Homemade Cranberry Sauce
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A simple recipe for fresh and easy homemade cranberry sauce. Made with real whole cranberries and just 3 other ingredients, this is an easy traditional must-have for your next holiday dinner.
This cranberry sauce is a holiday classic (like my roasted sweet potatoes) and deserves a place on your table. Be sure to check out the brief how-to video at the bottom of the post if you’re more of a visual learner!
Who here is hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year?
Don’t look at me, while I’d love to someday, my biggest contributions to holiday get-togethers usually land on the dessert table. Pecan pie , chocolate pie (with a side of homemade whipped cream!), these are my usual contributions, but recently I’ve branched out. This year, I’m on a mission to replace canned cranberry sauce everywhere with homemade cranberry sauce.
Do you know how easy it is to make homemade cranberry sauce? Just one saucepan and 4 ingredients (5 if you count water, does water count??), this recipe is easy.
No can necessary.
How Do You Make Fresh Cranberry Sauce
- Bring sugars (use a combination of brown and white for the best flavor!), water, and orange juice to a boil
- Add cranberries and return to simmer
- Cook until berries have burst and desired thickness has been reached.
- Transfer to a serving dish and chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Some cranberry sauce recipes use just water, and no orange juice, but I strongly recommend using both. The juice adds a nice bright flavor that really makes this cranberry sauce shine.
How do You Make Cranberry Sauce Thicker?
When cooking your cranberry sauce, you can simmer it as long as needed after your berries burst until the desired thickness is reached. Do keep in mind that your sauce will seem runnier while it’s hot and will thicken as it cools and sets.
Can Cranberry Sauce Be Made in Advance??
Yes! Cranberry sauce requires a minimum of 2 hours in the refrigerator in order for it to thicken and set properly. However, you can make this holiday side dish up to a week in advance. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container.
And that’s all there is to making homemade cranberry sauce, no can required!
If you prefer a more visual guide you can check out my cranberry sauce video at the bottom of the post. If you enjoy these videos, please consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel! <3
Enjoy!
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (133 g) sugar
- ⅓ cup (67 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed
- ⅓ cup (78 ml) water
- ⅔ cup (157 ml) orange juice
- 12 oz (340 g) cranberries, rinsed and picked through -- bad/bruised cranberries removed
Instructions
- Combine sugars, water, and orange juice in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sugars are dissolved, and bring to a boil.⅔ cup (133 g) sugar, ⅓ cup (67 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed, ⅓ cup (78 ml) water, ⅔ cup (157 ml) orange juice
- Add cranberries and return to a boil.12 oz (340 g) cranberries
- Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook cranberries, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes or until all or most berries have burst (careful, there is some splatter) and the mixture is slightly reduced. The longer you cook your cranberries the thicker your mixture will be, but it will also thicken up after standing.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I originally published this Cranberry Sauce recipe 11/20/2017, post has been updated to include tips and more information.
I made cranberry fluff salad with canned cranberry sauce last and I liked it with crushed pineapple and cream cheese.
Mom made this for Christmas dinner and it turned out perfect. Converted me from a cranberry sauce skeptic to full-blown evangelist.
So glad our recipe could change your mind! 😂
So if I wanted jellied cranberry sauce would it be the same recipe and pull out the immersion blender or would i need to alter it. I’ve saved several empty cans just for this.
Hi Stacy! I haven’t personally done it. I think you would need to incorporate gelatin and without having done it I just can’t say for sure how to do it. If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
I actually made jellied cranberry sauce today. Boil 12oz bag fresh cranberries in 1/2 cup oj (or juice of choice) for 10 minutes while popping berries with spoon. Puree with immersion blender the press through a fine sieve. Add 1 cuo of sugar, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Put in jars and chill overnight.
I added a few dashes of cinnamon and a top of vanilla in the first step.
Everyone enjoyed this cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. From now on this is the only recipe I will use. i did add a chunk of orange peel to it while it was cooking, then removed it. Next time I may reduce the sugar a tiny bit, just as an experiment.
best cranberry sauce ever!
Any spices that go well in thise cranberry sauce, i.e. nutmeg?
I have not experimented with it as I don’t think there is any need to change the flavor here, but you can certainly experiment with it. 🙂
Add some orange zest it makes it better
2 things:
1. If I can’t find good fresh cranberries, can I use frozen?
2. Can I freeze this after it’s cooled?
Frozen cranberries should work fine and you can freeze this after it has cooled. 🙂
So fresh and delicious it can literally be eaten with a spoon. It will be impossible to go back to canned sauce after this.
Good. Just the right amount of sweet.
made this with honey instead of brown sugar. It was spectacular. Setup nicely to an “almost out of the can” consistency (I used 2/3 cup of water – instead of 1/3 cup, plus 3 tbsp of raw honey, and cooked it down quite a bit – about 25 minutes). Put in the refrigerator over night. Will make this every time I want cranberry sauce.
Made this the night before Thanksgiving and it was amazing! Everyone was just eating big spoonfuls. Multiple requests for the recipe! So fresh and SUPER easy too!
delicious, I’ve never ever eaten can cranberry sauce, yuck lol. I know people like it but….I bought fresh cranberries this year and decided to try your recipe and love it. Thanks I’m going to go buy some more cranberries…
Everyone loved this cranberry sauce. A very big hit in my house. Was absolutely delicious
I made this last year and it was a super hit! This year my 6 yo step son and I made it together and he really enjoyed watching the cranberries transform! We started by squeezing oranges for fresh OJ so I anticipate it will be even BETTER this year… double the LOVE!!!
I used 1/3 cup of a white wine. and 1/3 of pineapple juice….. I’ll never make it any other way again
I see that some recipes call for vinegar or white wine. Do these enhance the overall experience of the cranberry sauce?
Hi Zane! I found this particular method to be the best combination of flavor. 🙂
Absolutely the best cranberry sauce ever! I just hosted Thanksgiving at my house and my guests were putting it on everything from turkey to crackers to ice cream! Thank you soooo much for sharing this recipe!
Kelli