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Homemade Cranberry Sauce made with fresh cranberries.
You can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry sauce – at least that’s true in my house. Whole berry cranberry sauce is my favorite and it’s easy to make. I always think anything you can make from scratch is so much better and healthier than what you can buy, already prepared in the store.
What ingredients do I need to make whole berry cranberry sauce?
- Fresh Cranberries
- Granulated Sugar
- Fresh Orange Peel
- Cinnamon Stick
- Water
How do I make the sauce?
You won’t believe how easy this cranberry sauce is to make:
- Place all ingredients in a pot
- Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and allow to cool
- Remove cinnamon stick and orange peel
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate
Most recipes call for equal amounts of fresh cranberries and sugar. I’ve played around with this recipe a bit to see if I could reduce the sugar. The first go round, I reduced the sugar by half! Can you say perfection? Yes, indeed! Perfection!
I didn’t miss the extra sugar and neither did my kids, hubby and guests we had for dinner. Everyone loved this cranberry sauce!
Can I make this cranberry sauce ahead of time?
Yes, you can make this sauce ahead of time. You can make this classic cranberry dish 3 days ahead of time.
Can I freeze cranberry sauce?
Yes, my mom makes this every year and freezes it up to two weeks. To use, remove from freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
How does the sauce thicken?
Cranberries have natural pectin in them. As the cranberries cook, the pectin is released. The pectin thickens the sauce.
Other great holiday recipes
When planning for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner you might also want to include Green Bean Almondine, Sweet Potato Gratin and Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls.
If you end up with any leftover cranberry sauce, it is perfect in this Baked Cranberry Brie.
A few additional recipes with cranberries include this Cranberry Swirl Bread, Cranberry Pecan Bars, Cranberry Swirl Cookies, Cranberry Muffins, Cranberry Scones Cranberry Apple Bread, Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad and Cranberry Jalapeno Bites.
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Check out all my holiday recipes!
This recipe was originally published in November of 2015. The pictures and content have been updated.
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 strips orange peel
Instructions
- Place everything into a pot
- Bring to a boil
- Boil for 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and allow to cool
- Remove cinnamon stick and orange peel
- Cover and refrigerate
Video
Nutrition
27 Comments
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext
November 21, 2015 at 2:09 amI love cranberry sauce! This looks perfect, Kathy! I love that you’ve reduced the sugar content. Really like the addition of orange peel and cinnamon. Delicious!
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass
November 20, 2015 at 9:53 pmI love homemade whole berry cranberry sauce, Kathy. Yours looks delicious! Love the cinnamon stick.
Kathy
November 22, 2015 at 6:31 amThe cinnamon definitely adds a little extra!
Rachelle @ Beer Girl Cooks
November 20, 2015 at 6:44 pmI love all the effort you put in here for so many options! So glad you finally found PERFECTION! Woot!
Kathy
November 22, 2015 at 6:32 amI’ll save all that extra sugar for my dessert….not my cranberries.
Meghan | Fox and Briar
November 20, 2015 at 3:03 pmYum, I love homemade cranberry sauce! And I love that you added a cinnamon stick to it, what a nice touch!
Danielle @ So Munch Love
November 20, 2015 at 10:37 amGrowing up, my mom made a huge Thanksgiving dinner from scratch, but when it came to cranberry sauce, it always comes from a can. Go figure. Only in my adult life have I begun eating homemade. This recipe looks absolutely perfect!
Kathy
November 22, 2015 at 6:34 amThat was the same in my house growing up. My sister still prefers the canned jellied cranberry sauce…I need to convert her!
Cathleen @ A Taste Of Madness
November 19, 2015 at 4:34 pmI love homemade cranberry sauce. Never thought of putting an orange peel in it though!!
Kathy
November 19, 2015 at 9:22 pmIt adds just a little extra touch!
Amy (Savory Moments)
November 19, 2015 at 2:27 pmI love homemade cranberry sauce. This looks perfect.
Kathy
November 19, 2015 at 9:22 pmThanks!
Senika @ Foodie Blog Stalker
November 19, 2015 at 11:12 amI love homemade cranberry sauce! And completely agree that less sugar is better!
Kathy
November 19, 2015 at 9:23 pmThere is so much sugar in so many foods already….time to cut back!
Lindsey
November 19, 2015 at 10:40 amI love that your recipe uses less sugar!! Totally agree that most recipes call for a crazy amount of sugar, great call and can’t wait to try!
Kathy
November 19, 2015 at 9:10 pmI hope you love it as much as I do!
Laura ~ Raise Your Garden
November 19, 2015 at 6:08 amI have no clue why, but my kids favorite food is cranberry sauce. They absolutely gobble the stuff down. It’s in their top 5 foods so I guess I should learn to make! Thanks.
Kathy
November 19, 2015 at 9:24 pmYou’d better get cooking! Your kids will think you are their hero, cooking one of their favorites!