Healthy Cranberry Sauce – 15 Minute Recipe
Healthy Cranberry Sauce for your holiday table replaces the traditional sugar laden condiment! This four ingredient sauce cooks in less than 15 minutes!
Table of Contents
Healthy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Who is cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year? Do you have a huge feast that takes days to prepare or do you prefer to order pre-cooked meals?
The temptation to buy ready made meals from the grocery store is tantalizing, but there are some family favorite dishes that we make year after that can’t be replicated by any store!
Every year individual sweet potato casseroles are on the menu, and once I learned how simple it is to make cranberry sauce it has also become a staple on our Thanksgiving table.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Although making our favorite dishes have become a tradition, this year I tweaked an easy condiment turning it into a healthy cranberry sauce that is sugar-free and low carb!
A while back I bought a collection of lemon, lime, and orange citrus oils at a baking supply store.
You can use them to enhance flavors in sauces, dressings, soups, and sweet treats like frostings.
The technique used to make the oil is pretty intense. The rind of these fruits are processed in a way that squeezes the natural oils out creating super strong natural flavors.
It takes about 44 oranges to make one ounce of oil!
Luckily, when you use such a powerful oil, only a small amount is needed when adding it to foods.
Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce
Using essential oils (a great low carb hack) will give you all the flavor without the extra sugar that you get from fruit juices, which is ideal for a low carb side dish.
In this case, instead of adding orange juice to my cranberry sauce I substituted it with 1/4 teaspoon of orange oil and a cup of water.
That small amount of oil with cinnamon is so darn fantastic with the cranberries!
Cranberries on their own can be quite bitter, so to sweeten the sauce up I used Swerve sugar replacement which adds sweetness without the calories like granulated sugar.
Win-win on this re-creation of a favorite traditional Thanksgiving cranberry sauce!
Don’t limit this to sauce to just turkey. Top it on yogurt, on pork or try this baked brie with cranberry sauce!
HEALTHY CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE – INGREDIENTS & UTENSILS NEEDED
Once you make this recipe a couple of times you’ll be able to add ingredients without looking at the recipe card!
Ingredients
- Fresh cranberries
- Water
- Sugar free sweetener like Swerve
- Orange extract
- Cinnamon
Utensils
- Saucepan
- Measuring spoons and cup
- Mixing spoon
How To Make Healthy Cranberry Sauce
Place cranberries in a colander and rinse with cold water, then set aside.
In a medium saucepan heat the water and sweetener over medium heat until the sweetener dissolves.
Add the cranberries and cook until the berries start to burst and begin to soften (about 10 minutes).
Remove from heat and add orange essential oil and cinnamon until well combined.
Cool in the pan at room temperature, then place in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Healthy Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounce cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup Swerve
- 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Wash Cranberries and set aside.  In a medium saucepan heat the water and Swerve over medium heat until the sweetener dissolves. Add the cranberries and cook until the berries start to burst and begin to soften (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and add orange essential oil and cinnamon until well combined. Cool in the pan at room temperature, then refrigerate. Â
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.
I have never been a fan of cranberry sauce even though I love cranberries. We are at my mom’s for Thanksgiving and I decided to give this recipe a try. Only recently have we been trying hard to watch our carbs (down nearly 10 lbs) and this seemed like the perfect ingredients. However, my mom didn’t have Swerve so I used Splenda. The orange extract and cinnamon take it over the top. I’m trying hard to save it for tomorrow since I just want to eat it by the spoonful.
Wonderful, Sheri! Both on your weight loss (wow!), and I sure appreciate you commenting how this cranberry sauce work well! Enjoy every bite 🙂
I love cranberry sauce, your recipe is my favorite!! Tank you for sharing!
OMG I never used to eat cranberry because my mom always used it from a can. The full jellied one, not even the one with the berries in the jelly, so I wasn’t a fan. This version is SO much better and I can see myself eating it all the time!
We have cut way back on sugar in our house…. the tip to use orange oil instead of orange juice is one Im going to try with so many recipes! These cranberries sound delicious and so easy! I love easy for thanksgiving… or anytime of the year!
Cranberry sauce is my favorite part of the Thanksgiving spread! I can’t wait to try it for Thanksgiving!
Our feast is not complete without cranberry sauce! Love it as a leftover too.
I am always looking forward cranberry sauce during theholidays. There’s nothing better than homemade for sure!
It’s simple to make, but boy is the flavor amazing!
Homemade Cranberry Sauce is so much better than canned and healthy too? Such a great choice!!!
I always make my own cranberry sauce, and it’s nice to have a healthy option now. Some of them are just loaded with sugar. Thanks
I’ve had cranberries on the brain and this is a delicious way to serve them. I don’t know why I don’t cook them more than once a year?
It’s such a vibrant color and sugar-free is a great option!
This is exactly the recipe I have been needing! I’ve never like the sugary cranberry sauce very much, so this one sounds perfect!
I love the healthier spin on cranberry sauce! I looks so delicious!
This sauce sounds so easy and looks so delicious! I love that it doesn’t have any added sugar!
Fresh cranberry sauce is awesome. I wish more would make it from scratch.
I’m saving this! I can’t wait to try it!
Have not tried Swerve… Any after taste? Loving your bright and beautiful cranberry sauce!