Fresh cranberry sauce with oranges adds a vibrant, sweet-tart twist to the classic Thanksgiving staple. Its zesty flavor pairs perfectly with roast turkey and holiday meals!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
I’ve always loved cranberry sauce. It's the only way I enjoy my Thanksgiving turkey! After years of perfecting this recipe, it’s the only one I make. If you’ve only had the canned version, you’re in for a treat!
Bright & Fresh: Tart cranberries and zesty oranges add a refreshing burst of flavor to any holiday meal. Try it alongside sourdough stuffing and roasted delicata squash or on top of sous vide pheasant!
Make-Ahead Friendly: Prep it in advance to save time and reduce holiday stress.
Festive & Beautiful: Its vibrant red and orange hues make a stunning addition to any table!
Ingredients
- Fresh Cranberries: You can use fresh or frozen cranberries for this recipe.
- Fresh Oranges: This recipe uses both fresh orange juice and orange zest to brighten up the classic cranberry relish. The citrusy notes pair beautifully with a fennel orange salad, creating a light and refreshing contrast to rich holiday dishes.
- 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 recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
Recommended
Microplane
I love to use a microplane for zesting citrus because it grates the peel into smaller pieces than a standard zester and releases more flavor.
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.
How to Make Cranberry Sauce with Oranges
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.
Storage
After the sauce cools to room temperature, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 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.
Serving Suggestions
Homemade cranberry sauce with oranges 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 potato casserole, green bean casserole, roasted delicata squash, and sourdough stuffing.
Make some extra so you can have it for leftover turkey sandwiches! It also goes great with this sous vide pheasant. No matter how you choose to serve it, you'll never go back to canned cranberry sauce after trying this recipe!
Recipe FAQs
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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Thank you!
Annie
📖 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
- Fresh or frozen cranberries can be used for this recipe.
- 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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