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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Debbie says
Came across this recipe for cranberry sauce shortly before Thanksgiving 2019. Gave it a try and my guests loved it. Thanks for sharing. This is a recipe I’ll keep.
Lisa Ciancarelli says
Hi Trish – made your cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year, and it was a hit! I had some pomegranate on hand, so I included that along with your other ingredients, and it was wonderful. Thanks for sharing!!
Molly says
This sauce was a HIT! I wanted to save some to make cranberry mayo for my leftover turkey sandwiches, but I couldn’t because there was none left 🙂 I know now I will need to double (or triple lol!) the recipe next year!
Thanks for an unforgettable recipe, Trish!
KT says
Made this last year and my in-laws have been raving about It since! So excited to make it again!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you so much!
Amanda says
I had orange-mango juice in the fridge, so that’s what I used! It’s delicious!
Lisa says
Simple & delicious! Now I just need to stop eating it so we still have some for Thanksgiving!
Mary says
Can you use frozen cranberries?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Sure can Mary!
Angel says
Made this for Thanksgiving and I am already being asked to make a new batch! My family loves it! Thank you so much
Tab says
My crew doesn’t like chunks. Do you think I could run this through a food mill while still hot?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Absolutely!
Val says
Do you use store bought orange juice or freshly squeezed from your kitchen orange juice? This looks amazing can’t wait to try it this year!!
debbie gardiner says
I dont have a cinnamon stick, could I use ground cinnamon?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
You sure can. A half teaspoon will work.
Fran says
Delicious. I just made this in advance for Thanksgiving. I used fresh squeezed OJ. Yummy.
sunshine says
this is a good basic recipe to go to!
i changed it up a bit and used all orange juice instead of oj and water.
added teaspoon of cinnamon and the zest of two oranges. then i cut up the oranges and put them
in there too!
it tastes great!
Liesl says
This is SO good! Plus it’s really easy.
I used 1/2c sugar, 1/4c coconut sugar because I ran out of of regular. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again. I may have just licked the pan…
Whitney says
I made this with water only, cinnamon and agave. They came out amazingly. Tasted so good on the turkey and paleo stuffing 😉