7 Ways To Perk Up Cranberry Sauce

We know some of you prefer the canned stuff, but if you're cooking your own cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, here are a few mix-ins to make it more interesting. Actually, you could add some of these ingredients to canned cranberry relish, too!

• Fresh pomegranate arils: The seeds are not only pretty but also add delightful little bursts of juicy sweetness.

• Pomegranate molasses: A splash of pomegranate molasses or syrup provides rich flavor and color.

• Persimmons: For a sweet, spicy flavor, add a diced ripe persimmon to the simmering sauce.

• Dates: The deep sweetness of dates balances out the cranberries' tartness.

• Candied ginger: Add zing with chopped, crystallized ginger.

• Walnuts: Mix in some toasted walnuts or, even better, herbed candied walnuts with rosemary, thyme, and sage.

• Dried figs: Simmer dried figs with the cranberries to get them nice and plump. If you want to go the extra mile, we highly recommend this recipe for Cranberry Sauce with Port and Dried Figs.

Any other ideas?

Related: Recipe: D.I.Y. Cranberry Sauce

(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (22)

Dried cherries and using a few tablespoons of cherry cider. Reduce the water to 3/4 cup and use 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice (try blood orange)

i think pistachios would be esp. beautiful against the red - but maybe more for xmas!

Every year, I make a fabulous recipe with the zest & juice of one orange, some fresh ginger, and toasted pecans. Here it is for anyone who is interested.

http://boydsnest.org/news/2007/mamas-favorite-cranberry-sauce/

Lavender! I stirred in a tiny bit (maybe an 1/8 tsp) of cinnamon, and then threw a pinch of dried lavender in a tea ball and let it mingle with the simmering cranberry sauce. Yum!

My coworker replaces the water with gin. She says it tastes fabulous.

I include a pinch of dried thyme in mine. It adds just a little something that you can't quite put your finger on but tastes amazing.

My sister adds horseradish and it's amazing! Great on turkey and other meats too!

I made it with grapefruit and mint last year, delicious!

We add orange zest and slivered almonds, plus some orange juice to the water.

I do mine with orange zest, ground ginger, and some white pepper.

But this year, instead of cranberry sauce, I'm doing the cranberry tart with hazelnut crust that was featured on this site a few weeks ago! Really looking forward to it.

We add sugar, orange juice and horseradish, but we don't cook the cranberries, just throw everything in the food processor and chop it all up. It's so yummy.

This is a little off topic but seeing the comment above about horseradish got me thinking-has anyone ever made Mama Stamberg's cranberry horseradish relish made famous on NPR? I've always been curious...

My favourite is to cook the cranberries in 1 part white wine, 1 part water. Throw in a cinnamon stick and a good helping of maple syrup, and there you have her!

2 tablespoons of bourboun stirred in at the very end.

Campari and Oranges. This is a great cranberry sauce. Essentially, I use 2 12 oz bags of cranberries, the zest and juice from 2 oranges, 3/4 of a cup of Campari. Sugar to taste (start out with 1 cup, add more as necessary) and possibly a bit of water or extra orange juice. Simmer until cranberries pop. Perfect sweet/tart/bitter combo!

To rosebud - I've not made it but have eaten it numerous times. It is really good! Different, and colorful, but yummy. My husband makes it, and former boyfriend did too ... hmmm ... there's trend there ... it's easy!

I used to add pomegranate arils, but they really throw the texture off and get stuck in everyone's teeth. These days I use pomegranate juice instead of water and dial back the sugar.

Cointreau!

I cook up fresh cranberries with chopped up frozen mango pieces. Make sure you cut up the mango in small bites though. It's fantastic!

Port.

1/4 cup creme de cassis and the juice of 1/2 an orange.

Jalapeno Cranberry Sauce! Definitely a crowd favorite here in San Antonio.