When faced with hosting a holiday dinner, it’s sensible to embrace simplicity. And as easy as opening a can of cranberry sauce is, making it yourself isn’t that much harder. It just looks impressive. It can be made up to a week before you need it. I like to make it the day before or right after I put the turkey in the oven. It sits in the fridge all day and sets up really nice in time for dinner.
I make this every year and it disappears so quickly I’m lucky if we have leftovers for Thanksgiving Part Duex on Friday. I hope your guests enjoy it as much as my family does!
Cranberry Sauce
Prep-time: 20 minutes | Serves 8-10
Ingredients
- 1 bag of cranberries (most bags are 12-ounces and you’ll find them in your store’s produce section)
- 1 /2 cup of apple or orange juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar (use less sugar if you like your cranberry sauce on the tart side)
- Optional flavor boosters: 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest (grated orange peel) and/or a cinnamon stick
Gear
- Medium saucepan (at least 2 quarts)
- Long handled spoon
- Container to store cranberries until time to serve
Directions
First, rinse the cranberries, removing any stems that are still attached. If there are any shriveled or mushy berries, discard them.
To make orange zest, rub an orange over a cheese grater or microplane until you get the desired amount.
Add the water, juice, and sugar to the saucepan, stirring over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves completely.
Bring the mixture to a full boil then add the bag of cranberries and the optional orange zest and cinnamon stick. The mixture will stop boiling for a moment, bring it back up to a full boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer.
As they cook, the cranberries will pop. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes until most of the cranberries have burst. Be careful, sometimes they splatter as they pop and that liquid is hot. Don’t worry if the liquid looks thin; it will thicken up as the sauce cools.
Remove the saucepan from heat. If you tossed a cinnamon stick in there, remove and discard. Transfer the sauce to a container and let it cool until it’s room temperature. Once cooled, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
