Easy Holiday Cranberry Sauce

Your holiday table is not complete without this Easy Cranberry Sauce. Skip the canned alternative and use this super easy and quick, incredibly flavorful cranberry sauce recipe that’s so good you’ll make this every year.

This recipe pairs perfectly with any Thanksgiving or Christmas spread. It compliments popular side dishes like my Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Scalloped Potatoes or Sweet Potato Casserole, Cornbread Dressing, Corn Casserole and of course the most Perfect Massed Potatoes.

Why You’ll Love this Easy Cranberry Sauce

So Easy To Make – just a handful of ingredients and 10 minutes of cooking time, there is no reason to reach for the canned stuff.

Way Better Than Canned – this is not the jiggly, jello-like canned sauce that people picture when they hear “cranberry sauce”. Instead, it’s a sweet and tangy compliment to turkey, ham and all your favorite holiday side dishes.

Crowd Favorite – even cranberry sauce haters fall in love with this holiday cranberry sauce.

Make-Ahead – for less stress on Thanksgiving or Christmas day, make this cranberry sauce a few days ahead. See below for storage and reheating instructions.

Multiple Uses – not only can these be served as a side dish for the holidays, it can be used in baked goods and in these Baked Brie Cranberry Puff Pastry bites.

Key Ingredients

In this easy cranberry sauce recipe, you’ll just need this simple ingredients:

Fresh Cranberries – we’ll use fresh or frozen whole cranberries for this recipe. All you’ll need to do is rinse them clean.

Orange Juice & Peel – fresh squeezed orange juice (or bottled works too) is used to add tangy sweet and juicy flavor.

Sugar – to help cut the bitterness from the cranberries, sugar is necessary to balance this recipe.

Cinnamon Stick – a cinnamon stick will steep in the warm cranberry sauce to extract cinnamon flavor and add to the holiday aesthetic.

Vanilla Extract – just a splash of vanilla pairs wonderfully with the cranberries and cinnamon. Just a little “something special” that make it the best ever cranberry sauce.

Salt – just a pinch will draw out all the flavors.

How to Make Easy Cranberry Sauce

Clean cranberries and pick through to toss any spoiled pieces. Rinse them well with water and veggie wash if you have it handy.

Add all the ingredients to a pot over medium heat (saving one piece of orange peel for later). Stir occasionally as it heats.

Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, continuing to stir as needed. The cranberries will burst as they cook. Leave some berries whole.

Let it cool completely at room temperature than refrigerate. Serve with a fresh piece of orange peel and the cinnamon stick on top for garnish.

How to Make-Ahead and Reheat Cranberry Sauce

Whenever the holidays come around, the kitchen can get crammed and the timing can get stressful! Here is the tips I use to make this sauce ahead of time:

Prepare the cranberry sauce as instructed. Allow it to cool fully, cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Since you’ll want to store and eat leftovers, you want to be sure it doesn’t have more than a 10 day lifespan in the fridge in total.

Frozen Cranberry Sauce: Transfer cranberry sauce to the fridge to thaw the day prior to reheating. Or, leave on the counter until it’s unthawed, then proceed with reheating.

• Reheat on the Stove: place the cranberry sauce in a saucepan over low heat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook until heated through, stirring frequently.

• Reheat in a Crock Pot: Place the cranberry sauce in a slow cooker over low heat for 2-3 hours along with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Stir every 15 minutes. Keep warm while serving or serve at room temperature.

• Reheat in a Microwave: Transfer the cranberry sauce to a microwave-safe bowl. Use a food cover to avoid splatters and heat at 75% power until heated through, 2-3 minutes. Stir every 30 seconds.

Storing and Freezing Instructions

• How to Store: You can easily store your cooked and cooled cranberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days!
• How to Freeze: Once it’s cooled down, just store the cranberry sauce in a freezer safe airtight container or freezer food-saver bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Where to Find Fresh Cranberries

Depending on where you live, typically bagged fresh cranberries are only available in late October through mid-December. We love including cranberry sauce in our Christmas spread as well as Thanksgiving. So I purchase several bags and freeze a few of them for later use.

Some supermarkets carry bags of frozen cranberries in the frozen fruit section. You can absolutely use these instead of fresh ones. Just allow them time on the counter to unthaw before proceeding with cooking them.

Leftover Uses for Cranberry Sauce

Whenever we are hosting Thanksgiving, I always double (if not triple) this cranberry sauce recipe. We love having tons of leftovers for us and our guests to enjoy all weekend. But if you get burnt out of Thanksgiving food, here are some additional uses:

• For a traditional Thanksgiving spread

• Leftover turkey sandwiches

• Swirl it into cheesecake batter before baking

• Serve it with warm biscuits for a holiday brunch

• Baked brie cranberry puff pastry bites

• Swirl into a bowl of yogurt or cottage cheese

Swaps and Substitution Ideas

1) Swap the orange juice for apple juice or apple cider for a different flare.

2) Sub the white sugar for brown sugar. This creates a hint of molasses.

3) A splash of Grand Marnier will add a more intense orange liqueur flavor.

4) Just a sprinkle of ground clove and nutmeg amps up the holiday flare.

5) Cherry juice can be substituted for the orange juice for a fruitier taste!

6) Add jalapeno slices (when you add all the other ingredients) for a kick of heat!

Do you have any other recommendations or spins that your family puts on cranberry juice? Please feel free to share them with other readers below.

Looking for More Holiday Sides?

• The Best Mashed Potatoes
• Southern Baked Mac and Cheese
• Crock Pot Creamed Corn
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Cornbread Dressing
• Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin
• Creamed Spinach Bake
• Corn Casserole

I hope you enjoyed this holiday side dish recipe for how to make this easy cranberry sauce! I look forward to your questions and feedback below.

Please be sure to tag me @BadBatchBaking using hashtag #badbatchbaking if you made this recipe and I will feature you on my story! Plus, I LOVE to see your baking accomplishments.

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