Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe

This easy homemade cranberry sauce recipe is tart and sweet with a hint of citrus. You’ll love enjoying with your holiday meal, but don’t limit cranberry sauce to just one meal. Enjoy as an appetizer with cheese or as condiment in sandwiches.  

If you enjoy fresh cranberries be sure to try this Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa Appetizer recipe too!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE

Cranberries are seasonal, so grab them when you can. Once you start cooking with them you’ll look forward to the season every year.

• Cranberry sauce is an easy condiment to make turning an ordinary meal into something special.
• You can adjust the sweetness to your preference in this recipe.
• No candy thermometer or special cooling process needed!
• This makes a quick and economical gift for friends during the holiday season. Put some in a jar in a gift bag with some cheese. Cranberry sauce and goat cheese are delicious together.
• Tastes better than the gel-like cylindrical shaped sauce from a can.

EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENTS NEEDED

No special kitchen tools are needed to make this cranberry sauce. Gather the following items:

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• Rubber spatula or wooden spoon

Ingredients:

• Fruit juice or fresh squeezed orange juice
• Granulated sugar
• Fresh cranberries
• Ground cinnamon

HOW TO MAKE THIS HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE

You can have fresh cranberry sauce in under 20 minutes. Follow these simple instructions.

STEP 1: WASH CRANBERRIES

First wash your cranberries under cool water and remove any soft or mushy berries.

STEP 2: DISSOLVE GRANULATED SUGAR

Place fruit juice and sugar in a medium size sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

STEP 3: ADD FRESH CRANBERRIES

Turn the heat to medium, add the cranberries and cook until the berries start to burst and begin to soften (close to 10 minutes). 

STEP 4: REMOVE FROM HEAT

Remove the cranberry sauce from the heat and add cinnamon. As the sauce cools, it will begin to thicken. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Enjoy this cranberry sauce with your holiday meal. We pair it with the following foods;

• Smoked turkey
• baked turkey thighs
• air fryer pork tenderloin

Don’t wait until next year to buy fresh cranberries. More holiday festivities are on the horizon!

Prefer a sugar-free sauce?  Try this healthy cranberry sauce!

WHAT TO DO WITH EXTRA CRANBERRY SAUCE

Now that you learned how easy it is to make homemade cranberry sauce you will want to have it stocked in your refrigerator all winter long. Here are some other ways to use it.

• Make these turkey sliders with your Thanksgiving leftovers.
• Serve with plain yogurt and enjoy for breakfast.
• Enjoy over baked brie, and serve with crackers as an appetizer.  
• Blend cranberry sauce with cream cheese by forming a cheese ball, and then roll it in chopped nuts!

SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS

Looking for some ways to make this cranberry sauce uniquely yours? Here are some ideas.

• Add an extract for flavor and additional teaspoon of vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.
• The options are limitless when choosing a fruit juice. Use a blend of juices or pick your favorite pomegranate juice, orange or cherry to try in this recipe.
• You can use sugar free juice and sugar free sweetener to keep this recipe lower carb if you are watching your sugar intake.
• Additional spices will change the flavor profile. Add a pinch of nutmeg or allspice.
• Use frozen cranberries if you can’t find fresh. Just look at the ingredient list. You will want a variety packaged without extra sugar. Frozen cranberries will also need to simmer longer.
• Add some brown sugar to replace the granulated sugar for a deep coffee-like flavor.
• At the end of cooking the sauce you can add 1-2 tablespoons of an orange liqueur like Grand Marnier.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do you have some questions about this homemade cranberry sauce recipe? Here are the most frequently asked questions for this recipe.

Easy Ruby Red Cranberry Sauce

Easy ruby red cranberry sauce recipe with orange and cinnamon spice. Serve as a side dish with your holiday meal or enjoy over cheese as an appetizer.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry sauce, easy cranberry sauce recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 cups

Calories: 109kcal

Author: Sandra Shaffer

Ingredients

• 1 cup fruit juice
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 12 ounce cranberries fresh
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Wash the cranberries. 
• In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the sugar and juice stirring until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the cranberries and cook until the berries start to burst and begin to soften (close to 10 minutes). 
• Remove from heat and add cinnamon. As the sauce cools, it will begin to thicken.
• Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate.

Notes

I used Trader Joe's orange-strawberry banana juice, but orange or apple works well or any fruit juice.

12 ounces will give about 2 cups of fresh cranberries.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 cup | Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Sodium: 19mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g

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.

EASY DECOR WITH FRESH CRANBERRIES

These fresh little hearty berries are sturdy enough to be surrounded by a candle or placed at the bottom of a vase, which is exactly what I’ve used them for before learning to make my own cranberry sauce.