Cranberry Sauce
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Ready in 15 minutes with just five ingredients, this homemade cranberry sauce is brighter, fresher, and infinitely better than anything from a can.
I’ll admit, the jiggly, can-shaped cranberry sauce has a certain nostalgic charm, but homemade cranberry sauce is truly in a league of its own—and it’s so easy to make! Simply boil fresh or frozen cranberries with sugar, water, orange juice and zest, and in just 15 minutes, you’ll have a sauce bursting with bright, sweet flavors.
The best part? It’s a true make-ahead dish. This cranberry sauce recipe keeps beautifully in the fridge for up to 10 days or in the freezer for two months, so you can knock it out well before the Thanksgiving rush and forget about it until you need it.
Serve it up alongside your favorite Thanksgiving turkey and turkey gravy—or check out my best Thanksgiving side dishes for more ideas to round out the table. Then give your post-feast turkey sandwiches a gourmet twist by mixing the leftover sauce with mayo for an irresistibly delicious spread.
“This is my go-to cranberry sauce…I am now passing it on to my children and grandchildren. A treasured family recipe.”
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Fresh or frozen cranberries: Fresh are ideal when in season (roughly October through December), but frozen works just as well and doesn’t need thawing first; just add them straight to the pot. Avoid dried cranberries here; they won’t break down the same way and will throw off the sauce’s texture entirely.
- Orange juice and zest: Juice adds sweetness and flavor that balances the cranberries’ natural tartness, while the zest layers in a more concentrated orange flavor that juice alone can’t provide.
- Sugar: Cranberries are extremely tart, so sugar is needed to balance the flavor.
- Water: Helps dissolve the sugar and gives the cranberries room to boil and burst without scorching.
- Salt: Just a pinch, but it rounds out the sweetness and keeps the sauce from tasting flat.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Step 1: Zest and juice the oranges. Start by zesting one of the oranges. A rasp grater works best, but any fine grater will do. Just avoid the white pith, which can be bitter, and always zest before juicing; once the orange is squeezed, there’s no going back!
Step 2: Start the sauce. Heat the orange juice, water, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is bubbling, then add the cranberries, zest, and salt.
Step 3: Cook until the berries burst. As the cranberries cook, they’ll begin to pop and release their juices, turning the mixture into a ruby-red sauce. After about 10 minutes, most should be burst, though leaving a few whole gives the sauce nice texture.
Step 4: Finish and store. Once most of the cranberries have burst, mash them lightly with a spoon to reach your desired texture—more mashing for a smoother, jammier sauce, less for a chunkier one. The sauce will look looser than you might expect when it comes off the heat. It thickens considerably as it cools and even more once refrigerated.
Pro Tip: The sauce needs at least 2 hours in the fridge to fully set, so if you’re serving it same-day, make it first thing in the morning—or better yet, the day before.
Cranberry Sauce Variations
Cinnamon-Orange: Add a cinnamon stick along with the cranberries and remove it before serving, for a warm, spiced version that pairs beautifully with turkey.
Cranberry-Apple: Stir in one peeled, diced apple during the last 5 minutes of cooking for extra body and a natural sweetness boost.
Cranberry-Walnut or Pecan: Fold in ½ cup toasted, chopped nuts after the sauce has finished cooking, for crunch and richness.
Boozy Cranberry Sauce: Stir in a splash of port, bourbon, or orange liqueur once the sauce is off the heat, for a warm, grown-up kick.
“For the fun of it I added in some Fireball whiskey. The cinnamon flavor was good.”
Video Tutorial
More Cranberry Recipes You’ll Love
Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup fresh orange juice, from two oranges
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 (12-oz) bag fresh or frozen cranberries (do not use dried)
- Zest of one orange, about 2 teaspoons
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over high heat, bring the water, orange juice, and sugar to a boil. Add the cranberries, orange zest, and salt and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of cranberries have burst open. (You may need to mash them a bit with a spoon.)
- Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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I make this throughout the year. I love it as a little extra side or a spread on a sandwich (think grilled cheese). I give the cranberries a rough chop in the processor and add a cinnamon stick to the pot. Simply delicious! Thanks Jenn!
Cranberry harvest on both east and west coasts isn’t until early October every year…so cranberries aren’t available until mid/late October depending on where you live
I’ve been making this recipe for years, but don’t understand WHY the skins are so tuff and we end up spitting out the tuff skins while enjoying them…can someone explain why this is happening?
Hi Meg, I’m not sure if you’ve had store-bought cranberry sauce in the past, but the texture of homemade is definitely different. That said, you shouldn’t need to be spitting out cranberry skins. I’d try putting a lid on the saucepan after the sauce is reduced and cooking it for a few additional minutes. Hopefully that will soften up the skins more.
Hello Jenn, I made this recipe for dinner one night just for fun. Didn’t change a thing. I was amazed at how easy and delicious it turned out. My Mom loved it and I felt like such a Chef! Will make it for Thanksgiving!
Jenn, I love this recipe but would like to change it up this year. Would I be able to substitute apple juice for orange? Do you think I would need the same amount of sugar? Thanks!
Sure, You can swap out the orange juice for apple (and I’d reduce the sugar by 2 tablespoons). Enjoy!
Absolutely fantastic and tasty. Made it for Christmas dinner and would do it again with turkey or ham. Thank you for sharing.
My husband just made this. Absolutely delicious. I think the zest of the orange is what made it special. He did add cinnamon as well. Thank you for the recipe.
I’ve made this recipe several times and it is absolutely delicious every time. No more canned cranberry sauce for me!! Thank you, Jenn. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!
Very easy to make. Followed your recipe but I didn’t add the 2 tbl. of extra sugar. I like it more tart than sweet. I made it 2 days before Christmas and kept it in the fridge.
Hi Jen. Just made this cranberry sauce ahead of time for our family christmas dinner, it went into two jars perfectly. I had to taste the sauce that was left over in the pan and it was amazing, can taste the orange, not too sweet, a little tart, this is going to be a great addition to our dinner and the cold meats afterwards. Thank you.
YUM! This cranberry orange sauce is perfect. I made it last Christmas, too. This recipe is a keeper!