Your Thanksgiving table is not complete without this Cranberry Sauce made from scratch in just 20 minutes. A hint of nutmeg, lots of orange zest and a bit of vanilla complete this incredible cranberry sauce.
Perhaps it may be a bit presumptuous of me to name this recipe world’s best cranberry sauce, but it wasn’t me that decided upon this name but everyone who has tried this recipe, so the name stuck. And trust me when I say that it is incredibly delicious, and I’m not usually a fan of cranberry sauce, but I can’t stop eating this one.
As I said, not a big fan of cranberries here, whereas my husband can eat them raw right out of the bag. Please reassure me that he’s not the only one – otherwise we might need to have a chat.
But even if he’s an island all his own, no one can dispute how addicting that tart, bright burst of flavor is. Even if you’re not a cranberry sauce addict, who can deny how perfectly it pairs with moist juicy turkey? I like to smear it on my turkey sandwiches the next day for those crave-able leftovers and let me tell you – it’s a home run.
Ingredient Notes
- Cranberries – Fresh or frozen either works just perfectly for this recipe!
- Orange – The juice today and fresh zest, this will add some acidity and brightness to our sauce.
- Sugar –Â Just some granulated white sugar, we want some simple clean sweetness to balance out all that tartness.
- Spices – Ground nutmeg is going to round out our sauce nicely, it adds a sweet spiced taste and aroma. It can be substituted with cinnamon if you don’t have any on hand.
- Vanilla –Â Our flavor secret weapon! Just a splash will bring everything above together. But trust me when I say, the vanilla is the secret ingredient here.
How To Make Cranberry Sauce From Scratch
- Assemble the sauce: Add all the ingredients to a smaller pot and stir to combine. Turn the heat to a medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Finish the sauce: Reduce the heat to a medium and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You will notice the cranberries will burst as they cook. Let cool completely at room temperature before serving.
FAQs & Tips
FAQs
Lots! This sauce is a good blank canvas so here’s some delicious suggestions: chopped pecans, raisins, cinnamon, allspice.
Cranberry sauce naturally thickens. As it cooks the liquid cooks off and the sauce thickens. If that doesn’t work, you could always add a thickener like a bit of cornstarch mixed with a bit of water. However, keep in mind that as the sauce cools off it will thicken some more.
Tips
- Don’t skip the orange juice or replace it with water, it’ll help with the cranberry sauce not tasting bitter.
- For reduced-sugar cranberry sauce, use only 1/2 cup of sugar, taste it and add a bit more if too tart. For a sugar free version use a substitute like Splenda or Stevia.
How To Serve
This sauce is so multi purpose – you won’t even believe it. Not only is it delicious on many a protein, but it’s also totally mouth watering when eaten with sweets!
- Roast Turkey obviously! The absolute classic.
- Chicken breast
- Pork
- Mashed Potatoes
- Fold it into whipped cream and you’ll get a super beautiful bright pink topping for your favorite dessert!
- Spooned over vanilla ice cream
- Meatballs
Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce when stored properly can last up to 2 weeks in the fridge, which is why this is perfect for making ahead. Anything we can do to save time for the big holiday is a bonus!
Freezing
Freeze the cranberry sauce in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
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World’s Best Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounce cranberries (1 bag), rinsed
- ½ cup orange juice store bought or freshly squeezed
- ¾ cup sugar granulated
- â…› teaspoon nutmeg ground
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Assemble the sauce: Add all the ingredients to a smaller pot and stir to combine. Turn the heat to a medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Finish the sauce: Reduce the heat to a medium and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You will notice the cranberries will burst as they cook.Â
- Cool and serve: Let cool completely at room temperature before serving.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Store the cranberry sauce in a bowl wrapped with plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- Please note the sauce will thicken as it cools.
- Other optional ingredients to add to the sauce are pecans, raisins, cinnamon.
- Freeze the cranberry sauce in an airtight container for up to 6 months
Delicious! I had a bunch of cranberries in my freezer, so I made this in order to make your cranberry meatballs. Cranberry sauce isn’t generally my favorite dish, but this was so good I made a second batch immediately! Now I’ll have plenty leftover to eat, even after the meatballs. And I love how easy it is to make. It’s definitely now my go to recipe for cranberry sauce.
Just whipped some sauce up, getting ready for Christmas. Good recipe, great flavour, not difficult. So worth it.
The very best cranberry sauce I’ve ever made in my 81 year old life. Just one change, no sugar but Mike’s Hot Honey, no nutmeg. Only used about 3 Tbsp honey as we enjoy eating cranberries raw and love the tart taste. My son said I can make this any time.
THIS RECIPE ROCKS!!! Seriously, that famous “foodie” channel on tv and online should take notes from THIS recipe. The vanilla (so surprising!), fresh orange juice and nutmeg add such depths of flavor that it is almost unreal. This is such an incredible recipe and I am glad that I stumbled upon this website, while searching for unique cranberry sauce recipes! 🙂
JOANNA, I MADE this evening and put it in the refrigerator to have the flavors to enhance for Thanksgiving Day. I snuck a taste…… yum! FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for this recipe!
My pleasure, Christine! So glad you like it!
I grind up one naval orange, bag of cranberries, sugar to taske and a shot of gran mariner. Use a 3/8″ hole blade in my grinder.
I made this for Thanksgiving this year and we loved it! I wouldn’t change a thing.
This was delicious! I followed to the basic recipe but added in 1/4 C each chopped dried cranberries, walnuts and pecans plus 2 Mandarin oranges chopped up and 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice. I love the warm spices and vanilla and the texture of the nuts.
Absolutely fabulous recipe..hints of vanilla, orange and nutmeg…….super easy to make and in 15 minutes it’s ready….you’ll never buy the canned stuff again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Great recipe… easy and flavorful! Not 8 servings…. it barely made a cup of sauce. I’m making another batch
Made this for our church Thanksgiving dinner. Put in two ounce cups. It was well received. Doubled recipe. Used 1/2 cup less sugar and added a dash of cinnamon..the cranberry bomb diggity!!