Homemade Fresh Cranberry Sauce in 15 minutes! Made with apples, orange juice, and brown sugar. Perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!
I've always loved cranberry sauce, even the canned stuff from the grocery store 😉 Believe it or not, I had never tried homemade sauce until I was in college and it was a few years later that I made my own homemade cranberry sauce for the first time. I never looked back, haha!
Let me tell you, it turns out that it tastes so much better than serving a can of cranberry sauce!
Now I make this every year to serve with our Thanksgiving turkey and as a side for Christmas dinner, whether or not I'm hosting because it's that good! I'm telling you, cooking for the holidays doesn't have to be so complicated! 🙂
Plus, there's nothing quite like watching whole cranberries and chopped apples cook down so that they can be all mashed together! 😋
The juice of fresh oranges is added for sweetness because this dietitian momma prefers to save added sugar for dessert😉.
And while most people only think to serve cranberry sauce with Thanksgiving dinner, my kids enjoy it as a side with a variety of meals. Two of my kids even like to eat it as a snack. So, be ready to double or triple this recipe. Just saying!
If you have any cranberries left, try adding them to my Apple Oatmeal Bake. It's delicious!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
This super easy cranberry sauce recipe uses fresh apple and orange juice to sweeten the cranberry sauce naturally. A small amount of brown sugar is added to top off the sweetness and to help create the texture that kids love. If your family loves cranberry sauce and you are looking for an easy and delicious recipe that uses less sugar, this is the cranberry sauce for you!
- Less 'added sugar' than traditional cranberry sauce recipes.
- Kid-approved.
- Quick and easy recipe. Easy to make and easy to serve. With a handful of easy to find ingredients, you'll have the best cranberry sauce ready to serve for your next holiday meal in no time!
- Versatile recipe. Cranberry sauce can be served as a Thanksgiving side dish, alongside Rosemary Pork Tenderloin, with cheese and crackers, or as a spread on a sandwich or wrap.
Ingredient Notes
- Cranberries Whole fresh cranberries can be found in the produce section of most grocery stores. Cranberries are beautiful in color, have a tart flavor, and are a rich source of bioactive compounds, including anthocyanins.
- Honeycrisp Apple Sweet and delicious. These are typically larger than other sweet apples. So, if you choose to substitute it with Gala apples, use two small Gala apples in place of one large Honeycrisp apple.
- Orange Juice Use fresh orange juice, if possible.
- Cinnamon Added for flavor. If you don't have ground cinnamon, you could let a cinnamon stick simmer with the cranberries and apples (just remove it before mashing everything together).
- Brown Sugar A small amount of brown sugar helps balance out the tartness of the cranberries.
- Optional: Orange Zest. If your kids like the flavor of orange zest, add one teaspoon of zest at the end, while the cranberry sauce is still hot.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here is a quick overview of the steps to make this homemade fresh cranberry sauce. For a full list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.
- First, peel, core, and chop up the apple into small pieces.
- Then, place apple pieces in a medium saucepan with one quarter cup of water and cook over medium to medium-high heat for about five minutes.
- While the apple pieces cook, rinse cranberries and measure out the rest of the ingredients.
- Once the apples are softened, add cranberries and continue to cook for another three minutes, until cranberries start to pop.
- Using a food masher, mash cranberries and apple together.
- Last, add orange juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar and mix well.
- Cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until all ingredients are combined.
- Let cool.
Helpful Tips
- Easily doubled or tripled.
- To reduce cooking time, cut the apple into small pieces.
- Orange juice is not a must, but if you don't add it, you'll want to increase the amount of sugar.
- Most kids will end up taking seconds - let them!
How to Use Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes! I always make a double batch so that I know I'll have leftovers to enjoy through the week. Here are a few ways we like to enjoy the leftovers. If you have more ideas, please share them with me!
- This might sound strange but two of my kids love to eat this cranberry sauce as is, as a snack.
- Spread on a layer of cranberry sauce when making leftover turkey sandwiches. It's the perfect complement to turkey and stuffing!!
- I love cranberry sauce served as a side with creamed chicken or turkey.
- There's nothing like fresh sauce served with cheese and crackers, especially on the appetizer section of the holiday table.
- Seriously, use this cranberry sauce as a substitute for jelly. I spread it on crackers with or without cheese. It makes a great snack!
- While I've never tried it, you could even stir some leftover sauce in with vanilla ice cream. How delicious does that sound?!
Questions You May Have
Yes, it can! I usually make this a day or two ahead of time. Then I either serve it chilled or at room temperature.
Yes! Fresh cranberry sauce freezes nicely. Pack it in an airtight container or in a resealable freezer bag before freezing.
Serve cranberry sauce with any meal or with cheese and crackers as a snack. Also, try serving cranberry sauce in place of jam on bread or crackers. And of course, it is delicious on turkey sandwiched and when served as a side with leftover turkey and sweet potato casserole.
Fresh cranberries can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Personally, I buy extra bags of cranberries around the holidays and put the bags directly in my freezer so I can use them throughout the year. So easy!
More Fall Inspired Recipes
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The BEST Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries Rinse well.
- 1 Honeycrisp apple 1 large apple, or approximately 1½ cups chopped sweet apple
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel, core, and chop the apple into small pieces.
- Add chopped apple and water to a medium sauce pan.
- Cook apple for about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add cranberries to the cooked apples and continue to cook.
- After about three minutes the cranberries will start to pop. When they start to soften and pop, mash cranberries and apples using a food masher.
- Add orange juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir to combine and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Optional: add 1 teaspoon of orange zest and one additional tablespoon of brown sugar, depending on preference.
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