Fresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe with Orange

cranberry sauce in a bowl with an orange in he background

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Fresh Cranberry Sauce Recipe with Orange

This easy Cranberry Sauce recipe with orange makes a delicious homemade fruit sauce with festive spices. This sauce makes a brilliant addition to all kinds of nut roasts, sandwiches, buns and salads.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American, British

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: christmas, sauce

Servings: 8

Equipment

saucepan, measuring equipment, spatulas

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Wash the cranberries and put into a medium sized saucepan.
Remove the zest from the orange and add that to the pan. Squeeze the juice into a measuring cup and make up the volume to approximately 60 millilitres (1/2 cup) and add this to the saucepan too.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer.
Stir from time to time. You will hear the berries pop as they begin to cook.
Cook for approximately fifteen minutes until it turns into a thick sauce and it is no longer possible to make out individual berry shapes.
If the sauce becomes too dry before this happens just add a little water to loosen it and continue to cook until you have a sauce in a consistency you like.
Check for sweetness, some berries are more tart than others. If they don't seem sweet enough for you, add a little more sugar. Go cautiously, add only a 1/2 teaspoon at a time and taste again. It isn't supposed to be as sweet as jam. It needs to have that tart, dryness to be a good Cranberry sauce.
Take off the heat and allow to cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and store in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.

Notes

If you try this cranberry sauce please let me know what you think to it and what you pair it up with. Enjoy!

Nutrtional Information is computer generated and is intended as a guideline only.

This sauce is suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets.

Storage: This sauce will keep for up to 7 days in a suitable covered container in the fridge. It will also freeze successfully for up to 2 months in the freezer. Defrost thoroughly before using.

Variations

reduce the sugar - modify the amount of sugar in the recipe to suit your own taste.
make it boozy - add alcohol such as Grand Marnier or port. Two tablespoons will absolutely do the job. Makes it quite rich with a bit of a kick.
omit the spices - It would be a shame to leave these christmassy spices out of the recipe but if you don't like these flavours then leave them out.

F.A.Q's

My Cranberry sauce is too thin – what can I do about that?

The best thing to do about a Cranberry sauce which is too thin is to cook it for a little longer. As the berries cook and break down (you’ll hear the popping noise as they do so) they release pectin and it is this that thickens the sauce. The sauce also thickens as it cools down. Another solution is to thicken it a little using cornflour.

Can I add alcohol to this Cranberry sauce to make it a little more festive?

Yes, you abosolutely can add a little alochol to this sauce. Add the alcohol right at the beginning of the cooking process. The alcohol cooks off as the berries cook down leaving only the flavour behind. Try a tablespoon of Grand Marnier which goes perfectly with the orange flavours. Brandy and Port are other possibilities.

How do I know my Cranberry sauce is done?

As the cranberries cook, you will hear a popping sound. This is the berries realising pectin into the pan. This is what will thicken the Cranberry sauce. Your sauce is done when all the berries have popped and you can no longer see individual berries. This should take about 15 minutes, 20 minutes at the very most as long as you cook it at a simmer.

Did you make this? Mention @thesimplerkitchen or tag #thesimplerkitchen!

Nutrition