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    Home » Recipes » Butters and Spreads

    Published: Dec 10, 2020 Modified: May 8, 2023 by Nicole This post may contain affiliate links.

    Cranberry Orange Sauce

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This cranberry orange sauce is a combination of tangy, sweet, fresh, and delicious. Serve it warm or cold. Perfect for holiday gatherings!

    up close view of cranebrry orange sauce with an orange swirl

    We love adding fresh cranberry sauce to our holiday dinners. It adds a burst of bright color to the table and gives us something traditional to look forward to.

    Orange and cranberry are a wonderful pairing. From the tangy, sour cranberries to the refreshingly sweet orange, we get a wonderful depth of flavor that exceeds any cranberry sauce you'd find in a can.

    Why This Recipe Works

    1. It's great hot or cold. I like eating this cranberry sauce both warm and cold, but I have to say warm is my favorite of the two. Something about it being served warm next to some turkey or ham just feels right.
    2. Leftover sauce is okay! You can use leftovers of this cranberry sauce with orange juice for recipes like sandwiches, casseroles, or cheesecake filling are also great ideas.
    3. Minimal ingredients. You only need 4 ingredients to make this homemade cranberry sauce. From the fresh cranberries to the fresh orange, this recipe is simple, basic, and truly delicious.
    Jump to:
    • 🥘 Ingredients
    • 🍽 Equipment Needed
    • 🔪 Instructions
    • 🍴 Recipe Tips
    • 💭 FAQs
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments
    ingredients needed for cranberry orange sauce

    🥘 Ingredients

    Whole Orange- For added freshness, you'll need an orange. This will give us some zest and some juice.

    Cranberries- Use fresh cranberries (frozen ones are okay too!)

    Brown Sugar- Sweeten up the cranberry sauce and give it a nice depth of flavor with some brown sugar.

    Cinnamon- For added warm spice, you'll want to use some ground cinnamon.

    For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

    🍽 Equipment Needed

    BeeyondCereal is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

    • Medium-sized pot
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Measuring Cups

    🔪 Instructions

    Check out how to make cranberry orange sauce with these simple step-by-step instructions:

    Zest about 2 teaspoons of orange zest off of your fresh orange and then squeeze out ¼ cup of fresh orange juice.

    Over medium heat, combine your orange zest, juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a saucepan until dissolved.

    ornage sauce ingredients in saucepan with whole cranberries scattered around

    Add in the fresh cranberries and bring to a boil.

    cranberries added to saucepan with orange sauce

    Reduce the heat and let them simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.

    cooked cranberries and wooden spoon in pot with fresh berries and oranges outside

    Let cool completely and serve warm or chill for 3 hours before serving.

    cranberry orange sauce with a spoon sticking in it

    🍴 Recipe Tips

    I love my cranberries to be whole in sauce, but others enjoy it mashed. While some berries will naturally burst throughout the cooking process and become mashed, others will be pretty whole in shape.

    You can mash yours using the backside of a fork or a potato masher if desired. This depends on how you want the texture in this cranberry sauce recipe with orange juice to become. Less mashing means more whole berries and vice versa.

    Also, cranberries naturally thicken liquids so if your cranberry sauce feels runny for whatever reason, continue cooking, and mash a few berries down. That should solve any of those issues.

    💭 FAQs

    What's the difference between cranberry sauce and cranberry relish?

    Cranberry sauce is a sweetened and cooked mixture of cranberries served whole or smashed. Cranberry relish is a fresh (usually uncooked) mixture of cranberries and ingredients that have been pulverized in a blender or food processor and is more tart in flavor.

    Can I use white sugar for cranberry sauce?

    Absolutely! I like the molasses in brown sugar and how it rounds out the tartness from the berries, but white sugar works great too!

    How long is cranberry sauce good for?

    Homemade cranberry sauce can actually be held in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! Just keep stored in an airtight container in the fridge and use it whenever the mood strikes. This is also good news if you planned on making this cranberry orange sauce recipe in advance of a dinner party.

    cranberry orange sauce on a spoon with a bowl with more inside right behind it

    More Delicious Side Dish Recipes to Try Soon

    • Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans
    • Heaven Berry Fluff Salad
    • Microwave Yellow Squash
    • Jiffy Jalapeno Cornbread

    📖 Recipe

    Cranberry Orange Sauce
    Print Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Cranberry Orange Sauce

    This cranberry orange sauce is a combination of tangy, sweet, fresh, and delicious. Serve it warm or cold. Perfect for holiday gatherings!
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Chill 3 hours hrs
    Total Time 3 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 215kcal
    Cost Recipe $2.10/ Serving $0.35
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • Medium-sized pot
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Measuring Cups

    Ingredients

    • 1 large Orange, zested (about 2 teaspoons) ($0.86)
    • ¼ cup Orange juice ($0.14)
    • 12 ounces Whole fresh cranberries ($0.99)
    • ⅛ teaspoon Ground cinnamon ($0.02)
    • ¼ cup Brown sugar ($0.09)
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Zest orange and squeeze juice.
    • In a saucepan over medium heat, combine orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar until dissolved.
    • Add in cranberries and bring to a boil.
    • Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened.
    • Let cool completely and serve warm, or chill in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.

    Notes

    Recipe Tips

    You can mash yours using the backside of a fork or a potato masher if desired. This depends on how you want the texture in this cranberry sauce recipe to become. Less mashing means more whole berries and vice versa.
    Also, cranberries naturally thicken liquids so if your cranberry sauce feels runny for whatever reason, continue cooking, and mash a few berries down. That should solve any of those issues.
    I like the molasses in brown sugar and how it rounds out the tartness from the berries, but white sugar works great too! 

    Storage

    Homemade cranberry sauce can actually be held in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! Just keep stored in an airtight container in the fridge and use it whenever the mood strikes. This is also good news if you planned on making this cranberry orange sauce recipe in advance of a dinner party.

    Nutritional Information

    Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 57.2g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.6g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 5.5mg | Potassium: 62.3mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 50.9g | Vitamin A: 2.3IU | Vitamin C: 6.2mg | Calcium: 15.5mg | Iron: 0.3mg
    Author NicoleDurham
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine American
    Tried this recipe?Mention @BeeyondCereal on Instagram and hashtag it #BeeyondCereal
    To view how this recipe was calculated you can visit my Pricing Disclosure Page for more information.

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    I'm Nicole and I am the owner and recipe developer here at Beeyond Cereal. I love saving money and one of the best places to trim expenses is in the kitchen. With this site, we are serving up tasty and frugal homemade dishes that the whole family will enjoy.

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