Homemade cranberry sauce recipe

Posted: December 11, 2024 Last modified: December 23, 2024
Homemade cranberry sauce recipe

Making cranberry sauce is so easy and you can use this delicious, homemade sauce for both a main course as well as for dessert. Don’t mistake cranberry sauce and cranberry compote for the same thing as they are quite different. In terms of structure but also in terms of taste. And believe me when I say this is so much better than any canned stuff!

What goes into this sauce?

Cranberry sauce is incredibly easy to make, and you only need a handful of ingredients

  • Cranberries – You can use either fresh or frozen cranberries.
  • Water – The water in this recipe makes the sauce liquefy.
  • Sugar – This gives the sauce a sweet taste, but also preserves it. You can choose white sugar or brown sugar but keep in mind that the color will be less vibrant if you use brown sugar.
  • Citrus fruit(s) – I have chosen lemon for this recipe, but orange would also be good. You use both lemon zest or orange zest as well as fresh orange juice and/or lemon juice

Making this easy recipe is as simple as placing a medium saucepan on medium heat and adding the cranberries, the water, citrus juice and the sugar. You bring it to the boil and wait until the cranberries have popped. Once they do you can use an immersion blender or regular blender to make it into a smooth sauce.

Cranberry sauce

Cranberry sauce

When is it best to serve cranberry sauce?

Cranberry sauce is perfect for the holiday season and would do really well for your Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. It’s also the time of year that they are in season, so no reason not to go wild on the cranberries. So all cranberry recipes are perfect for this time of year. It’s also the time of year that all grocery stores will have a good supply.

And the good news is that you can buy a bag of cranberries from the frozen section almost year round. No need to wait for winter!

What dishes can you serve with it?

You may have seen cranberry sauce in a lot of thanksgiving recipes. It is often served with roast turkey. So pairing it with meat dishes is a great choice. But the fun thing about cranberry sauce is that you can also use it with a dessert. So it goes well with both sweet dishes and savory dishes. For example, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a slice of fudgy brownie can be topped with this delicious cranberry sauce and perhaps some sugared cranberries.

BAKING TIP: Why not make a big batch of cranberry sauce when they are in season? Great idea! Then store the sauce in jars or jelly jars. If you sterilize them beforehand, you can keep the sauce for up to a year.

Storing cranberry sauce

This festive sauce will keep very well if you store it in sterilized jars or bottles. To sterilize, place the jars or bottles in a large pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Remove them from the water with tongs and place them on a clean tea towel. There is no need to dry them as the heat will evaporate the moisture.

How long will cranberry sauce keep?

Once your jars or bottles have been sterilized, cranberry sauce will keep for up to a year. Once opened, the sauce will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. I love using leftover cranberry sauce on breakfast!

Can I freeze homemade cranberry sauce?

Homemade cranberry sauce freezes very well. In the freezer, cranberry sauce can be stored for up to three months in an airtight container or freezer-safe container.

Cranberry sauce

Cranberry sauce

Tips on how to make your own cranberry sauce

Citrus fruits

Both lemons and oranges can give a very nice flavor to the sauce. Use both the juice and the peel, but be careful not to grate the white part under the colored peel (it is very bitter). Lemon gives it a nice fresh touch which works perfectly if you’re using the cranberry sauce for sweets and desserts.

Orange, on the other hand, has a warmer flavor, especially when combined with cinnamon. In the recipe below, replace the lemon with the juice of a whole orange, orange peel and a cinnamon stick. The stick is left to cook and removed from the mixture before blending. It varies from dish to dish, but the orange combination is generally best with meat dishes. (and also great on your leftover turkey sandwiches!)

You can also experiment with other citrus fruits such as yuzu or grapefruit, but I have no experience of using them with this cranberry sauce.

Fresh, frozen or dried cranberries

Both fresh and frozen cranberries work well in this sauce. Frozen cranberries should be thawed completely and the liquid drained. Dried cranberries cannot be used in this sauce.

Sieving and/or blending

After cooking, you will have a fairly thin cranberry sauce. You can sieve out the skins, but I like to puree them with the sauce. This thickens the sauce naturally and will give it a perfect consistency and you don’t taste much of it, so why throw it away? You can use a hand blender or an immersion blender to puree, both work well.

Giving cranberry sauce as a gift

Have you made a lot of sauce? Why not give away a few bottles? As with jam, I find it very nice to give and receive. Put a pretty label on the bottle with the name and date, and maybe some holiday decoration. Nothing beats homemade gifts, especially when you can eat them 😉.

 

Cranberry sauce

Save
Print recipe

No votes yet

Cranberry sauce recipe

This fresh cranberry sauce tastes great with ice cream, cakes and desserts, but also with meat and main dishes.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Servings: 2 jars

Ingredients 

  • 340 ml water
  • 200 grams granulated sugar fine
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Zest of a whole lemon
  • 340 grams fresh cranberries

Instructions

  • Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it starts to boil, add the washed cranberries.
  • Continue stirring until all the cranberries have burst. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
  • Blend the mixture with a hand blender or in a heatproof blender until smooth. If necessary, leave the sauce to thicken in the saucepan over a low heat for a few minutes.
  • Pour the cranberry sauce into clean (boiled) glass swing top bottles or weck jars and seal well. Leave to cool completely.
Tips

For tasty flavor variations (such as orange and cinnamon), see the blog post above.
How to store

Unopened, cranberry sauce can be stored in the cupboard for up to a year. Once opened, keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Shake well before use.

Links in this article may be affiliate links. If you purchase something through such a link, I will receive a small commission, without you paying anything extra.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating