zest (The scrapings of the peel of an orange)
- cinnamon stick
How to Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
In a medium saucepan combine all the ingredients and stir well.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes until it has thickened and most of the berries have burst.
Remove the mixture from the heat and move the sauce to your serving container. Allow the mixture to cool until it has thickened up about 15-20 minutes.
Holiday Dessert Recipes
- The Best Apple pie
- Crustless pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Pie from Scratch
- Sweet potato pie with marshmallow
- Lemon Meringue pie
- Homemade blueberry pie
- Boston Cream Pie
- Pumpkin Pie from Scratch
- Crustless pumpkin Pie
- Maple Pumpkin Pie
homemade cranberry sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan combine all the ingredients and stir well.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes until it has thickened and most of the berries have burst.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and move the sauce to your serving container. Allow the mixture to cool until it has thickened up about 15-20 minutes.
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