Look no further for the Best Ever Cranberry Sauce! This easy and delightful recipe takes only 15 minutes to make and a handful of ingredients! Spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with orange juice, it is the best combination of sweet and tart! The perfect complement to your holiday meal! Getting ready for Thanksgiving? Make sure to checkout the Best Turkey Gravy Recipe and this ridiculously easy Slow Cooker Citrus and Herb Turkey Breast for the best Thanksgiving yet!
Cranberry Sauce
Thanksgiving is almost here and I am running around like a crazy person making sure everything is ready to go! The turkey, the gravy, the potatoes, it’s all part of the “perfect” Thanksgiving meal.
One recipe that I feel often gets overlooked is the cranberry sauce. So many people go for the canned stuff, and while it’s great in a pinch, it doesn’t even come close to comparing to homemade.
This particular cranberry sauce recipe that I’m sharing with you today is fool-proof. It takes about 15 minutes, start to finish, and is the perfect combination of sweet and tart. It’s flavored with orange juice, orange peel and a cinnamon stick. So easy you guys!
I made this exact cranberry sauce for the these Cranberry Pecan Brie Bites that I shared with you last week and then realized… whoah! I’ve never even posted this recipe on it’s own and trust me, this Best Ever Cranberry Sauce deserves it’s own post!
Cranberry Sauce for the Holidays
Cranberry sauce is an essential part of every holiday meal for one simple reason – it cuts through the heaviness of all the other dishes. It’s light, it’s bright, and it’s actually pretty darn healthy. I add orange and cinnamon to my cranberry sauce which really gives it more depth of flavor and sweetens it just slightly. It’s still lovely and tart but not quite so tart that you’ll be puckering your lips.
What Do I Need To Make Cranberry Sauce?
This easy cranberry sauce recipe uses just a handful of real, whole ingredients:
- cranberries
- oranges
- cinnamon
- sugar
- and just a pinch of salt
Cranberry sauce is the perfect way to cut through the heaviness of a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and it adds a gorgeous pop of color and flavor to every bite. I hope you give this super easy recipe a try this holiday season!
Can Cranberry Sauce Be Make In Advance?
You betcha! In fact, this is my number one make-ahead recipe. It is served chilled so you need to make it at least one day in advance anyways. I find that the flavor is even better after two or three days so if you time beforehand, I would recommend just getting this recipe out of the way at the beginning of the week. One more note: you might want to double the recipe. I LOVE cranberry sauce in leftover turkey sandwiches the next day…and the next day…and the next day 🙂
Making Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? Don’t forget these favorites:
- The Best Turkey Gravy Recipe
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Best Ever Broccoli Salad
- Slow Cooker Citrus and Herb Turkey Breast
How To Make Cranberry Sauce
Best Ever Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ cup water
- 12 oz fresh cranberries rinsed and picked through
- pinch of salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 piece of orange peel just use a potato peel or paring knife
Instructions
- Combine sugar, orange juice, and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine.
- Add cranberries, salt, cinnamon stick and orange peel.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Continue cooking, for about 10 minutes, or until all or most of the cranberries have popped. I like to leave a handful of berries whole.
- Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Video
Nutrition
Originally published November 22, 2016.
More cranberry recipes:
Cranberry Pecan Mini Goat Cheese Balls
White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge
Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake
For all appetizer recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Dianne Carmena says
Made this today and it turned out soooo good!! Thanks for a super easy and tasty recipe! I tweaked mine just a little by adding a tsp of almond flavoring! Thanks again!!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Oooh! Love the addition of almond! Yummy! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!
Lene says
I can’t wait to try this! I have never made homemade cranberry sauce but started looking and this looks super easy and hopefully I can start a tradition that my kids will do as they start their own families! I’ll let you know if it was a hit!!! Thank you ?
Becky says
Mine is not as thick looking as yours. Does it get thicker when it cools?
Jane says
Mine also isn’t thick. I’m hoping it thickens as it cools.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
It does thicken as it cools but use the video as a reference point as to when to pull it off the heat.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
It thickens as it cools, yes.
Ritchie says
Why can’t I print your recipes?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
What happens when you click the print button Ritchie? A new page should open up. If it doesn’t open up the print dialogue box, just right-click and hit print. Hope that helps!
Liz says
Can this be frozen or canned?
Nikki says
WHAT is the fridge life on this ?
Can it be frozen as well? Or would it loose it’s fresh flavor ?
Cindy C. says
This outstanding cranberry sauce had the perfect balance of tart to sweet. I am delighted I found your recipe. Thank you.
Brenda says
Can this be frozen
Brehon says
I was wondering if this recipe could be canned, or would it throw off the flavors.
Gillian says
THANK YOU! I made this for canadian thanksgiving tonight and it was SO good!! best recipe i’ve found for cranberry suace! x
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You are so sweet! Happy Thanksgiving!
Stephani says
I have made this for a a year now. This is easy to make and so much better then canned.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Couldn’t agree more! Thanks Stephani!
sister location says
Yummy… It’s absolutely delicious
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you!
Jenna says
Hi there, can I use cinnamon powder instead of a cinnamon stick?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Sure Jenna!
Candi says
This is the recipe I’ve used for years – except I use all orange juice instead of water. I just don’t understand how anyone could go back to canned after using this recipe!! By the way, made the cranberry orange shortbread cookies today followed recipe exactly. They are amazing!! Will make more!!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hi Donna! Since I’m not there, it’s hard to tell where you went wrong. I would recommend watching the video I provided as reference. If you’re cutting your cookies thicker than I did, they will, of course, take longer to cook.
Colleen says
This really is the best!!! I’ve never liked canned cranberry sauce so I’ve never bothered to actually make it…. this recipe has changed everything!!