Sweet, tart cranberry sauce made with fresh orange juice is a Thanksgiving classic!
With just seven simple ingredients you can make your own sauce at home and it's so much tastier than the stuff from the can.
Take your holiday dinner to the next level with this delicious, easy, made-from-scratch cranberry sauce!
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INGREDIENTS FOR HOMEMADE CRANBERRY ORANGE SAUCE:
- Fresh cranberries: tart and sweet!
- Navel orange: tasty, complimentary flavor.
- Pure vanilla extract: imitation will also work, but pure is best.
- Ground cinnamon & cloves: warm, cozy spices.
- Salt: adds depth and complexity.
- Monk fruit sweetener: when made with monk fruit sweetener, this recipe contains only 2.5 grams of sugar & 22 calories per serving! You can use regular, white refined sugar if you prefer.
Making Cranberry Orange Sauce - A Quick Overview:
Keep scrolling for the full recipe. We’ll start here with a quick rundown!
- Rinse cranberries well and place them in a medium size sauce pan.
- Zest and juice orange into the pan.
- Add spices, vanilla and monk fruit sweetener (or sugar if preferred).
- Place pan on stovetop and turn heat to low. Mix well and cover.
- Allow ingredients to simmer together for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once cranberries have cooked down into a thick sauce, remove pan from heat.
- Serve warm or chilled.
- Enjoy!
HANDY TIPS:
- Chunky or smooth? I like my homemade cranberry orange sauce to have texture. If you prefer smooth, puree sauce with an immersion blender before it cools! You can also transfer it to a regular blender for pureeing (though an immersion blender is much more convenient).
HOW TO USE YOUR CRANBERRY SAUCE:
Spread your sauce on buttery dinner rolls, use it as a delicious turkey topping or mix it with stuffing! You can even use cranberry sauce as a spread for your leftover turkey sandwiches.
Healthy Homemade Cranberry Sauce With Orange Juice
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups cranberries *1 package *340 grams *12 oz
- 1 medium navel orange
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup monk fruit sweetener *or sub. regular white, refined sugar *see note below
Recipe notes:
Monk Fruit Sweetener: I like to use this sugar substitute when I make cranberry sauce! It tastes the same but contains less carbs and zero calories. You can use regular, white, refined sugar in this recipe if you prefer.Instructions
- Rinse cranberries well and place them in a medium size sauce pan (no need to dry them off).
- Zest and juice orange into the pan.
- Add vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and monk fruit sweetener (or sugar if preferred).
- Place pan on the stovetop and turn heat to low. Mix well and cover.
- Allow ingredients to simmer together for about 20 minutes, stir occasionally.
- Once cranberries have cooked down into a thick sauce, remove pan from heat.
- Serve warm or chill first.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Karen says
This is a staple at our house on Thanksgiving Day….I will have to give it a try!
stacey_olson says
Thanks, Karen! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!