Make a homemade cranberry sauce with orange zest and skip the can this year. You won’t believe how much better it tastes, or how easy it is to make.
The produce-packed recipe is for a homemade cranberry sauce that uses fresh cranberries, mandarin oranges, and fresh ginger root. It’s super-easy to make and is so much better than canned.
Why Do We Eat Cranberry Sauce?
Whether you usually have it fresh or canned, cranberry sauce is a staple at the Thanksgiving table. But did you know that cranberries are one of the few fruits that are actually native to the United States? Native Americans were making some version of a cranberry sauce back in the mid-17th century and in the 18th century it became popular to pair it with turkey.
The ingredients and process are sure to have changed over the years, but it’s definitely an American tradition. I like mine homemade with orange and ginger in it.
How To Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
To make it, mix together the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat it up to a simmer over high and then cook it over medium-low until the berries have popped and broken down a bit, around 15 minutes. That’s it.
Let it cool, refrigerate, and then serve it with your turkey. Wait, cranberry sauce isn’t just for turkey! You can do all kinds of things with it. Here’s my list of 12 things to make with cranberry sauce.
Podcast Episode On Making Cranberry Sauce
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this tasty Cranberry Sauce Recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 2 and 1/4 cups 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Fresh cranberry sauce is so simple to make. Just leave fresh cranberries and orange zest on the stove for about 15 minutes, and there you go. Look who’s winning at Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
- 2 mandarin oranges
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 (12-oz.) bag fresh cranberries
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger (or 1/4 tsp. ground ginger)
Instructions
- Zest one orange and set zest aside for a minute. Juice both oranges, it should give you about ¼ cup of juice. In a pot over medium heat, mix sugar and juice. Add cranberries, ginger, and the orange zest.
- Bring mixture to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir occasionally. Cook until berries pop and are mushed into the mixture, about 15 minutes.
- Stir, let cool to room temperature. Chill before serving.
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I have made this for the past few years and it is always a hit! You can easily make it ahead of time which is one less thing to think about on turkey day. Also, a great job for a kid who wants to help.
Thank you, Lisa! This is a great task to do a day or two before, I agree.
I’m such a sucker for an orange-y cranberry sauce. This looks great!