Fresh cranberry sauce with oranges is a refreshing take on the Thanksgiving staple with its vibrant color and perfect balance of sweet and tart flavor. This easy recipe combines the zesty sweetness of oranges with the tangy punch of cranberries, creating a harmonious balance of flavors that makes the perfect complement to roast turkey or any holiday meal.
Why You'll Love This Recipe:
I've always been a big fan of cranberry sauce. It might just be my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner! I've been perfecting this recipe for years and it's the only cranberry sauce I ever make. If you've only ever had the canned stuff, you're in for a treat with this delicious homemade cranberry sauce!
Bright, Fresh Flavors: The combination of tart cranberries and zesty oranges adds a bright, refreshing burst of flavor to any meal, especially festive holiday spreads.
Make-Ahead Convenience: Cranberry sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator, freeing up valuable cooking time the next day for other holiday preparations and reducing last-minute kitchen stress. Even better, make a double batch so you can have leftovers!
Festive: The vibrant red of the cranberries combined with the bright orange peel not only tastes delightful but also looks beautiful on any holiday table, contributing to the festive decor.
Ingredient Notes:
- Fresh Cranberries: There's no substitute for fresh cranberries. They're typically only available in grocery stores during fall months, but you can stock up and freeze them to use later.
- Fresh Oranges: This recipe uses both fresh orange juice and orange zest to brighten up the classic cranberry relish.
- Sugar: This recipe uses pure cane sugar, but you can use white sugar or brown sugar or even pure maple syrup (substitute ¾ cup syrup for 1 cup sugar). I like my cranberry sauce on the tart side but you can adjust the amount of sugar in this recipe to your liking.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds another layer of flavor to this dish. You can use ground cinnamon or simmer the sauce with a cinnamon stick instead.
See the recipe card below for a full ingredient list and amounts needed.
Step by Step Instructions:
How To Cut Orange Supremes:
Orange supremes are segments of oranges with the membrane removed. Cutting oranges into supremes is a great way to incorporate oranges into cranberry sauce without changing the texture of the sauce. Read below for how to cut them!
Step 1: Zest the oranges with a microplane or zester before cutting them and save the zest for the sauce.
Step 2: Cut the tops and bottoms off the oranges.
Step 3: Remove the rest of the peel by cutting in a downward motion. Once all peel is removed, set aside.
Step 4: Cut segments out of the orange, leaving the membrane.
Step 5: Cut the segments into smaller bite-size pieces.
Step 6: Squeeze the juice out of the remaining membrane and pieces of peel into a small bowl.
Pro Tip: To avoid losing any of the orange juice, cut the oranges above a bowl to catch the juices.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Sauce:
Once you have the ingredients prepped, this cranberry sauce is super simple to make. Read below for how to make it!
Step 1: Wash cranberries in a colander and pick out any bad ones. Combine sugar, water, and orange juice in a medium saucepan.
Step 2: Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Step 3: Add cranberries to the pan and return to a boil.
Step 4: Simmer over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 5: Once cranberries start to pop, use a wooden spoon to smash some of them against the edge of the pan. Leave about half of the cranberries whole. Simmer 5 minutes more.
Step 6: Remove from heat and stir in orange segments, orange zest, and cinnamon. Cool and refrigerate. Serve cold.
Pro Tip: Don't simmer the sauce for too long or the cranberries start to get bitter. It may look liquidy when it's hot, but cranberries are high in pectin which means the sauce will set up as it cools.
How to Store Cranberry Sauce:
After the sauce cools, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It also freezes beautifully. Add cooled sauce to zippered freezer bags. Squeeze the excess air out of the bags and seal them. Place bags on a sheet pan to freeze flat, then store for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with Cranberry Sauce:
Homemade cranberry sauce is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table or any festive meal during the holiday season. It goes great with a variety of classic side dishes like sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted winter squash, and stuffing.
Make some extra so you can have it for leftover turkey sandwiches! It also goes great with this sous vide pheasant recipe. No matter how you choose to serve it, you'll never go back to canned cranberry sauce after trying this recipe!
Recipe FAQ's:
Fresh oranges and cinnamon are great additions to cranberry sauce to add extra flavor and color.
Cranberry sauce is the perfect addition to a classic Thanksgiving meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. but it also goes well with other poultry and pork, as a condiment for cheese boards, or as part of a dessert like a cranberry crisp served with vanilla ice cream.
Cranberries start to get bitter if they are cooked for too long. Don't cook them much past when they start to pop to avoid your sauce getting bitter.
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Recipe:
Cranberry Sauce with Oranges
Equipment
- medium saucepan
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup pure cane sugar
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2 medium oranges
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Wash cranberries in colander and pick out any bad ones.
- Zest oranges. Cut tops and bottoms off oranges. Remove the rest of the peel by cutting in a downward motion. Once all peel is removed, set aside. Cut segments out of the orange, leaving the membrane. Squeeze the juice out of the remaining membrane and pieces of peel into a small bowl.
- Bring water, sugar, and orange juice to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add cranberries to pan and return to a boil. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cranberries start to pop, use a wooden spoon to smash some of them against the edge of the pan. Leave about half of the cranberries whole. Simmer 5 minutes more.
- Remove from heat and stir in orange segments, orange zest, and cinnamon. Cool and refrigerate. Serve cold.
To Freeze:
- Put cranberry sauce into quart size zippered bag. Freeze flat and store up to 3 months.
Notes
- There's no substitute for fresh cranberries. They're typically only available in grocery stores during fall months, but you can stock up and freeze them to use later.
- This recipe uses both fresh orange juice and orange zest to brighten up the classic cranberry relish.
- This recipe uses pure cane sugar, but you can use white sugar or brown sugar or even pure maple syrup (substitute ¾ cup syrup for 1 cup sugar). I like my cranberry sauce on the tart side but you can adjust the amount of sugar in this recipe to your liking.
- Cinnamon adds another layer of flavor to this dish. You can use ground cinnamon or simmer the sauce with a cinnamon stick instead.
- To avoid losing any of the orange juice, cut the oranges above a bowl to catch the juices.
- Don't simmer the sauce for too long or the cranberries start to get bitter. It may look liquidy when it's hot, but cranberries are high in pectin which means the sauce will set up as it cools.
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