Cranberry Orange Sauce
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Skip the canned cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving and make it right at home – it is embarrassingly easy to make with just 3 ingredients!
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Cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving staple, and it has to be one of the easiest dishes to make. It can be made ahead of time, and does not require any oven real estate, which let’s be honest, is a win in and of itself.
Ingredients
Orange
Use freshly squeezed whenever possible. And another bonus of using fresh oranges? All the fresh orange zest! We recommend using a microplane when zesting, working carefully to avoid the bitter white pith.
Sugar
Brown sugar can be substituted.
Cranberries
Fresh cranberries is ideal here but frozen cranberries can also be used. Frozen cranberries will take longer to cook through and simmer.
Optional
Cinnamon stick, ginger, lemon zest (in place of orange zest) or vanilla extract can also be added to your liking.
Serve with your lovely Thanksgiving turkey as needed, and save the leftovers for toast, yogurt, overnight oats, and french toast – we can use it for all of the things.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESS
- Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries can be used here. When using fresh, use plump cranberries that are bright red in color and firm to the touch. Avoid using dried cranberries.
- Make ahead of time. Cranberry sauce is one of those holiday side dishes you can make ahead of time and store in the fridge up to 1 week in advance.
- Serve hot or cold. This really depends on personal preference, but cranberry sauce can be served hot, cold or at room temperature.
- Save the leftovers. Leftover cranberry sauce can be frozen up to 3 months. You can also use the leftovers for breakfast (topping off pancakes, waffles or french toast), sandwiches and desserts (cheesecakes, coffee cakes, banana bread or streusel bars).
Cranberry Orange Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
Some like it hot, some like it cold, but we personally find that cranberry sauce is best served at room temperature or slightly chilled.
Yes! Cranberry sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Cranberry sauce can be frozen up to 3 months. Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
This is one of our favorite holiday Instant Pot recipes!
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- ½ cup sugar, or more, to taste
- 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, orange juice, orange zest and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Stir in cranberries and bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer until sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely before serving.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I add blackcherry jello nutmeg and cinnamon …. everyone waits for this cranberry!
Can you use Splender in lieu of sugar?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
What is the best way to reheat this recipe for a large group? I’ll be making it ahead of time.
You can heat low and slow until just heated through on the stovetop.
Great recipe! Loooove simple and quick. I also add crushed pineapples and slices of Christmas oranges. After berries stopped popping , I take a potatoe masher and mash in the pineapples and oranges. It’s a huge hit.
Oh my sounds divine! Would you please share your EXACT recipe with measurements and instructions please? Thank you so much!!!
I just discovered your web site today while looking for a Mexican Rice Casserole recipe… After reading recipes after recipes, I’m really impressed with what I see. I’m sooo looking forward to trying some over the weekend 🙂
As far as this Cranberry Orange Sauce recipe goes, I love it! I haven’t made it yet but just 2 nights ago, I got creative in the kitchen as I was craving some Homemade Chunky Cranberry Sauce. I ended up making mine with a 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries, 2 peeled & diced apples, 1 c. of water, 3/4 c. sugar, juice of 1/2 an orange + zest, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and a small packet of vanilla sugar: it turned out great! (It yielded 2 16 oz. Ziploc containers)
By the way, I did make a “One Pot Mexican Rice Casserole” inspired by your recipe and it turned out great; even my picky 13 year-old son loved it! Next, I’m going to make your Cranberry Sauce Cheesecake Brownies: sounds divine! So, thank you so much for sharing your culinary talents with us: it’s truly inspiring!
Hi Anne! I have never liked anything cranberry before but for recipe intrigued me … would you please send me your EXACT recipe complete with measurements and instructions? I would greatly appreciate that and ẁould love to make this for my family for the upcoming holidays!!! Thank you friend … Blessings to you
How far in advance can this be made? Was thinking of making it tonight to prep for Thursday’s feast, think that would work?
Yes, absolutely!
I add cinnamon , star anise and a pinch of cloves to mine!
My aunt made fresh cranberries one year and I would like to try it this year. Most of the berries in hers stayed intact and burst in your mouth. Will this be similar or will they be more cooked down and mushy?
The beauty of this recipe is that you can choose to cook the berries down completely or leave them intact.
HI! I have made this before and it is my son’s favourite!!! I am cooking for 40 this year and wondering if I made it this weekend could I throw it in a water bath canner and can some and then have it? I could also make extra and send home as a gift. What do you think? Happy Thanksgiving early 🙂
What a great idea! But without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
I’m hosting about 20 this year and I’m making this. I hate the canned, congealed stuff but this recipe looks scrumptious!
Looks soooo good!!! I’d like to try this 🙂
But, what is it for? Meat? (I’m not from the States and where I live we have nothing similar)
Thank you :)))
Cranberry sauce is typically made for Thanksgiving as a traditional accompaniment to turkey.
This is the second time I have made this cranberry sauce and it gets better every time. It is delicious and so simple to make!
What if it doesn’t thicken????
You can use a potato masher to speed up the process and let it help thicken.
This is my second year making this upon my family’s request. I didn’t print it out last year and panicked that I wouldn’t find it. I’ve officially written it down and I will hold on to it tight! This recipe is the only kind I’ve ever had not from a can (I was a canned fan for almost 25 years!), and I’m so happy with it I dare not go back, or bother to find a different recipe. Delicious, delicious, delicious!
Dont worry about canning…just freeze it…however using normal canning procedures for jams and jellys, you should be fine…but use mason jars, not cans
can this be canned so that I could have it for maybe 6 months or longer? If so how do I process?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried canning this myself. Please use your best judgment if you decide to move forward with the canning process.
Yes, it can be canned. I’ve done it. The orange zest and fresh orange juice have more than enough pectin in them to get it to gel; in fact that’s what commercial pectin is made of. Just cook it until it gels and then can it like jam in a boiling water canner. Most jams call for ten minutes of processing time so that’s what I did, and it turned out great. I confess it didn’t last six months on my shelf, though – I kept adding it to Greek yogurt for my lunches so I almost didn’t have any left for Christmas. 🙂
I made this sauce with brown sugar, erring on the low side of the sugar, and added a little bit of Stevia at the end because I had gone a little too low on the suger. The final product tasted great, and the touch of Stevia didn’t detract from the overall flavor. I served it on top of “mashed” butternut squash, topped with roasted hazelnuts. It was delightful. Thanks for the great recipe!
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I just got done making this and it came out great and tastes delicious! I added 1 cinnamon stick to this recipe and it really brought the flavor out more and came out perfect (smells amazing too!) Definitely will be making this every year!
Actually it says 12oz and a pound is 16oz so if you have 3lb that is 48oz and you will need to multiply all of the ingredients by 4, 3 cups of water 2 cups of sugar or more to taste, 1 cup orange juice (I use fresh tangerines here and substitute 2 per orange so 8 of those for zest), zest of 4 oranges, and a 50ml shooter of Grand Marnier at the end. Happy Thanksgiving!!
This recipe can use anywhere from 12-16 ounces cranberries. But feel free to triple or quadruple to taste!