4 Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

4 ingredients is all it takes to make this cranberry sauce recipe. Fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar and cinnamon. Whip up this cranberry sauce to serve with your holiday feast. Give this homemade cranberry sauce a try today.

Don’t get us wrong, we love canned cranberries too. But there is something extra tasty about this holiday cranberry sauce version a try.

Slather on a dinner roll or mix with turkey or ham. This fresh cranberry recipe is a total home run.

This Cranberry Sauce Recipe Is…

• Gluten free
• Vegan
• Easy holiday recipe
• Made with fresh cranberries
• Can use frozen cranberries
• Made with 4 ingredients

Ingredients Required

Cranberries

Sugar

Orange Juice

Cinnamon Sticks

How To Make

Step 1: Start by adding cranberries, juice, sugar and cinnamon in saucepan on stove. Heat on medium heat.

Step 2: Once mixture comes to a boil, lower heat to a simmer. Cook the sauce on simmer stirring often to prevent from burning.

Step 3: After you are done mixing remove from heat and allow the cranberry mixture to cool.

Once cooled, refrigerate the sauce until ready to serve.

Variations

• Add a pinch of sal t as you cook the sauce. It will enhance the flavor.
• Add in a piece of orange pee l as you cook. The remove peel the same time you remove the cinnamon stick.
• Add more or less sugar to control how sweet or tart your cranberry sauce ends up being.

Storage

Refrigerate You can store your leftover cranberry sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days. We find that making the cranberry sauce recipe a day in advance is key. It helps bring out tons of flavor!

Freezing – Cranberry sauce freezes well. Just store in a sealed freezer approved container for 1-3 months. Thaw in the fridge 24 hours before you plan to eat.

This is the best cranberry sauce recipe. Make extra and then keep some in the freezer to pair with weeknight dinners. It tastes great with chicken, turkey, pork, and more.

Expert Tips

• Rinse and pick through cranberries to remove any smashed or mushy feeling cranberries.
• Add less sugar for a more tart sauce. Or more sugar for a sweeter sauce.
• Cranberries can cause your stomach to become or even diarrhea so always eat in moderation.
• Stir the mixture a lot or it will burn, as it cooks.

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Recipes

If you have some of this cranberry leftover, here are some easy recipes to use it up! This whole cranberry sauce recipe is versatile, and here are ways to use up leftovers.

• Cranberry Banana Coffee Cake
• Instant Pot Cranberry BBQ Pork
• Baked Cranberry Brie

Practical notes

Common questions for this holiday cranberry recipe are below. This can help answer questions you might be faced with.

Can we make this sauce in advance?

Feel free to make your cranberry sauce up to 3 days in advance. Just refrigerate in a tightly sealed container and store in the refrigerator.

Should cranberry sauce be hot or cold?

Most of the time this holiday cranberry is to serve room temperature or chilled. We recommend keeping your cranberry chilled, as it will store longer that way. You are welcome to serve in terms of what temperature as you would prefer.

How do you thicken homemade cranberry sauce?

Thickening homemade cranberry sauce can be done a few ways. First, allow your sauce to simmer and cook down. As it cooks it should thicken on its own. If you want it even thicker you can add in some gelatin or even a cornstarch slurry mixture. 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon cold water mixed.

Can you overcook cranberry sauce?

Like any recipe you can overcook your cranberry sauce. The key is to mix it up enough to find it is thickening. Remove from heat and allow to cool.. As the sauce cools it will naturally thicken more.

Is this sauce supposed to be tart?

Cranberries are naturally tart. Adding the sugar and orange just helps to pull out some of the tartness, and adds sweetness. But you will still taste a little tart with sweet flavoring.

More recipes to pair next to this Thanksgiving cranberry sauce recipe. We love eating the items together as well for a savory and sweet flavor in each bite.

Ingredients

Makes 3 cups

• 3 cups Cranberries
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Orange Juice

Method

1. Start by adding your sugar, orange juice, cranberry, and cinnamon sticks in a pot on the stove.
2. You will then turn the stove to medium heat. Stir the mixture often or it will burn.
3. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes.
4. As the cranberry cooks it will break down and thicken a bit. Once done remove and allow it to cool a bit. Remove the cinnamon stick once done.
5. Place the cranberry sauce in the airtight container in the fridge. It will thicken more as it cools.
6. Then serve and enjoy this cranberry sauce with your holiday feast or weeknight dinner.

Kitchen notes

Fresh or Frozen Berries – You can use fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe. Just rinse and pick out any soft ones if you are using fresh. Sugar – So we used 1 cup, this is needed to help pull the tart component from the sauce. If you want a bit less sweet you can use 3/4 cup sugar instead. Orange Juice – You are welcome to use pulp orange juice or pulp free for this recipe. It is what you prefer. You could even add some orange zest into the sauce, some recipe use that for added orange flavor. Double Recipe – Use a large enough pot and double the recipe if you would like. This is great for holidays and parties. Remove Cinnamon Stick – Once the sauce is done, remove the cinnamon stick before serving or storing in the fridge.