Made with only 5 ingredients and in less than 30 minutes, Cranberry Orange Sauce is the best recipe for homemade cranberry sauce! Sweetened with maple syrup and flavored with oranges, this easy recipe will add the perfect zing to your Holiday meal, without being cloyingly sweet.
Pair with Turkey Breast, Old Fashioned Stuffing, and Creamy Mashed Potatoes for a perfect Thanksgiving Feast!
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Call me crazy, but one of my favorite sides at Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce. Not the jiggly stuff from a jar, but homemade cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries. To me the tartness of this dish is the perfect balance to all the rich dishes served at Thanksgiving.
And cranberry sauce is not only a must for the holiday meal, it also makes the perfect condiment to leftover turkey sandwiches or is great served over pancakes or waffles. You better believe I make a make a HUGE batch just to guarantee leftovers!
Ingredients Needed
My recipe for Cranberry Sauce is made with just 5 ingredients. It is simple, wholesome, and creates the perfect balance of flavors. The tart cranberries are mellowed out by sweet maple syrup and citrus adds a zing of bright flavor
- Fresh cranberries
- Maple syrup
- Orange juice Concentrate
- Orange Zest
- Cinnamon
Why Orange Juice Concentrate?
Cranberries are extremely tart in their raw, fresh state and require a lot of added sweeteners. Instead of opting for corn syrup or refined sugar, I like to use a bit of maple syrup and orange juice concentrate.
Orange juice concentrate is 100% fruit, but because it is concentrated the sweetness and flavor are very intense. This natural sweetness and orange flavor pair beautifully with the cranberries and makes a delicious, perfectly sweetened sauce without refined sugars.
How to Make Cranberry Sauce
The real beauty in this recipe is that it only takes 2 minutes of prep work to have homemade cranberry sauce–which is JUST about as easy as opening a can, but tastes a whole lot better!
It is as easy as dumping the ingredients into a stock pan and stirring every little bit while it simmers–super simple! By only tip is to be sure to simmer on a low heat and stir occasionally to prevent the cranberry sauce from burning.
Preparing in Advance
Cranberry Sauce is a great dish to prep in advance. And if you are like me, prepping as many dishes in advance helps make pulling off Thanksgiving dinner much less stressful.
Prepare the cranberry sauce as the recipe states and store in refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Serve cold or warmed slightly.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Homemade Applesauce
- Harvest Quinoa Salad with Pumpkin Vinaigrette
- Twice Baked Butternut Squash
- Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
- Stuffed Acorn Squash
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate defrosted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup see notes
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until berries have burst and juices are becoming thick, watching to be sure liquid does not evaporate. (If it does, add in 1/4 cup water at a time.)
- Stir in orange zest if using.
To Store Cranberry Sauce
- Cool and store in fridge for up to 5 days or freeze in air tight container for up to 2 months ahead of use. Thaw in refrigerator the night before using.
Notes
- Maple Syrup: Be sure to use 100% pure maple syrup for the best flavor! Add up to 2 additional tablespoons of maple syrup if you like things on the really sweet side.
- This is a thick style cranberry sauce, if you would like thinner sauce, add in 1/2 cup water.
- This Cranberry Sauce is vegan, gluten-free, Paleo, dairy free, egg free and nut free. Making it a great side dish for anyone with dietary restrictions.
- Be sure to watch your cranberry sauce closely as it comes to a boil, because of the natural sugars in the orange juice concentrate and maple syrup, it can burn quickly. Turn to a low simmer IMMEDIATELY once sauce comes to a boil.
Happy Thanksgiving Kristen! First of all I wanted to thank you for the time you take to put together such wonderful recipes and ideas for us! I’m a single dad that has raised both my kids by myself for 90% of their lives. My son is 16 and daughter 13, so I have my battle lines drawn 😊 We make a great team and love to cook together; and have many of your recipes in our “rotation”. So thank you! Thank you for your little weekly email that always seems to come at the right time!
Now as for this recipe, I know it’s a long shot to get a response from you soon, so hopefully I’ll have my answer for next time. I’m wondering if you have this recipe made for the Instant Pot? I’m sure I could wing it myself, but I wanted to see if you had anything.
Hope you have a great holiday!
Steve in Salem
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well Steve. You have your hands full and kuddos to you! I can’t tell you how much it means to me that my recipes are a part of your life…it truly touches my heart. As for the cranberry sauce, I made this recipe for with a few modifications and it worked perfectly. I doubled it so there would be a full cup of liquid. I put 1/4 cup water in bottom of instant pot, then 2 pounds fresh cranberries, then 3/4 cup defrosted orange juice concentrate, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/3 cup maple syrup and put lid on and cooked for 8 minutes on high pressure and let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. It is in my fridge right now for tomorrow. Have a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Thank you for your response Kristen! I can’t wait to give it a try tomorrow 👍🏼 I’ll be sure to let you know how it turned out 😊 Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍁🍽
Most recipes use a cup of water for the 12 oz bag( 3 cups) of cranberries. Is the 1/2 cup oj concentrate really enough liquid?
Hi Karen! We really like thick cranberry sauce and with the juice from the cranberries, maple syrup and OJ this works perfectly for us. If you would like thinner cranberry sauce, I would add in 1/2 cup water in addition to OJ for every 12-16 ounces of cranberries. Enjoy 🙂
Oh this will be so perfect for Thanksgiving. Love the addition of citrus, it gives it a little refreshing zing!
The citrus is key!
This is just the best recipe for cranberry sauce.
My kids love it and I love it because it isn’t packed full of HFCS!!!
Plus soooooo simple to make and so much better than the canned stuff.
I am making a batch tomorrow ready for the freezer….anything to make the holiday season a bit easier 😀
YAY!! I am SO glad you love this recipe. And way to get a jump on the Holiday seasons.
i love that this is easy-to-make and healthy! This would be amazing on some turkey 🙂
Rachel, this is SO easy and tastes AMAZING on turkey sandwiches!
This sounds AMAZING!
Thanks Rachel, it is REALLY good!
I love cranberry sauce! We usually have two or three different types at thanksgiving!
Well, Thanksgiving is about having an overload of food, right?! 😉
Oh yum! This sounds really good. I love the idea of using maple as a sweetener!
It pairs perfectly with the fall flavors!
Love that this recipe can be made so far in advance!
It really does make Thanksgiving Day prep much easier!
okay, so clever! and i love spiking food! haha. but the citrus sounds more friendly. 😉
Maybe more kid friendly, but orange liquor would be fun too 😉
Love that this sauce goes easy on the sweetener and uses maple syrup instead of sugar!
Sylvie, With all the Holiday goodies–we need to have a few dishes that are lighter in sugars! Plus, the tartness of this dish compliments the heavier meal perfectly. But still sweet enough my kids eat it plain 🙂