This homemade cranberry sauce is a 6 ingredient recipe that’s made with fresh cranberries, sugar and a hint of spice. Homemade cranberry sauce tastes so much better than store bought, and it takes just minutes to make.
There are a few foods that are must-haves at my Thanksgiving meal. My family always requires that I make butterflake rolls, pumpkin cheesecake and fresh cranberry sauce.
It’s so tempting to just pick up a can of cranberry sauce for the holidays, but once you try making homemade cranberry sauce, you’ll never go back to the store bought stuff! The flavor is so much better with fresh cranberries and you can customize the sweetness level to your liking.
How do you make homemade cranberry sauce?
The first step is to get some cranberries. I prefer fresh cranberries, but frozen cranberries will also work fine. The cranberries are simmered with sugar and water until the cranberries burst, then a few aromatic spices are added to the mix. You can either add all the cranberries in at once, or add about 3/4 of the berries, then stir in the other 1/4 later on so that there are some whole berries in the final sauce.
What ingredients are in cranberry sauce?
The basic ingredients in cranberry sauce are cranberries, sugar and water. I also add a pinch of salt, sprinkle of cinnamon and drop of vanilla extract to enhance the flavors of the cranberries.
Can you make cranberry sauce ahead of time?
You can make cranberry 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.
Can you freeze cranberry sauce?
You can freeze cranberry sauce for up to one month before you plan to serve it. Store your sauce in a resealable freezer bag or airtight container. 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 Freezing the sauce introduces more water into the mix, so your cranberry sauce will not be as thick as when it was originally made.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 so that the sauce can get thick again.
Homemade cranberry sauce variations
This is a basic cranberry sauce recipe, but you can add all different ingredients to cranberry sauce to customize it to your liking.
- Brown Sugar Cranberry Sauce: Substitute brown sugar for the granulated sugar.
- Cranberry Orange Sauce: Use orange juice instead of water and stir in 2 teaspoons of orange zest.
- Vanilla Cranberry Sauce: Add one split vanilla bean to the sauce and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
- Cranberry Cherry Sauce: Add 1 cup of chopped frozen dark cherries to the sauce.
- Cranberry Apple Sauce: Use apple cider instead of water and add 1 diced peeled apple to the sauce.
How to use leftover cranberry sauce
I typically don’t have a ton of cranberry sauce leftover, but if you find yourself with extra, here are some ideas to use it up.
- Cranberry Meatballs
- Cranberry Yogurt Parfaits with vanilla yogurt, cranberry sauce and chopped pecans.
- Cranberry Jello Salad
- Turkey and Cranberry Sauce Sandwiches.
- Pour leftover sauce over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers.
Now that you know how to make homemade cranberry sauce, you can bypass the canned stuff forever!
More Thanksgiving Recipes
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Bacon Green Bean Bundles
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
- Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
Homemade Cranberry Sauce Video
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries frozen can also be used
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the water and sugar in a medium pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
- For a traditional cranberry sauce: Add the cranberries to a pot and boil for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries have burst.
- For a whole berry cranberry sauce: Add 3/4 of the the cranberries to a pot and boil for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries have burst. Add the remaining 1/4 of the cranberries to the pot.
- Add the salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract to the sauce, then cook for 1 minute.
- Let the sauce sit at room temperature until cool. Transfer to a storage container and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on October 18, 2018 and was updated on October 14, 2021 with new content.
Anjali says
I had no idea it was so easy to make cranberry sauce from scratch — and your version looks beautiful! Definitely adding this to my Thanksgiving menu for this year! Can’t wait to make it!
Amanda says
I am making this right now for thanksgiving tomorrow. My house smells amazing. It is very easy and I will definitely be making this again!
veenaazmanov says
I am already drooling with the thought of fresh cranberries. I love this fruit and I love your easy sauce recipe too.
Mirlene says
Homemade cranberry sauce is always the best! it’s more fresh using real cranberries than ones that are in the canned or jarred!
Chenée says
This looks delicious! I love how easy it is to make cranberry sauce from scratch! Thanks for this recipe!
Renee says
Once I learned how easy homemade cranberry sauce to make, I’ve never looked back! Your recipe is clean and easy – no bells or whistles; just delicious cranberry flavor.
Lauren says
I’ve made cranberry sauce for my mother in law for the last 6 years and never have I ever liked it and this one I took a bite to check the flavour and it was amazing! Made exactly as written and it was perfect!
Kim S says
So easy, So delicious!!! Thanks for a great recipe.
Nicole says
I love love this recipe. The cinnamon definitely makes it pop. Can’t wait to eat it with the turkey and stuffing tomorrow. Thanks!
Danielle says
Best batch I’ve ever made! Doubled the recipe, accidentally added the vanilla and cinnamon too early but it needed a little more at the end because I had eyeballed those 2 plus with doubling. Love leaving some whole ones out to the end! Will definitely make again!!!
Deanna says
This is delicious. First time I’ve ever made! I’m sure it will be a huge hit!!!! This is also my first review, which shows how excited I am.
Emily says
This is the first cranberry sauce I made myself. So simple, and SOOO delicious. Hit with everyone, and my mum was so surprised I was even daring to make homemade cranberry sauce. She was very impressed!
Laura says
Amazing!!
Tracy says
I just made this with the orange juice. It is so amazing!
Karrie says
I followed this recipe except I substituted 1/4 of a cup of water for orange Liquor. It was fabulous!.
Karrie says
I followed the recipe except that for 1/4 of the water I used a quarter cup of orange Liquor . It was fabulous!
Catalina says
There is no Thanksgiving dinner without the cranberry sauce. I will try your recipe this year!