Dave’s Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving favorite for many, including for my husband Dave. This homemade cranberry orange sauce recipe is easy, fresh, tart, and darn delicious.

Glass dish of cranberry sauce, surrounded by fresh cranberries a dark red napkin, and a larger serving dish filled with cranberry sauce.

Dave’s cranberry sauce recipe is based on one his mom made when he was growing up. It was a pivotal moment in his young life when the family switched from canned cranberry sauce to homemade (ask him, he’ll tell you a much longer version of the story). He describes this cranberry sauce recipe as “based on my mom’s, but with a deeper spice profile that I think makes it just irresistible”.

He’ll tell you that this is one of his favorite foods, even if he only enjoys it at Thanksgiving time. We hope you find it irresistible too!

TELL ME ABOUT THIS RECIPE FOR CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH ORANGE JUICE

Level of difficulty: Easy. Put ingredients in a pan, boil, simmer, and enjoy!

Flavor: Tart cranberries, sweet orange juice, and all your favorite holiday flavors like brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla combine into one celebration of the season.

Time: You’ll need about 20 minutes to make this homemade cranberry sauce recipe.

Ingredients for cranberry sauce. Image includes 3 large oranges, a bowl of fresh cranberries, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and ground cinnamon.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED

Fresh cranberries

Oranges (juice and zest)

Salt

Vanilla

Brown sugar

Cinnamon

OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY SAUCE

  1. Add all ingredients into a large saucepan
  2. Stir to combine
  3. Bring mixture to a soft boil over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, then simmer on medium low for 10 minutes
  4. Allow to cool, and enjoy!

See a quick story series on this cranberry sauce recipe here!

WHAT PAIRS WELL WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE?

Cranberry sauce is a classic Thanksgiving side dish. The sweet and tangy berries make a perfect companion to savory turkey. But cranberry sauce works well with a lot of meats too. Try pairing it with chicken, pork, and sausage! This cranberry sauce is also great in this fun appetizer recipe.

Top down view a glass dish of cranberry orange sauce. The dish is surrounded by fresh cranberries and a dark red napkin.

EXPERT TIPS

Want to change it up a bit? Add bourbon! Cranberry sauce is a great dish to experiment with, and bourbon adds a fun depth of flavor to this Thanksgiving side dish. Start by removing 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice from the recipe as noted and replacing it with your favorite bourbon. Add more to taste. Enjoy your bourbon cranberry sauce as you normally would.

Looking to cut carbs? There are a few ways to do this. You can replace half the orange juice with water, or cut the brown sugar in half. When doing this, you may want to taste it and add a little stevia into your cranberry sauce to balance out tartness of the berries.

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Dave’s Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce

Meredith
Homemade cranberry sauce is a must at any holiday gathering! This easy side dish recipe is tart and sweet accented with warm winter spice.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 3 mins
Cook Time 17 mins
Total Time 20 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Servings
Calories 94 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 16 oz fresh cranberries, rinsed
  • 1 C fresh squeezed orange juice (from approx. 3 large oranges)
  • zest of 1 large orange
  • ½ C brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients into a large saucepan
  • Stir to combine
  • Bring mixture to a soft boil over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, then simmer on medium low for 10 minutes
  • Allow to cool, and enjoy!

Notes

*Recipe modification option: add bourbon! Bourbon adds a fun depth of flavor to this Thanksgiving side dish. Start by removing 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice from the recipe as noted and replacing it with your favorite bourbon. Add more to taste. Enjoy your bourbon cranberry sauce as you normally would.

Nutrition

Calories: 94kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 151mgPotassium: 127mgFiber: 2gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 96IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links. However, please know that I strive to provide links to products that I actually use and wholeheartedly recommend whenever possible.
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Comments

  1. Greg R says

    5 stars
    Wonderful sauce with any kind of meat (a great side for turkey, but I like mine with pork tenderloin). I prefer my cranberry sauce tart, so this sauce is perfect for me. If you like yours sweet, maybe add just a bit more sugar. Not too much, though.

    • ourlovelanguageisfood says

      Great tip on adding this to pork tenderloin and note on adding a little more sugar if preferred – thanks Greg!