This straightforward cranberry sauce recipe is tart, frivolously candy, and scented with orange. Prepared in quarter-hour, it is a traditional, scrumptious vacation aspect dish!
Meet my greatest cranberry sauce recipe! Simple 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 do-it-yourself cranberry sauce is an up to date model of a recipe I shared just a few years in the past. I’ve added extra orange juice and zest for brilliant, fruity depth of taste and shortened the prepare dinner time, which is 1) handy and a pair of) implies that extra cranberries keep intact. In case you ask me, their bursty texture is what takes this traditional sauce to the subsequent stage.
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 shade and taste to your desk!
Methods to Make Cranberry Sauce
This cranberry sauce recipe calls for five easy components:
- Water and orange juice – They assist the cranberries prepare 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 properly right here.
- Cane sugar – It sweetens the sauce and helps it thicken.
- And orange zest – I listing it as non-obligatory, however I positively suggest utilizing it. It provides pretty 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.
Convey the combination to a boil and add the cranberries. Scale back the warmth to keep up a simmer, then prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, till the sauce is darkish crimson. You need a lot 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 would thicken because it cools.
Stir within the orange zest and take away the sauce from the warmth. Let it cool for at the very least 20 minutes earlier than serving.
That’s it!
Discover the entire recipe with measurements under.
Recipe Ideas and Variations
- Don’t overcook it. In case you’re making do-it-yourself cranberry sauce for the primary time, you may be 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. In case you prepare 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 very least 20 minutes at room temperature, or higher but, make it forward (see under).
- Make it sweeter. I exploit barely much less sugar than many traditional recipes do. In case you want a sweeter cranberry sauce, enhance the orange juice measurement to 1/2 cup and the sugar measurement to 1 cup.
- Make it your personal. This easy cranberry sauce recipe lends itself properly 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 properly for as much as per week in an hermetic container within the fridge, so it’s an amazing vacation aspect dish to make forward.
You can too freeze it for as much as 3 months. Simply permit it to thaw in a single day within the fridge earlier than serving.
I hope you like this recipe as a lot as I do!
Extra Thanksgiving Aspect Dishes
Planning your Thanksgiving dinner? Add these traditional aspect dishes to your menu too:
Cranberry Sauce
Serves 8
I like to make this straightforward do-it-yourself cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. It is deliciously tart, not too candy, and filled with contemporary, bursty cranberries. It retains properly within the fridge for as much as per week, so it is an amazing vacation aspect 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 screen from going darkish
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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.
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Add the cranberries and cut back the warmth to medium. Simmer, stirring sometimes, for five to 10 minutes, or till the sauce is a deep crimson and the cranberries have popped however nonetheless principally retain their form. The sauce will thicken because it cools.
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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.
