Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is the jewel of the Thanksgiving table and often the only spot of brightness on a table full of brown, orange, and tan dishes. While canned cranberry sauce is available year-round, you have to wait until October for fresh cranberries to come to market. Once the ruby-red fruits arrive, it’s your cue to make this sweet and tangy sauce for your Thanksgiving celebration. 

Making homemade cranberry sauce is an easy four-step process.

1. Zest and juice oranges: Use Valencia or navel oranges for their fresh citrus flavor.
2. Simmer with sugar: Add the orange zest, juice, and sugar to a pot. Cook on medium-high heat, until the sugar dissolves.
3. Cook the cranberries until they burst: Add the cranberries, then simmer for at least 10 minutes or until they burst to release their full gelling power.
4. Let cool and serve: For a looser cranberry sauce, the sauce can be served warm. If you prefer a thicker (canned-like) consistency, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Calling this dish a “sauce” is a bit of a misnomer, as cranberry sauce is actually a simple fruit jam. Cranberries are naturally high in pectin (a naturally occuring gel). When cranberries are cooked with sugar and acid (such as orange or lemon juice), the pectin is released and gels the fruit. The sugar and citrus help transform fresh cranberries into a sauce with body and texture.

Cranberry sauce is a favorite at Thanksgiving, as it’s a sweet-tart foil to a table filled with buttery and rich dishes. Making this simple three-ingredient sauce also gives you control over the sweetness, tartness, and consistency. 

• Serve warm: Cranberry sauce can be served warm, straight from the stovetop with a looser, more pourable consistency.
• Serve cold: Chilled cranberry sauce has a more spoonable and jam-like consistency. When given time to cool in the refrigerator, the natural gel from the cranberries thickens and the flavors have time to mellow and sweeten. 

Cranberry sauce is one of the first things I make ahead for holiday celebrations. Cranberry sauce can be made up to two weeks in advance and refrigerated, or you can freeze the sauce for up to 1 month. 

• Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce
• Cranberry Buttermilk Pancakes
• Cranberry & Brie Grilled Cheese
• Baked Apples with Cranberry Sauce
• Stuffing Fritters with Cranberry-Jalapeño Sauce
• Cranberry Jell-O Salad
• Cheesy Turkey and Cranberry Skillet Monkey Bread

Once you know how to make cranberry sauce, the possibilities to customize are endless. 

• Replace some of the sugar with brown or maple sugar.
• Add a vanilla bean while boiling or a teaspoon of vanilla extract at the end.
• Boil whole spices, like cinnamon, anise, or cardamom, with the sugar and orange juice. Remember to remove before serving.
• Finely chop a jalapeño and add at the end of cooking for a savory finish.
• Add a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger with the cranberries.
• Stir in a tablespoon of rum, brandy, or whiskey to the finished cranberry sauce.