I grew up with the traditional cranberry sauce from the can. The goal was always to slide the smooth, jelly-like sauce out of the can perfectly and retain the ridges and can shape. I had no idea making cranberry sauce was so easy-it seemed hard and low-priority in the scheme of holiday-cooking so I didn’t bother to look into it until one year I got cranberries in my bountiful baskets. I couldn’t think of anything else to do with them so I looked up how to make sauce. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that making homemade cranberry sauce from scratch is not only super easy, it makes your house smell like Christmas!
During the winter months we usually have oranges on hand and cinnamon sticks a\’plenty so making this is a matter of grabbing a bag of cranberries. I love to make it in the evening the week or so before Thanksgiving and just soak in the yummy smell and get excited for the upcoming holiday. This recipe easily makes two small jars so it’s perfect to share with a neighbor or friend or keep both for yourself and eat ALL the turkey and cranberry leftover sandwiches (my favorite). It’s so good.
- ¾ cup sugar
- the juice of one orange (around ½ cup juice)
- ½ cup water
- 12 oz fresh cranberries, rinsed
- pinch of salt
- pinch of clove
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 piece of orange peel (just use a potato peeler)
- Combine sugar, orange juice, and water in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
- Add cranberries, salt, clove, cinnamon stick and orange peel and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Continue cooking, for about 10 minutes, or until all or most of the cranberries have popped. The longer you cook, the more jelly-like it will become, the less you cook the more whole-cranberries you\’ll have.
- Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
SEE MORE: WARM APPLE PIE
I promise once you make this you\’ll never go back to canned! And I love that you can make it in advance so it doesn’t add to day-of cooking on Thanksgiving. It’s just the best.
Have you made homemade cranberry sauce before? Let me know in the comments below!
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