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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Terri says
I forgot to buy orange juice, can I use orange extract! Anxious to make your recipe! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hmmm, I think that would be fine but you need the liquid from the orange juice so you would need to add water to replace it. But that would mean you don’t have the orange peel either which adds a lot of flavor… Worth a shot though!
Liz says
Do you store it in the fridge with the cinnamon stick and orange peel or remove after it cools on the stove?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I remove both after it cools. Thanks Liz!
Val says
I didn’t have any OJ either but i did have some clementines on hand. I took the time to extract the juice out of three-four of them and it seems to have worked just fine.
kristen Limper says
I dont have cinnamon sticks can I use powdered cinnamon? how much?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
That will work, just 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon should do it.
karen Lacombe/Fritz says
I love this recipe and have made it a few times. The cinnamon stick is a lovely touch. Thank you
Rachelle says
I love Cranberry sauce. I put in Brandy or Grand Marnier, just enough to add a little sparkle to the sauce. DELICIOUS . I have cranberry butter year round to delicious on toasted bagel with a little bit of Cream Cheese. Yummy.I have so many of them, I’m running out of space, lol, I Iove to cook and bake.
Thank You for the delicious recipes.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Always a good idea! And cranberry butter is AMAZING! Love it!
Dora M. Ukra says
This truly is the best recipe for Homemade cranberry sauce. I have tried many versions and this is still my favorite. I come back to it every time. So simple and easy, with the best flavor.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I appreciate this SO much Dora! Thank you!
Rita says
Way too sweet for my personal taste. I put 1/2 cup sugar and I think I would only do 1/4 cup next holidays. Overall good recipe
Sue Murray says
It doesn’t get any easier. I used a half cup instead of 3/4 and it was sweet enough for my taste.
Carolyn says
This is similar to the recipe l’ve used for yrs, never thought about adding a cinnamon sticks. I make cranberry sauce & butter all year, we usually buy/freeze 10-15 bags of cranberries every fall. I always add a 1/2 tea of balsimic vinegar & a vanilla once cranberry sauce is finished cooking.
Shan says
Thank you so much for the recipe! I have loved cranberry sauce my whole life and have only ever had the can. This puts that to shame, obviously. I was especially impressed when my two-year old nephew who had only had it from the can LOVED this and my father-in-law who never eats cranberry sauce had two servings this Christmas! This will become a family tradition for us that I will bring as an offering every year. Thanks so much, again!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
This makes me SO happy Shan, thank you!
Ursula says
I made this two days ago in prep for our Christmas dinner, did a double batch. I had to change one ingredient out of necessity and used granulated maple sugar instead of white sugar. We had it with our meal today. Gave it a lovely depth of flavour which it may have had in the original recipe, don’t know, but the maple worked wonderfully. Thank you for a great and easy recipe.
Lily says
I used brown sugar but less of it and fresh squeezed orange juice. No zest. I also boiled the cinnamon stick and 5 whole cloves. My family loves this recipe.
Marie says
This is the. Best cranberry sauce. Devine😋
Michelle says
Can I add ground cinnamon instead of a cinnamon stick
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yes, use about 1/2 teaspoon.
Sharon says
This was amazing! I cut the sugar down a but and it was still really sweet. I’d make it every year!
Michelle says
Made fresh cranberry sauce for the first time in our family as no one really likes it and we normally just have can, thought I would see if I could get them to eat the fresh version. I made this and it was completely gone everyone loved it.