Cranberry Sauce Recipe

This is our favorite recipe for the Thanksgiving staple: cranberry sauce. Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 15 minutes on the stove. Flavored with fresh orange juice, brown sugar, and a dash of vanilla—my secret—it’s a cut above the rest.

I’ve been making this cranberry sauce for years. It’s our family’s favorite recipe and whenever I first taste it on Thanksgiving, I always wonder why I wait for the holiday season to make it?! Honestly, this stuff deserves to be a year-round habit.

I’ve never really thought to publish the recipe on my website because it’s not (1) a large side dish, (2) dessert, or (3) baking related. But I figured if something is this easy AND this delicious… why not?! And, luckily, this recipe is one of my very best.

I didn’t think there was a way to mess this recipe up, but when I was filming the video, I spaced out and over-boiled the cranberries on high heat. I was literally standing over the pot and before I knew it, the cranberries shriveled up and the sauce thinned out. So, make sure you cook on a lower heat and keep a watchful eye on it.

Set 1/2 cup of cranberries aside. We’ll stir those in at the very end, adding even more texture. Put most of the ingredients into a pot and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in orange zest and vanilla extract. That’s it, you’re done. Though I don’t recommend it, you could probably make this with your eyes closed.

If you need to bring a dish to Thanksgiving, bring this cranberry sauce (and bring cranberry cake for brunch or dessert!). It’s low maintenance and you can make it ahead of time. You can also freeze the cranberry sauce for up to 3 months. Easy!

Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 15 minutes on the stove. It thickens as it cools. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. See notes.

Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Made from 5 ingredients, this easy sauce is ready after 15 minutes on the stove. It thickens as it cools. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. See notes.

Prep: 5min

Total: 20min

Yield: 2

Ingredients:

• 12 ounce bag cranberries, rinsed*
• 3/4 cup (150g) water
• 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh orange juice (about 1/2 large orange)
• 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar*
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instruction:

1. You need fresh orange juice and orange zest. I recommend zesting the orange first, setting the zest aside, then cutting the orange for the juice. (Harder to zest a cut orange!) You need about half of a large orange for 1/4 cup juice. Juice the other half of the orange if you need more to yield 1/4 cup.
2. After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/2 cup cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for extra texture.
3. Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and brown sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low-medium. While stirring occasionally, continue to cook until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
5. Sauce is excellent served warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Perfect Cranberry Sauce

This perfectly balanced sweet-and-tangy recipe will make both cooked cranberry sauce and raw relish lovers happy. Reserving some whole cranberries while others simmer and burst in the pot is the key. This adds a fresh pop to the sauce that Team Relish will appreciate. Make the sauce a day (or a couple days) ahead of Thanksgiving or any holiday celebration that calls for cranberries. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it gets. And don’t worry about leftovers – the sauce can be slather on a turkey sandwich, dolloped on pancakes and waffles or mixed with your favorite BBQ sauce and basted on chicken and pork.

Prep: 0 15min0

Total: 0 37min0

Instruction:

1. Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.

Cranberry Sauce | Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Christmas

FAQ

How do you get the bitterness out of cranberry sauce?

What is the thickening agent for cranberry sauce?

What is the process to make the cranberry sauce?

1. Rinse cranberries: Place the cranberries in a colander and rinse them. …
2. Boil water with sugar: Put the water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and bring to a boil. …
3. Add cranberries, cook until they burst: Add the cranberries to the pot and return to a boil. …
4. Stir in mix-ins, if using: …
5. Let cool:

What does cranberry sauce contain?