This cranberry orange sauce is a 5 ingredient recipe that’s made with fresh cranberries, orange juice and orange zest for a sweet and tangy sauce. Cranberry orange sauce is a fresh, bright tasting accompaniment to any holiday meal.
I always make homemade cranberry sauce for the holidays, along with some of our other Thanksgiving favorites like rice pilaf and slow cooker turkey. This easy cranberry orange sauce takes just minutes to make and is way better than the store bought canned kind.
While it’s definitely easy to grab a can of cranberry sauce for the holidays, making your own fresh sauce takes just about 10 minutes and the flavors are just SO much better. It is one of my favorite side dishes for Thanksgiving. If you want more Thanksgiving recipes check out my slow cooker creamed corn, zucchini casserole and Thanksgiving stuffing. This sauce is also great for Christmas dinner.
If you have cranberry lovers in the house, you’ll also want to try my recipes for cranberry bread, cranberry muffins, cranberry orange pull apart monkey bread and eggnog cake which you can decorate with candied cranberries.
Table of Contents
Cranberry Orange Sauce Ingredients
To make cranberry orange sauce you will need sugar, orange juice, cranberries, orange zest and salt.
How Do You Make Cranberry Orange Sauce?
To make this cranberry orange sauce dish, first place sugar and orange juice in a medium pan over medium high heat until it simmers. Add cranberries, orange zest and a pinch of salt and cook everything until the cranberries burst. Finally, let the sauce cool and store it for later or serve it for dinner!
Tips For The Perfect Sauce
- You can either add all the cranberries in at once, or add 3/4, then stir in 1/4 later on so that there are some whole berries in the final sauce.
- I like to use fresh squeezed orange juice whenever possible.
- You can garnish your sauce with strips or orange peel or thin slices of orange.
- I like to use a microplane to zest an orange. If you don’t have a microplane you can use a grater with fine teeth or a vegetable peeler. Just remove the orange part of the peel and avoid the bitter, white rind. If you use a vegetable peeler, you’ll want to peel off a chunk of orange peel, then mince it with a kitchen knife.
Quick Tip
I prefer fresh cranberries, but frozen cranberries will also work fine.
Recipe FAQs
You can make cranberry orange sauce up to 3 days before you plan to serve it. I always make my cranberry sauce at least one day in advance because I feel like the flavors have more time to develop as they sit in the fridge.
You can freeze cranberry orange sauce for up to one month before you plan to serve it. Simply reheat your cranberry sauce over medium heat in a skillet. Freezing the sauce introduces more water into the mix, so your cranberry sauce will not be as thick as when it was originally made. You can simmer your sauce for about 5-6 minutes to let some of the liquid evaporate off.
Cranberry sauce lasts in an airtight container in a refrigerator up to 7 days.
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Flavor Variations
This is a delicious orange cranberry sauce recipe, but you can add other ingredients to customize it to your liking.
- Ginger: Add 1 tablespoon finely minced crystallized ginger to the sauce.
- Pineapple: Add 1 cup canned crushed pineapple.
- Apple: Add one peeled and diced apple.
- Pecans: Add 1/4 cup diced pecans.
- Pear: Add one peeled and diced pear.
- Maple: For a sweeter sauce, add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup.
- Honey: You can add a tablespoon of honey to the sauce.
How To Use Leftover Cranberry Orange Sauce
I typically don’t have a ton of cranberry sauce leftover, but if you find yourself with extra, you can spoon it over waffles or pancakes, serve it on top of oatmeal, or try one of these other delicious ideas.
- Cranberry Meatballs
- Cranberry Yogurt Parfaits with vanilla yogurt, cranberry sauce and chopped pecans.
- Cranberry Jello Salad
- Turkey and Cranberry Sauce Sandwiches
The flavors in this cranberry sauce are so delicious that you won’t be tempted to buy the canned version again!
More Thanksgiving Recipes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
1 hr 20 mins
Southern Cornbread Dressing
1 hr 15 mins
Bacon Green Bean Bundles
25 mins
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
1 hr 50 mins
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup orange juice fresh squeezed is best
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries frozen will also work
- 2 teaspoons orange zest plus more for garnish
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the sugar and orange juice in a medium pan over medium high heat. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the cranberries, orange zest and salt, then simmer for 8-10 minutes or until cranberries have burst. If you prefer a chunkier sauce, add 3/4 of the berries, then after the cranberries have burst, stir the remaining 1/4 berries in.
- Let the cranberry orange sauce sit at room temperature until cool, then transfer to a container and store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it.
Notes
- I prefer fresh cranberries, but frozen cranberries will also work fine.
- You can either add all the cranberries in at once, or add half, then stir in half later on so that there are some whole berries in the final sauce.
- I like to use fresh squeezed orange juice whenever possible.
THis sounds so yummy. does it thicken up?
Yes it does as it cools!
I’m making this for a second time. First for Thanksgiving, and now for Christmas. I added about 1 tsp of ginger to give it that extra kick. Delicious! And sooo simple. I won’t bother with other recipes because everyone loved this one.
I’ve made regular cranberry sauce and decided to try this recipe for a chance. The only recommendation I have is to at least double it. Make more than what you think you need. It was amazing. My family ate it up with our Thanksgiving leftovers. I’m planning on doubling the recipe and making it again tomorrow. 😋
This sauce is very good in sandwiches like MC’ Alaster’s sandwiches
What is the yield on this recipe? I know it .Akers eight servings, but how big is a serving? How much sauce will there be in all?
Approximately 2 cups of sauce, 1/4 cup serving per person!
Omg can we say yum?!? I just love all things cranberry! Must give this recipe a try
I’m obsessed with all things cranberry so this is a must try in my opinion!!!
You have taken my two favourite ingredients and have converted them into a lovely sauce. What do you think one can pair this sauce with ?
I like to pair this sauce with chicken or turkey!
On turkey or other sandwiches, definitely try on hamburgers..
I love cranberry souses. It works nicely with virtually any meat for me and you can easily use it as side pancakes, cakes and tarts. Simply perfect to me
ooh sounds like a great complement to any thanksgiving or christmas meal. really nice recipe
i wish i could try this, but i really cant do orange juice. most citrus juices give me terrible heartburn, but i’m wondering if the orange juice would be ok in this form. drinking it might literally kill me for the acid reflux!
This is such a perfect recipe this christmas a delicious sauce to make .,now i will look for the fresh and good cranberries.
This sauce sounds amazing! Now I just need to find fresh cranberries in my country 😉
I’ve tried this recipe and I absolutely love it. It’s such an easy fix and really is hands down better than what’s in a can!
I love eating cranberry a lot and this recipe looks so easy to make and it is really delicious.
Delicious! Have been looking for a great cranberry sauce recipe for a long time. So glad to have found this one. Love the pop of orange flavour!
All the best,
Alexandra
Looks delish! I’m sure I’ll be trying it out this holiday season 🙂
This is going to be perfect for Thanksgiving and Chrismas! I love that twist on my old favorite.
This made me crave thanksgiving dinner! I need me some turkey now with that sauce.. Yum!
What a great recipe with brilliant instructions. Two of my favourite flavours and orange and cranberry.