Description
Who knew a homemade festive cranberry sauce was this quick! This easy cranberry sauce recipe is just three ingredients and 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberries (192g, fresh or frozen)*
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup cane sugar (or maple syrup)
- 1/4 tsp orange zest, optional
- 1 cinnamon stick, optional (or 1/4–1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Bring the water, sugar (and cinnamon stick if using) to a boil in a small saucepan.
- Add the cranberries and reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Simmer with the lid off for 10 minutes until the cranberries start to “pop”. Stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the orange zest or ground cinnamon if adding. Heat for an additional minute or two to combine the flavours. You can mash the cranberries further with the back of your spoon until your desired consistency is achieved. Carefully taste and adjust the sweetness by adding a bit more sugar or maple syrup if the sauce is too tart for your taste.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Feel free to blend the sauce and create a smooth cranberry drizzle! Stores well in the fridge for 5 days and freezes well for up to one month.
- Try these with our Beautiful Hasselback Butternut Squash and on our Leftover Roasted Vegetable Salad and Holiday Squash Sandwich!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $1.39 ($0.46 / 100 ml) without the optional flavours. In comparison, store-bought cranberry sauce would cost us roughly CAD $2.50 – $3.99 for 348 ml. A cinnamon stick would add only a few cents and we love using frozen orange zest! Before you peel your oranges… zest them and freeze the zest in a little container! This way, when you want to make recipes like this one, you don’t need to buy a fresh orange just for the zest.
I tend to use cane sugar for this recipe because I can taste the flavour of maple syrup more. Cane sugar sweetens the cranberry sauce without adding much flavour of its own. But if you are a fan of maple syrup then absolutely opt for a less refined sugar!
Frozen cranberries work perfectly! Snatch up bags of fresh cranberries when they are on sale, lay the cranberries in a single layer on a baking tray and slide that in your freezer. Once the cranberries are frozen (1-2 hours) transfer them to a freezer safe bag or container. This will ensure they don’t stick together as they freeze and making 15 minute cranberry sauce will be a breeze! They are quite tart but we also toss them in smoothies or oatmeal occasionally!
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American